As one of the Original People here on Turtle Island (in so-called Canada), I take great offense to some recent comments made by two supposed “leaders” of the Perth County community.
These statements were regarding a motion at Perth County council’s Nov. 3 meeting to begin the process of adopting a land acknowledgement in the county.
Coun. Hugh McDermid and now former Coun. Daryl Herlick (he was unsuccessful in his bid for re-election during last month’s municipal election), as leaders in this community, you should be ashamed of your lack of education on the subject; your unsubstantiated comments reek of archaic and long-since dismissed ways of thinking that are seriously detrimental to the truth and reconciliation process.
None of your words had any factual basis. The “comments” showed me and everyone else watching the open council meeting that you both seek to hold on to old ways of thinking, which does not fit in today’s society.
The reference to the Taiwanese people made by Mr. Herlick was entirely uncalled for and unacceptable to me as a comparison to the Original People. Of course, the Taiwanese people would be grateful and love this country if they came here to escape oppression.
Their plight and ours are like comparing apples to oranges. We did not come here to escape oppression. We were already here and are being oppressed by people like you.
The fact that these people were willing to “take on the Canadian way of life” without argument is the exact opposite of what happened to the Original People. Your way of life was forced on us, used as leverage to assimilate us into your society.
One of the following statements is from a fictional television show – the other from the first prime minister in so-called Canada. Both of these statements are about assimilation.
“We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile!” – Star Trek
“The great aim of our legislation has been to do away with the tribal system and assimilate the Indian people in all respects with the other inhabitants of the Dominion as speedily as they are fit to change.” – John A. Macdonald, 1887
Neither of these tactics worked, as Captain Jean Luc Picard remained a human being in the TV show; the Original People of Turtle Island remain a culturally-distinct race of human beings.
Mr. McDermid, you said “(The Land Acknowledgement) is kind of to make people feel good and appease people, and I don’t think that’s part of my job. There are consequences to this, and one of them is, basically what you are saying is the land I have isn’t mine. Because this is a Land Acknowledgement, so you are acknowledging that somebody else owns my land.”
Mr. McDermid, what in the world? Please explain how saying a land acknowledgement will cause you to no longer own your land. That is just a ridiculous and inflammatory argument that has no merit.
Both of these statements made in council show me that you have yet to utilize the many educational tools available to update your archaic thinking and bring you up to speed with the way things are in 2022.
You, sirs, have both missed the point and the boat.
Truth and Reconciliation Call to Action 57 – Educate public servants on the history of Indigenous peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Indigenous rights, Indigenous law, and Indigenous-Crown relations.
One of several guides created to assist municipal governments with moving forward is from the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA).
The following are excerpts from this guide.
Possibly one of the most impactful ways that municipal governments can support reconciliation is to update internal training programs to regularly educate staff about the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada, including the residential school system, and how that impacts relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people today. This training may include a focus on intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.
In 2015, the TRC released a six-volume report that documents the survivors’ experiences and the legacy of residential schools. One of the reports outlines 94 Calls to Action on how governments of all levels, institutions, and residents of Canada can support the reconciliation process.
In 2016, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) published Pathways to Reconciliation, which summarizes the actions of Canada’s largest cities to respond to the calls to action.
The term ‘reconciliation’ often has different interpretations, but for the purposes of this guide, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada refers to reconciliation as: An ongoing process of establishing and maintaining respectful relationships. A critical part of this process involves repairing damaged trust by making apologies, providing individual and collective reparations, and following through with concrete actions that demonstrate real societal change. In its simplest form, reconciliation is about Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples coming to terms with the events of the past in a manner that rebuilds trust and respectful relationships. This will enable people to work out historical differences and build healthy relationships with a focus on bettering future generations in Canada.
I implore you both to take the necessary time to bring yourselves up to speed on these things, retract your statements and apologize to your constituents (including many Original People).
The path forward is not an easy one, but a necessary one. Change is hard, I get that, but change you must, or you will be left behind in the ashes.
Together we must build a new and wonderful place to live for all people, and if you don’t want to be a part of the solution, then you, sirs, are part of the problem.
We are all treaty people.
All my relations.
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Cory Bilyea is an Indigenous journalist currently working for Midwestern Newspapers. She is a member of the Six Nations of the Grand River nations, better known as Onkwehonwe, the original people. Cory is a survivor of intergenerational trauma caused by residential schools. She can be reached at cbilyea@midwesternnewspapers.com.
