1. Summer has finally arrived in Victoria. It showed up just in time for the first day of summer. Yesterday, it decided it was ready to skip straight to the August heatwave for a ridiculous 30C. I don't really 'do' heat, so I am very happy that the forecast calls for the temperature to drop back into the 20s. I can finally stop dunking my head in cold water every two hours.
Me all weekend
2. Wednesday was National Aboriginal Day here in Canada. Two big things came out of this day nationally:
Hector-Louis Langevin's name will be removed from Government offices. Hector was was one of the Fathers of Confederation and did much good for this country. However, he was one of the architects of Canada's Residential School system so I will not cry over the removal of his name.
I attended a presentation and discussion at the Royal BC Museum on repatriation. It was an interesting discussion with both members of the First Nations communities and museum staff who liaison with the FN communities regarding repatriation of items in the BC archives.
3. I am going to see PostModern Jukebox on Thursday. If you don't know who PMJ are, they take modern popular songs and perform them in various music styles from the 1920s to the 1960s. I am so excited! They just recently released this video of Weezer's "Say It Ain't So" as an old-school torch song.
Ah-maze-ing.
4. I went for a hike on Saturday around Royal Roads, also known as the home of Xavier's School for Gifted Children. Deadpool was there recently but no one was in when we stopped by. I was an amazing walk but I was very grateful that the majority was amongst the trees or beside the ocean.
Looking south across the Esquimalt Lagoon towards the Olympic Mountains (Washington State)
5. The work project is done... well, it's moved into stabilization which means I'm back to a normal work day with a few floor walking/support sessions. I can actually take my lunch breaks again!
It's another Sunday Sundries on a Monday. Meh... things happen.
1. On Saturday night, I headed to Phillips Brewery for the Under the Maltworks series. This month's movie was "This is Spinal Tap". I knew that we'd get a beer and a themed snack as part of the event, but we also got pins on our way out. So now I have a pin that goes all the way up to 11. It was a very enjoyable way to watch a movie, and I'm a bit bummed that I have a competing event for the next movie. That competing event is my friend's wedding so it is going to win the decision, but I did spend a couple of minutes trying to figure out how to do both.
2. "Thunderbird calls the people to the long house so they can witness. The act of witnessing is very important in our culture. To witness, you see, you hear, you experience, and then you go away from the place of witnessing and tell others what you witnessed." This explanation was given during the Git Hayetsk Dancers performance at the Aboriginal Cultural Festival this past weekend. So, this is my witness. I had a lovely time; I got to see my favourite dance piece by the Le-La-La Dancers, I enjoyed the Bison Taco from the Songhees Food Truck, I picked up Andy Everson's "Rise" to go with "Resistance" that I purchased last year (and at some point, I'm going to get "Defiance" to complete the set), and I finally bought myself a silver First Nations pendant I've been wanting to get (the design is Raven). I wish I could have stayed longer to watch more of the performances but it was cold and occasionally raining. After two hours, I was ready to head home. Because of the damp, cold weather, I didn't bring my camera this year so you'll have to make due with one of last year's photos.
Andy Everson is also one of the Le-La-La Dancers
3. My friends, Emma and Katie, and I have decided to start going to hikes once a month starting this Saturday. The long-term goal is a couple of short, multi day hikes next summer. While we have tentatively agreed that we will stop once the weather turns in October/November, I have a sneaking suspicion that Emma will convince us that the weather's not that bad. If it turns really bad, then we can always go snowshoeing.
If you're a Victoria-peep and are interested in joining us, let me know. I'll forward you our plan.
4. After finishing House of Cards, I started watching Riverdale. Wow. Archie and the gang have changed a lot since I used to pick up Double Digests as a treat when I was waiting inline at the store. At least Betty and Veronica still have the correct hair colour.
It's Sunday Sundries... on a Monday. Like Freedom Friday on a Taco Tuesday but less tasty.
