"Notes" #57

"I will be doing some thinking and writing in my time off but could certainly use some help, some motivation, so if you have any ideas, suggestions, stories, jokes, situations, memories you would like to share, please do so." danrosin@drcounselling.com

This is what I left you with when I closed Notes down for the summer in June. So far only one person has sent anything in.

 I encourage you to become a contributor to Notes--lets all get something and give something to this little, totally unheard of blog of ours (not just mine). danrosin@drcounselling.com

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It's July, 2021, it's hotter than heck, we're having a drought, farmers are praying for rain, my golf game sucks, and the papers filled with the discovery of 215 children's graves on a residential school in BC. It seems like every day there are new stories of the horror about the "hundred year experiment" to obliterate the indigenous culture, and to assimilate and Christianize these young, beautiful children.

Previously, Peter Smith in a Free Press article stated, "...more than 150,000 indigenous children attended residential schools then for over a century and a National Truth And Reconciliation Commission identified 3201 deaths amid poor conditions."

I cannot believe that the thinking of governments and religious orders of a century ago had the best interest or even for a slightest moment thought that residential schools were "good" for the indigenous people. No, this was not about what was good for them but rather about governments need to control these people who did not fit into an easily controllable mould. To pretend to take care of the indigenous people only to take their land and assets and place them on parcels of land that nobody else would want. And then as a final "break their spirit" duped religious orders into believing that they would be doing "God's work" if they were to assimilate and Christianize these children into the "real world", no matter what the cost to family and a way of life that had been here for hundreds of years. I believe the religious orders were used to do the dirty work, however, in the competition to save souls they were only too eager to undertake the task and with great fervour.

The outgoing president of the Assembly of First Nations chiefs, Perry Bellegarde has stated that the present government under Justin Trudeau "...deserves considerable credit for delivering on several indigenous issues." He gives credit for present day efforts but says there is much still to do to undo a horrendous past. Will our government just keep throwing money at the issues with no real resolve; do the chiefs, who are politicians and need to continually seek the favour of their constituents, keep posturing and looking for someone to blame in a way that keeps the "Indigenous struggle" alive. Or ..., what is the way out?

I feel there are very strong opposing factors that will affect our ability as a nation to move on from this latest discovery of 215 graves, to deal with the issue of the indigenous place in our society-- are they Canadian citizens or are they developers of a new nation within the Canadian society? Many Government politicians (a good example would be Brian Pallister, ex-premier of Manitoba) cannot see the real pain and lasting effects of decisions made by him and previous colleagues; the "official" Catholic church's refusal to acknowledge their role in this Residential School atrocity (they are still refusing to share grave files); and the Indigenous politicians who continue to blame present day "white" society for most of their ills while at the same time many of these politicians/chiefs have their hands in the pockets of their own people; all of these groups of people and institutions appear to want to help---so why aren't things better? Perhaps it is because the political will on both sides is truly not there, or do we not need to resolve the "Indigenous place in Canadian Society" question first?

I am certainly not smart enough or have the political clout to move this huge "place in society" issue. However, if somebody were to be foolish enough to ask me, my answer is simple: lets forget about the adults and focus entirely on the kids! Throw all monies into proper housing, clean water and education and mostly education. Use incentives and encourage all kids to complete school. Build good schools in their own communities and let the economy decide where they end up living and working-yes Integration (I said it!)

As for the recently much publicized Residential school atrocities, I am sorry but this is not new news, at least not to our Indigenous citizens. My understanding is they have known and have been talking about these burial sites for decades. My oversimplified way of being helpful on this issue would be to stay the hell out of the way and let our Indigenous citizens tell us what they need. Support! Support! Support! Don't have government responsible for "cleaning up or making it better". Lets work at getting rid of the Indian Act and for sure allowing reserve people to own their own property and land. Lets be respectful and listen the Elders and Chiefs on what is needed to move past this horrendous time in our history. All Canadians feel the grief for what happened to these children, we all want to do something that says, "we hear you". It will take some well placed monies and much forensic expertise with both government and the other key players having genuine resolve to move forward (not only with the graves issue but the whole issue of where the Indigenous people see themselves in regards to their place in Canadian society) This is one of "those moments", a crossroads where seeds of concern and goodwill can be sown, or more finger pointing and blame can be the outcome. This issue is very, very real to all Canadian citizens.

                              Support, not take responsibility for!

Any thoughts?
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                         REPLY!     REPLY!     REPLY!

I sent this request out last week ("Notes" #56), so a big thanks to those who responded. Today will be reminder #2! For those of you who have not yet responded and wish to have your name remain on the "Notes" mailing list, please respond below.

You know what I would like, I would really like to know who gets the "Notes" blog, and then I would really like to know who wants to continue getting the "Notes" blog.

Last year I was receiving somewhere between 100-150 new subscription email requests a day, driven by some unknown computer engine. I knew they were not legitimate subscriptions (use to receiving 1 or2 a week) and so for several weeks I tried without success to stop this influx of subscriptions. I had to resort to some complex screening procedures (thanks Jeff) and finally got the barrage of illegitimate emails to stop. Presently, I have a couple of thousand subscriptions on my "Notes" email list, of which most/many/some are illegitimate subscribers.

As a result, I would like to bring my mailing list a little bit more in line with the reality of who is actually reading the blog.

So for to continue "Notes", let me know."
       Yes danrosin@drcounselling.com 

Thanks,

Dan