Well, the barricade's down.
For now.
I've been discussing the ongoing Caledonia land dispute with colleagues at work, and I'm a bit shocked to discover I have a moderate view, at least compared to many of them. "They should Dudley George 'em all", one woman said. (Dudley George, a native, was shot and killed the last time we had a flare-up of this sort in Ontario.)
Well, I certainly wouldn't go that far. But...
A native leader in Caledonia spoke up yesterday, saying "our people are responding without weapons, using only their bodies to assert that we are a sovereign people ... and that we cannot be intimidated."
Hey, everybody, they're not using weapons! Aren't we just overjoyed?
Besides, I'd argue that. Protesters destroyed a power transmission tower, knocking out power to the surrounding (non-native) area. They also used backhoes to dig a trench in the road, which has been at least partially blocked for over two months now. This goes beyond inconveniencing the public well into reckless endangerment. No wonder a state of emergency was declared.
And what's this about a "sovereign people"? Are you Canadians, or not? If not, how is it you're collecting government cheques, exactly?
I've been reading the timeline of events and shaking my head. The most recent pertinent event (ironically enough, the sale of the disputed land by the Natives to one George Marlot Ryckman) took place on May 15, 1848. I get it, you're sorry you sold the land (or rather, your great-great grandfather's dust is sorry), but hasn't the statute of limitations about run out on this nonsense yet?
How much white man's guilt am I supposed to feel? Please answer, I really need to know. Exemption from paying tax doesn't seem to be enough. I'm finding it very difficult to determine how many Natives there are in Ontario, but I do believe the number is a hell of a lot less than 15 million, which is about how many dollars were spent by the Department of Indian Affairs last year. Despite all this, some natives apparently feel it's their God-given right to rip up roads and cut power to homes and businesses.
You have to imagine it's cost millions of dollars to police this mess, and it will cost more to clean it up and restore power. Who pays? We shouldn't have to, that's for sure.
4 comments:
Yes, I do believe it's time to get over the mean white man taking over "their" land... and I think that any people who are treated differently will believe they ARE different. In Hungary, we have the gypsies. They believe that they are "special" and that their way of life (which seems to involve crime and as little productive work as humanly possible - oddly, big screen televisons and cell phones do not threaten their way of life, but gainful employment does....) needs to be preserved. So the government builds them whole villages (housing is extremely expensive in Europe and it's very hard for young people to build or buy a house). Years later, a film crew went back to one of these villages with video cameras, and it was abysmal: bricks and heating units and carpets were ripped up, removed and sold. Windows were either taken out and sold, or broken, with newspaper taped in the frames instead... garbage everywhere, and gypsy families complaining that they have nothing... but as soon as they started to suspect that the slant of the filmmakers is less then positive towards them, they were almost beaten up, they had to flee quickly, apparently one camera was destroyed and their car was damaged. Now, I'm not saying that it's only their fault - there is prejudice and reduced opportunities for sure, but it seems the more they are given help the worse it gets.... I think it's the whole "not charity, opportunity" thing that people talk about when debating on help for the poor. Both sides need to be open for change for anything positive to happen.
I agree. And that's a perspective I hadn't thought of before--gypsies versus native Canadians. They do seem to have quite a lot in common.
And you know what the awful thing is? We have been so brainwashed to be "politically correct" and "sensitive" and "tolerant" that even while I was typing my comment, I thought... I sound like a racist... but I know I'm not... I've never looked down on people because of their background... but I do judge people by what they do with the circumstances they are given....
YES! I believe in tolerance, myself--it's one of my core values--but it has its limits. I really try hard not to judge people, but sometimes it's almost impossible.
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