Steve Gold and I went to high school together. I remember having so much fun gabbing with him in Science class that the teacher moved me to the front. 
A lot of time has gone by – more than I want to admit – and social media has given us a chance to reconnect. I was intrigued to find out he is doing graduate studies on Indigenous People in North America.
This morning I found his comment on my latest blog post and it’s brilliant. The comments here on my blog are kind of hidden, so I want to share what he said in a new post.
Meegweech for participating in the moccasin telegraph. The 8th Fire presentation is designed for exactly what you are doing! That is building relations. Good relations cannot proceed without full understanding of each others experiences.
You and I met at St. Clair High School in the 70’s, a time when neither of us knew of the 60’s scoop. I am a survivor of that cycle of Canadian cultural genocide. Niiya Anishinabe who learned to blend into wherever I found myself.
I have a lifetime of experience in understanding and navigating mainstream dominate colonized culture. I am so fortunate to have have the right people/teachers along my life journey to contextualize the colonizing forces that planned my familial, institutionalization, my societal experiences and the comprehensiveness of the effects upon self (and also North American settler society and consciousness overall) that removing the veil of colonialism has been relatively easy for me. That veil never existed to many indigenous peoples on Turtle Island (they have seen it for what it is), yet revelation is becoming more widespread. (Please consider the unsustainable nature of consumerist capitalism rampant in North America and how the current political leadership promotes and sustains such folly). More and more people are beginning to understand this.
That indigenous peoples were to experience deeply felt hardships at the hands of other humans was prophesized well before 1492. But also prophesized was a time will come when the colonizer will require and seek indigenous knowledges, when indigenous peoples will have an opportunity to lead humanity through Mother Earth’s next cycle or two, (and maybe some human growth).
By sharing the information about the broadcast of CBC’s 8th Fire is a step towards a greater understanding of the experiences indigenous peoples and what we have to offer humanity.
Please keep in mind that we do not and can not go through a day without considering what non-aboriginal people are doing… yet non-aboriginal people rarely even consider us and what we do (other than stereotypical and racist assumptions and attributions).
So, my vocabulary got expanded today.
“Moccasin Telegraph” – The title of David Godin’s 1983 novel of “The Moccasin Telegraph and Other Indian Tales.” It also means grapevine, stories passed on by word of mouth, the oral tradition.
“Niiya Anishinabe”
Niiya – I believe it means my body and soul together http://weshki.atwebpages.com/oj_dict.html
Anishinabe according to Wikipedia means “First” or “Original-Peoples”. Another definition – possibly reflecting a traditionalist’s viewpoint with a certain moral dimension – refers to “the good humans”, or good people, meaning those who are on the right road/path given to them by the Creator or Gichi-Manidoo (Great Spirit). The Ojibwe scholar, linguist and author Basil Johnston, who explains the name in a creationist context, states that its literal translation is “Beings Made Out of Nothing”, or “Spontaneous Beings”, since they had been created by divine breath and were made up of flesh and blood and a soul or spirit – instead of rock, or fire, or water, or wind.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anishinaabe
Hope I got those right Steve!
On Monday night while cruising TV channels I happened upon the first episode of CBC’s “8th Fire.” The person on screen was saying it was time for the aboriginal and settler communities to come together. I stopped cruising. I knew he was right.
The show profiled a wide variety of people in the aboriginal community with the purpose of shining a new light on our first nations. New language, new topics and new understandings will help eliminate the first nation stereotypes our society has been soaked in.
For tens of thousands of years, the First Nations lived on this land, raising families, building communities and being mindful of the creator. Lake water was drinkable and the air always clean. The balance between human and nature was carefully respected.
It took only a few hundred years, after subsequent nations started arriving, for things to change dramatically. Yes, some of the changes were more “advanced,” but the lake water and air reflected a very different set of values.
Ignorance, arrogance and fear motivated the early settlers to make some barbaric choices. The many attempts to shun and assimilate/eliminate the First Nations met with horrible results.
I was surprised how I identified with Nakuset a woman featured on Monday’s episode. Nakuset was taken as a newborn from her Cree family in the awful “’60’s Scoop” and adopted by a Jewish family in Montreal. Growing up she was supposed to fully identify as a Jew, but deep inside she knew she wasn’t. When she learned she was aboriginal, she enthusiastically embraced her heritage calling herself “born again.”
I too was born in the ’60’s, but my life unfolded very differently. I was fortunate to be raised by my biological parents surrounded by people I looked like. While I fully identify as a Canadian, my ancestral roots for years were a blurry blend of Norwegian, Scottish, German, Russian, Dutch-descent… etc. I was really excited a few years ago to learn that my mom’s family, while Mennonite in culture, was essentially 100% Dutch in blood-line. I learned this AFTER I married a Dutch man and gave birth to a very Dutch-looking daughter. The first time I went to my husband’s extended family reunion I walked into a hall of tall, blondish people and I knew I belonged!
