There is no doubt in my mind that when Europeans first came
here to settle four hundred years ago, they came to what they assumed and
believed to be a largely vacant wilderness inhabited by a few “uncivilized” and
primitive human beings. They did not perceive themselves as guests in a foreign
land.
They were fortunate enough to learn a little about survival
in a harsh terrain and climate from the local inhabitants. These initial “settlers”
knew nothing about political correctness. Many had come to avoid persecution,
repression or dire situations in their homeland. They were migrants.
This was not the world of universal education, of instant
knowledge or political correctness. It was also not a secular society that
these people had been fashioned in. Indeed, it was a rigid religious society
locked in dogma, doctrine and intolerance. It was a very different world order
that they were raised in with very different sensibilities and understanding.
There was only one right way to be and that was their way, the Christian way.
Of course, it was also a survival of the fittest society.
And for Christians of the day, it was their duty to save
souls and see that nonbelievers were saved from hell and eternal damnation,
even if it was against the will of the “heathen”, or sinners – even if it hurt.
They were doing God’s will as far as they were concerned. Dreadful things have
happened and still are happening in the name of religion.
But could the indigenous peoples have continued indefinitely
in their ways on a vast continent where there were many “nations”, some
warring, and with different cultures, languages, norms and ways of life. Had
the French or British not come, others would have. What is painted as an
idyllic life for these inhabitants, even if accurate, could not have lasted.
Today we understand what colonization has done to indigenous
peoples around the world has caused great harm. We have learned that the way
society treated the poor, the mentally challenged, homosexuals, women and many
others was not from today’s perspective good. Our perceptions change over time.
The Europeans were not inherently bad people.
As a descendant of “settlers”, who arrived on this continent
in the late 1600s through to the late 1800s, am I to feel regret for what
happened. Yes, I regret it. But I do not feel responsible for it. I am not
personally sorry and saying so will change nothing. How does one undo hundreds
of years of history. One can’t. And rewriting it will change nothing. One has
to adapt and move forward. My Celtic ancestors had to adapt to a variously
conquered homeland, invaded by the Norse, and conquered later by the Romans and
then the Norman French.
Today migration is happening from all over the world. People
of all cultures and colours are coming here to escape the same types of
circumstances that brought the early settlers to this continent hundreds of
years ago. The indigenous peoples, themselves migrated here at one time
thousands of years ago. Indeed, they may not have been the first people to do
so, although there seems to be some evidence those earlier people died out.
I am opposed to apartheid in any form. And it seems to me we
have two forms of apartheid in Canada, one involves “Indians” and the other
“Quebecois”. There is no way forward in separate societies. The preservation of
reserves or distinct societies is not the way to preserve a culture. A culture
does not do well in a museum.
Just as the people of Newfoundland had to leave the isolated
outports if they wished to survive, people will have to leave these isolated
and underserviced reserves to survive in places where better health care,
better education and better employment opportunities exist.
There is no amount of money that will salve or cure the
wounds of old. If money is to be spent, it has to be spent in a way that offers
a sustainable future to the people it is intended for. And we have to stop this
love affair with victimization, and blame. Life is complex. And it is not
stationary.
Moreover, in my opinion, none of us human beings own this
land or have a superior right to it. We are caretakers of it. And we have not
done a good job. If this planet “belongs” to anyone it belongs to all of
creation. And we are not the masters of it, but its servants.