My Internet has been dropping the last few days causing my Sunday night post plans to be thwarted.
1. I went to Wonder Woman after work on Friday. I need to do a full proper review but with my Internet still playing hide-n-go-seek, all you get is "I loved it. It was everything I wanted and more. My only complaint was that I couldn't just sit in the theatre and watch the next showing being apparently pets need to be feed or something. I don't know. I just know they ruin everything. But the movie was fantastic. It has flaws - I've yet to see a movie that doesn't - but they are so minimal and inconsequential when compared to what it got so very right."
Look at her kick butt!
2. I spent the weekend with Noah and Rachel. There was a failure with Noah's kidney transplant and they have had to start the search for another donor roughly 10 years sooner than anticipated. This is my reminder that there is a need for kidney donors. For more information about being a living donor in Canada, visit The Kidney Foundation of Canada. In the States, visit The National Kidney Foundation.
If you are planning on attending, I highly recommend that you try and catch Andy's Totem Tour, the Le-La-La Dancers, and Alex Wells. Food, as always, is available from the Songhees Seafood and Steam Food Truck. My personal favourite is the Indian Taco (bison version).
It's a few years old, but a few good words from Wab Kinew.
Here's to a great week, everyone! Only four more days until the weekend.
When I posted about Native Pride, I expected that the usual suspects would read it and that would be the end of it. But then my mom sent me an email praising the post and asking me "how do you get more people to read it?" Buoyed by her encouragement and perhaps a few drinks with a visiting friend, I shared the entry on my personal Facebook page with the text "I wrote something. My mom wants more people to read it so... yeah... here it is." I then promptly fell asleep.
The next morning, the post had a fairly high number of views and a few friends had left positive comments on my post. I was feeling pretty pleased with the number of people who read it as I headed out for a hike on the Saturday morning. I returned from the hike to find the number had tripled since that morning and friends and friends of friends were sharing it.
This is honestly as "viral" as any post of mine is going to get. More people saw that post than I have friends on FB. (Don't get too excited. I "cull" my FB on a semi-regular basis so it's not like I have a thousand people on there or something.)
If you found your way here because of that post, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.
The point of this blog is mainly a place for me to natter on about whatever I feel like. I'm rarely that clear and concise (or political) with my message (except during the last election), I hardly ever have an actual point to my post, and I'm usually writing about the mundane day-to-day going-ons in my life.
In other words, this blog is sure to disappoint you in about two posts.
But before I lose you forever, I wanted to first say 'thank you' to everyone who did read that post, took time to respond to me on Facebook, and/or felt the writing worthy of sharing. I appreciate it.
For more information on what's being done to promote and share First Nations language and culture in BC, check out First Peoples' Cultural Council and First Peoples' Cultural Foundation. On the First Peoples' Cultural Council site, you can read the Report on the Status of BC First Nations Languages 2014 which gives a great overview of the steps being taken to preserve, record, and share these languages. (In this report, SXIMEČ˝EČ˝ is included in the Lekwungen/SENÄOĹŚEN language family.)
From my parents' house, you can hear the Esquimalt Nation pow wows. For days, the pounding of the drums and droning chants would echo across the water and through our backyard. These summer festivities (we couldn't hear the winter ones because they were inside) were my first introduction to living native culture, and not just something I read about in books or saw in the museum. While pow wows are not my culture and I have never attended one, the sound of a pow wow is comforting to me. It reminds me of summer evenings on the back patio.
I assume that the vast four of you reading this are white, so I will begin by saying we have not done right by the First Nations of Canada.
Yes, even us who were born and raised in a more enlightened, politically-correct time. (I'm being a bit facetious here, just so we're clear.)
But that all happened so long ago!
1. The last federally-run residential school in Canada closed in 1996. That was only 20 years ago. At best (and I use that term very loosely), the schools provided free education in exchange for removing (often forcibly) children from their families, their culture, and their language. At worst, these schools were hives of physical, mental, and sexual abuse.