Nakuset loved discovering she was aboriginal. I loved discovering I was half Dutch. Individuals need to embrace roots to grow. So too, collectively as a nation, we need to attach to our roots so we can grow into a stronger future.
It is time for dialogue. It is time for all of us – the first nations and subsequent nations – to sit down, talk, listen and learn. It’s time to look with open eyes at the past – the good, the bad and the ugly – and together vision our future.
The lake water and air will probably thank us, too!
“Tena ka mihi atu ki a koutou
me to whanau kei te tuara o te honu.(Acknowledgements to you and your
family upon the back of the turtle island.)
Meet some of my friends in the aboriginal community who are doing really interesting things:
http://skybuffalo.net/http://theplainsofaamjiwnaang.wordpress.com/
http://www.ojibwaylegacy.com/Descipts.html
Aboriginal Student Experience at University of Alberta
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1700463/ http://www.creative-native.com/ http://www.rvvrd.com/ http://www.mckenzieproperties.ca/ - -
I’m a HUGE fan of Buffy Sainte Marie. Here is one of my faves!
BIG Congratulations to my friend and fellow Cambridgian, Tahani Aburaneh who has just released her new book “Real Estate Riches.”
Tahani is a real estate agent who specializes in working with investors, helping them find properties that fit their portfolio and will work well for their money. This is a unique skill that few agents have and investors absolutely need.
In her book, Tahani shares her personal journey from spending her teen years in a refugee camp & entering an arranged marriage while young to eventually establishing her own successful businesses here in Canada, all on her own. Her story is truly inspiring and will leave you believing more in yourself.
PLUS! 100% of the royalties go to help other women around the globe with www.Care.org.
Here’s a clip from the foreword of the book written by Don R. Campbell, Canada’s leading expert and author of several best-selling real estate investing.
When I came out with my first book, Tahani was one of the first people to congratulate me. She always goes out of her way to support other women entrepreneurs. I am sincerely pleased to pass those congratulations right back to her.
Take a look at Tahani’s business KeyConnexions: Connecting Key People Together http://www.keyconnexions.ca/
Way to go Tahani!!
Happy New Year!
• • •
Welcome 2012!
“May you follow your dreams with courage,
May you love with a greater love than ever before,
May your understanding of the world around you deepen,
And may kindness find you wherever you are.”
~ Tracie Douglas-Giesbrecht
2012 is almost here, but if you’re still looking for some tips on buying bubbles, check out my post on Cooking With Sin.
My deck lured me out on it today. It’s August so the shadows are longer and the days are slightly cooler. I love the sun and I love working in the sun, but during the hotter days my laptop does not concur, so I tend to do most of my typing indoors, but today is a beautiful exception. Sitting under a clear blue sky with my laptop, I have a glass full of ice and diet cola and my cat is curled up under my deck chair. Perfect conditions for contemplation.
Early this summer my friend Sharon was on a mission to get all her friends to read “The Help.” She was very excited and passionate, so I joined her. I found the book truly compelling and finished it in a few days, the whole time texting back and forth with Sharon my reactions and “a-ha” moments.
Sharon and I met over three years ago through teaching and while we liked each other immediately our relationship was cemented when she stepped in to cover my classes while I recuperated from a severe injury. Sharon is a young, black woman in the early stages of her teaching career and I’m a not-so-young white woman getting close to retirement, so on the surface we may not have many reasons to connect, but we truly do.
Right away, I recognized that I identified with the white characters in “The Help.” I knew first hand what it was like being a little girl like Mae in the ’60’s. To be headstrong, awkward and smart when society wanted (and still wants) little girls to be cute, subservient and demure. I also loved Skeeter. Tall, gangly, opinionated, un-lady-like and subversive with outta-control curls. Hello!! One of my messages to Sharon said I had always wondered what kind of white person I would have been at that time in the south. I like to believe I would have been like Skeeter, a voice for justice and human rights. Sharon’s response was awesome. She thought I would have absolutely stood up for truth, but deep down I am left wondering.
“The Help” is a story about women. It’s about legal, societal and self-imposed restrictions women have navigated and it is set in the 1960’s in Mississippi. I despised Hilly as she stands for every mean, controlling girl who had ever found strength by making other’s lives miserable. I cried with joy when Aibileen’s congregation holds a secret meeting to celebrate her as an author and my tears turned to deep grief when Aibileen thinks about Skeeter having no one for support. I kept hoping Skeeter and Minny would find a way to live without the men in their lives and the book finishes with only a few things resolved, but leaves a sense of hope.
“The Help” is a book written by a white woman and is based loosely on her life growing up in the south. It seemed to say both “Thank you” and “I’m sorry” at the same time.
