As Chief Theresa Spence enters the 16th day of her hunger strike, with Stephen Harper still refusing to meet her, I see his inaction is causing some old Canadian demons to take flight.
Flying out of their internet caves like bats, and emitting bigot sounds.
One Facebook commenter called the chief a 'dumb Indian' and suggested that irrationality was a genetic trait among aboriginals. The person later apologized for the comment after it was posted and criticized on a Montreal-based blog.
That blog singles out other epithets that run the gamut of aboriginal stereotypes, for example with one man suggesting police throw cases of whisky at native Canadians to quell their growing protest movement.
Or idiot sounds.
If someone in the PMO reads this, they should find a way for the PM to stop Spence’s hunger strike because, whether it is right or wrong that Spence is demanding to see him, a negative outcome can never ever be undone. I am not suggesting, of course, that the PM give in to her demands to meet with her, but surely she can be taken into protective custody for her own good.
Because let's face it eh? If the
And what those ghastly old bigots need to understand is that the Idle No More movement is about more than one brave woman's hunger strike.
Although Idle No More began before Chief Spence’s hunger strike, and will continue after, her strike is symbolic of what is happening to First Nations in Canada. For every day that Spence does not eat, she is slowly dying, and that is exactly what is happening to First Nations, who have lifespans up to 20 years shorter than average Canadians.
It's about correcting an intolerable situation that has gone on for too long. And one of the main reasons it's happening now is because aboriginal youth between 15 and 30 are the fastest growing population segment in Canada.
They see what's happening, they're not going to take it anymore. They know how to use social media to get their message out. They have seen other youth driven movements from Cairo to Montreal.
Now it's their turn...
And if Stephen Harper doesn't start acting like a Canadian Prime Minister, do the right thing, and meet with Chief Spence, he will only add fuel to the flames.
There will be trouble, it will be his fault, and history will never forgive him.
You know, this afternoon the BBC ran a report on the native community of Fort Hope in northern Ontario, which has been ravaged by both poverty and drug abuse.
They ran Neil Young's song "Helpless" over some of the sad pictures.
Blue, blue windows behind the stars,
Yellow moon on the rise,
Big birds flying across the sky,
Throwing shadows on our eyes.
Leave us
Helpless, helpless, helpless.
And as I watched that British reporter exposing our misery and our shame to the world, all I could think of was damn those bigot birds who would throw shadows on our eyes. And blind us to our own reality.
Damn Stephen Harper for being too small and too Con, or too cowardly, to meet with Chief Spence.
But helpless, helpless, helpless? Nah.
Not any longer. Idle No More.
I like that Neil Young song a lot eh?
But I like this one even better...
Rocking in the Great White North, with our awesome First Nations and aboriginal youth. How lucky I am.
Resisting the Con regime. Telling the bigots to take a hike. Supporting the amazing Idle No More movement with all my heart. For as long as it takes.
Until the day of justice...
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Many immigrant family's would have perished, on the bitterly cold Canadian prairies, if not for the F.N. Many of those family's, had no clue of the cold. Some family's arrived, with only their lives. The F.N. hunted, Moose, Deer and Elk for those family's. Gave them smoked fish and dried berries. Cut fire wood for them. Made them fur lined moccasins, they were wearing gunny sacks for winter boots. Made them fur jackets and mitts. Made them fur blankets. Neighbors helped those family's with vegetables, and what ever they could spare. The F.N. sent their sons to war, right alongside my own brothers.
ReplyDeleteF.N. as they passed by, were always welcome for a meal. Told as they were on their way home, to stop for vegetables, chickens, eggs, butter and cheese. My Mother would make toffee for their children.
It would have been worth your life, to speak against the F.N. people, in those Prairie homes. They were respected and appreciated. The F.N. were good, decent and kind people. They still are.
We did enough evil dirt to the F.N. people. They deserve our help, not our hate.