2. Actions and events have repercussions that ripple down through generations. The Indian Act of 1876 can be boiled down to this: the only good Indian is a white Indian. To allow natives to participate in our society, we wanted them to go to a white church, speak English or French, and dress like Europeans. If they didn't want to do these things, we "gave" them land (reservations), usually on the fringes of their traditional lands, and pretty much hoped that we'd eventually shame them into wanting to change.
What are the repercussions of this? The Esquimalt Nation has one fluent speaker of SXIMEȽEȽ. Let me repeat that for the people in the back.
*ahem*
The Esquimalt Nation has one fluent speaker of SXIMEȽEȽ.
I'll be honest, that the statement might seem misleading to some people when you learn there are about 80 additional people who speak some SXIMEȽEȽ or are actively learning it; but linguistically, I can also be classified as speaking some Irish. I can say hello, introduce myself, ask how you are doing, tell you to kiss my ass, and say goodbye. While that would be an entire conversation in an Irish pub, it's still a long way from fluent.
3. We are systematically setting them up to fail. A Native offender is 6 times more likely to be incarcerated than his or her white counterpart. Six times! In the past 10 years, Native incarceration has risen by over 50% to where they now make up 23% of the of the inmate population.
And this is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg.
The least, and I mean least, we can do for First Nations is support them in reclaiming their culture. Allow them the respect and freedom to be proud of who they are. It is their choice if and when we are apart of it.
But they don't pay taxes. But they get federal handouts. But they get [insert special thing here].
There are conditions around everything the governments, Federal and Provincial, do/give/etc for Aboriginal, Metis, and Inuit populations. Yes, some of them don't pay taxes, but neither do churches. I'd argue that religion has done a good deal more to muck up our country than any Native. Yes, Federal money is given to various First Nations tribes, but Federal money is also given to provinces. Yes, they may be exempt from paying for university, but two thirds of reservations don't have continuous clean running water so I'm okay with that. You should be too.
In the words of Chief Dan George:
Let no one forget it. We are a people with special rights guaranteed to us by promises and treaties. We do not beg for these rights, nor do we thank you. We do not thank you for them because we paid for them, and the price we paid was exorbitant. We paid for them with our culture, our dignity and self-respect. We paid until we became a beaten race, poverty-stricken and conquered.
Just so I don't end on a downer, A Tribe Called Red's newest song, Stadium Pow Wow.
I seem to be starting a tradition of posting after watching 'Game of Thrones'... but how could I pass up posting this after tonight's episode?
YAS QUEEN!!!
Ever since reading the books, I've had a soft spot for Sansa because while everyone says they'd be Arya who physically fights their enemy, we know we'd be Sansa who has to trip and fall her way through the political dance.
Other than GoT, I went to see 'Finding Dory' on Friday night. While the story wasn't as good as 'Finding Nemo' (to be expected), I laughed harder at the jokes so there's that.
It was also the Aboriginal Cultural Festival weekend. I went with my mom on Saturday and by myself on Sunday. I have a few extended thoughts but it's late so for now I will leave you with two photos.
Le-La-La Dancer (Kwakwaka'wakw Nation) performing a dance to bless the stage.
Because I am a big Star Trek fan, I do need to acknowledge that 2016 just doesn't know when to quit. We get it, 2016. You're an asshole!
My dad is memorizing 'The Cremation of Sam McGee' by Robert Service. I memorized this poem in Gr. 5 for some extra marks and Robert Service has been my favourite poet ever since. When my dad told me he was trying to learn it, I recited as much as I could remember. Apparently, my dad was learning this poem because my granddad used to recite it as his party piece. My never-left-Ireland-and-died-in-1954 granddad knew a very Canadian poem.
Why can I recite 'The Cremation of Sam McGee'? It's a family thing!
For my dad (and his dad) on Father's Day, 'The Cremation of Sam McGee' read by Johnny Cash.