Was “The Help” perfect? No. As an author I can tell you that no published book on the market is perfect. Did it stir up a lot of conversation and contemplation? Yes and yes.
I was intrigued when Atinuke Bankole, one of our local leaders, sent me “An Open Statement to the fans of ‘The Help’” from the Association of Black Women Historians. Their voice is extremely important in all of this. They remind us that that Aibileens and Minnys of the south have a lot more to say, so I am sharing it here.
I have some further thoughts regarding the ABWH’s statement and I’m going to share them on another post. First I need to see the film version to round out my ponderings. There is an email at the end so you can send your thoughts to the ABWH, if you wish. I also would be very interested in your opinions on this statement. So, I hope you will leave a comment below.
An Open Statement to the Fans of The Help:
On behalf of the Association of Black Women Historians (ABWH), this statement provides historical context to address widespread stereotyping presented in both the film and novel version of The Help. The book has sold over three million copies, and heavy promotion of the movie will ensure its success at the box office. Despite efforts to market the book and the film as a progressive story of triumph over racial injustice, The Help distorts, ignores, and trivializes the experiences of black domestic workers. We are specifically concerned about the representations of black life and the lack of attention given to sexual harassment and civil rights activism.
During the 1960s, the era covered in The Help, legal segregation and economic inequalities limited black women’s employment opportunities. Up to 90 per cent of working black women in the South labored as domestic servants in white homes. The Help’s representation of these women is a disappointing resurrection of Mammy—a mythical stereotype of black women who were compelled, either by slavery or segregation, to serve white families. Portrayed as asexual, loyal, and contented caretakers of whites, the caricature of Mammy allowed mainstream America to ignore the systemic racism that bound black women to back-breaking, low paying jobs where employers routinely exploited them. The popularity of this most recent iteration is troubling because it reveals a contemporary nostalgia for the days when a black woman could only hope to clean the White House rather than reside in it.
Both versions of The Help also misrepresent African American speech and culture. Set in the South, the appropriate regional accent gives way to a child-like, over-exaggerated “black” dialect. In the film, for example, the primary character, Aibileen, reassures a young white child that, “You is smat, you is kind, you is important.” In the book, black women refer to the Lord as the “Law,” an irreverent depiction of black vernacular. For centuries, black women and men have drawn strength from their community institutions. The black family, in particular provided support and the validation of personhood necessary to stand against adversity. We do not recognize the black community described in The Help where most of the black male characters are depicted as drunkards, abusive, or absent. Such distorted images are misleading and do not represent the historical realities of black masculinity and manhood.
Furthermore, African American domestic workers often suffered sexual harassment as well as physical and verbal abuse in the homes of white employers. For example, a recently discovered letter written by Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks indicates that she, like many black domestic workers, lived under the threat and sometimes reality of sexual assault. The film, on the other hand, makes light of black women’s fears and vulnerabilities turning them into moments of comic relief.
Similarly, the film is woefully silent on the rich and vibrant history of black Civil Rights activists in Mississippi. Granted, the assassination of Medgar Evers, the first Mississippi based field secretary of the NAACP, gets some attention. However, Evers’ assassination sends Jackson’s black community frantically scurrying into the streets in utter chaos and disorganized confusion—a far cry from the courage demonstrated by the black men and women who continued his fight. Portraying the most dangerous racists in 1960s Mississippi as a group of attractive, well dressed, society women, while ignoring the reign of terror perpetuated by the Ku Klux Klan and the White Citizens Council, limits racial injustice to individual acts of meanness.
We respect the stellar performances of the African American actresses in this film. Indeed, this statement is in no way a criticism of their talent. It is, however, an attempt to provide context for this popular rendition of black life in the Jim Crow South. In the end, The Help is not a story about the millions of hardworking and dignified black women who labored in white homes to support their families and communities. Rather, it is the coming-of-age story of a white protagonist, who uses myths about the lives of black women to make sense of her own. The Association of Black Women Historians finds it unacceptable for either this book or this film to strip black women’s lives of historical accuracy for the sake of entertainment.
Ida E. Jones is National Director of ABWH and Assistant Curator at Howard University. Daina Ramey Berry, Tiffany M. Gill, and Kali Nicole Gross are Lifetime Members of ABWH and Associate Professors at the University of Texas at Austin. Janice Sumler-Edmond is a Lifetime Member of ABWH and is a Professor at Huston-Tillotson University.
Suggested Reading:
Fiction:
Like one of the Family: Conversations from A Domestic’s Life, Alice Childress
The Book of the Night Women by Marlon James
Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neeley
The Street by Ann Petry
A Million Nightingales by Susan Straight
Non-Fiction:
Out of the House of Bondage: The Transformation of the Plantation Household by Thavolia Glymph
To Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women’s Lives and Labors by Tera Hunter
Labor of Love Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work, and the Family, from Slavery to the Present by Jacqueline Jones
Living In, Living Out: African American Domestics and the Great Migration by Elizabeth Clark-LewisComing of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody
Any questions, comments, or interview requests can be sent to: ABWHTheHelp@gmail.com
If you are interested I incorporated “The Help” into one of my Cooking With Sin posts. One of the things that I try to bring to light are the use of our words around skin colour and I shared my ideas here:
“Proud Mary” Fried Green Tomatoes
http://cookingwithsin.com/2011/07/20/proud-mary-fried-green-tomatoes/
John Gilbert “Jack” Layton
MP, Dedicated, Inspiring Canadian Leader
”If I’ve tried to bring anything to federal politics it’s the idea that hope and optimism should be at their heart.” ~ Jack Layton
Driving to our cabin today I was taken by surprise to hear Jack Layton, our long-time Canadian politician and official opposition party leader passed away early this morning.
“Bicycle Jack” left an unforgettable legacy.
Visionaries can be found across all political parties, from left to right, in our country. In the last election I was inspired watching “Bicycle Jack” – a 60-year-old cancer survivor recovering from major surgery – work the campaign trail, cane-in-hand, with unstoppable energy and go on to make history.
“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.
All my very best,
Jack Layton”
Thank you Jack!
What a great day! Check out my photos from the day! “Best Bites 2011″ Bravo!
http://cookingwithsin.com/2011/09/14/best-bites-bravo/
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Get your tickets for “Best Bites” the food, wine & beer fundraiser for Cambridge Memorial Hospital.
Join me, along with several wineries, craft breweries and lots of local chefs and restaurants. I’ll be there “doctoring” up some Black Forest Cake from Cooking With Sin for everyone! Here’s the recipe on the blog:
http://cookingwithsin.com/2010/01/17/special-delivery/
Buy your tickets here:
http://www.bestbitestickets.ca/main4.cfm?id=E480EE10-D296-1B23-636461B131DC19E2
Together we can help the hospital purchase an MRI machine!
Thank you to my friend Jeff who found this one on MLS.CA. Can you believe this? This agent calls him/herself a professional?!
Couldn’t they tell that this was a bad idea? What can I say??
Both of my sets of grandparents immigrated here to Canada and worked harder than I can even imagine. I know. I heard all about it growing up. Over and over again… “When I was young …” Typical kid, I turned a deaf ear to it most of the time, but it actually sunk in. Now as an adult I get it.
Today, I learned that immigrants are 4 times more likely than natural born North Americans to become millionaires. I found that amazing so, I posted it on Facebook and… a lengthy & passionate conversation ensued.
It sure does beg the question. Why? Do they succeed because they take “our” jobs? Does your place of birth matter on a resume? Okay, if you’re the President of the US it’s an issue, but otherwise it doesn’t, does it? Good thing because I probably wouldn’t be here today if none of grandparents could haved worked. So why DO immigrants succeed so well?
My grandparents tell it well. My Mennonite Nickel grandparents were dedicated farmers who started out with almost nothing, but were determined to make a better future for their family. They sure did - in spades! My Johnson grandparents dabbled in lots of things from running a bakery, to playing music, to starting a road construction company that grew to become worth a cool few $$.
Not only did my grandparents not TAKE anyone’s job, but they CREATED jobs. They were entrepreneurs. They thought differently and acted differently.
Valden Palm, one of my Facebook friends summed it up beautifully today.
Those “successful immigrants” tend to have:
1. A thanksgiving for the opportunity to succeed, not an “entitlement mentality”
2. A strong work ethic
3. Starting at the bottom is not “beneath them”
4. A frugal living standard
5. A tenacious vision to succeed not only for themselves but for their family, and for the future generations of their family that will follow
6. Resiliency, to be able to take the good and the bad that comes and not let the things that they can’t control steal their dream
7. Adapability, to change course as they need to so their goals WILL be met, maybe not just the way they planned to when they started
8. Joy of life.. they enjoy the journey realizing every day the environment from which they came where there was no opportunity for them or freedom to fashion their lives to whatever they dreamed it to be
9. A generous heart and spirit. They contribute to their family, their new community and their new country.
Thank you Valden.
Thank you Grandma & Grandpa.
I am voting today and I hope you are too.
Knowing what so many other countries have had to do lately to try and change their government and ruling bodies, our right to vote is not something to take for granted. We get to choose our government. We get to do it in an orderly and structured manner. We get to do it freely and without coercion (besides the circus of ads we’ve been exposed to!). We vote them in and we vote them out. That’s how it works. It’s not perfect, but it is the best system we have come up with. So, let’s all vote!
Here is a chart from Elections Canada with the voter turnout date since confederation in 1867. I found it fascinating.
“Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.” ~ George Jean Nathan
“The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.” ~ Lyndon B. Johnson
