Thoughts on culture, education, and having been a Canadian in the US

I’ve never been a huge White Stripes fan until now. This is pretty cool.

(I posted this earlier tonight on the blog for my English 182 course, which wraps up tomorrow. I thought it would be of interest to the regular readers of this blog as well.)

Over the last week or so, the Globe and Mail has published an important series of stories about the history of the residential school system in Canada. In particular, the stories have focused on what to my mind is an unfathomable, unforgiveable neglect of the Canadian government as it ignored the vast numbers of native children who died of tuberculosis while attending these schools:

“A Globe and Mail examination of documents in the National Archives reveals that children continued to die from tuberculosis at alarming rates for at least four decades after a senior official at the Department of Indian Affairs initially warned in 1907 that schools were making no effort to separate healthy children from those sick with the highly contagious disease.

Peter Bryce, the department’s chief medical officer, visited 15 Western Canadian residential schools and found at least 24 per cent of students had died from tuberculosis over a 14-year period. The report suggested the numbers could be higher, noting that in one school alone, the death toll reached 69 per cent.” (Globe and Mail, “Natives died in droves as Ottawa ignored warnings; Tuberculosis took the lives of students for at least 40 years.” April 24, 2007. I would link directly to all of these articles, but I’m sorry to say that most of them are restricted to Globe subscribers).

On top of everything else that we’ve already talked about in our class with regard to the history of these schools, we learned this week of how many thousands of young children died in this system, which chose not to separate sick children from the regular student body, resulting in an infection rate more dramatic than perhaps we’ve ever seen anywhere else: “How many aboriginal children died from tuberculosis at the schools? Health Canada’s website reports a death rate as high as 8,000 per 100,000 during the 1930s and 1940s — decades after Dr. Bryce’s warnings. To put that in context, the death rates from tuberculosis on native reserves were, says Health Canada, among “the highest ever reported in a human population” — and at 700 per 100,000 people, they were less than 10 per cent of the rate afflicting children in the residential schools during the 1930s and 1940s.” (Globe and Mail, “The Lost Children of Our Schools.” April 28, 2007.)

In the discussions that have gone on about these revelations, we see a number of things of which we need to take notice.

First, if you factor in tuberculosis to what we already know about the physical and sexual abuse many of these students suffered, the systematic and deliberate destruction of culture, language and identity in the guise of “education,” the forced removal of thousands of children from their families, communities, and all that they knew, we’re reminded once again of how devastating this system was to the First Nations peoples of North America. Genocide is not an inappropriate word to use to describe what happened

Second, one of the other things that the Conservative government’s response to the discussion of these issues reveals is the nature of some of the stories Canadians still tell themselves about what Canada did to the first peoples of that land. Quoted in the Globe and Mail’s editorial on this topic over the weekend, “Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice said he will not apologize to aboriginals for the government’s role in overseeing the largely church-run residential schools because ‘fundamentally, the underlying objective had been to try and provide an education to aboriginal children.’”

In The Truth About Stories, Tom King reminds us that “the truth about stories is that’s all that we are” and that we can learn a lot from looking more carefully at the stories we tell ourselves, at the narratives we allow to shape our perceptions of the world. The Globe runs with this idea in its Saturday editorial and reminds us of many of the myths some Canadians still hold on to with respect to how Canada has treated Native peoples in the past and in the present:

The myth of Canada’s residential schools for native children holds that the schools had a paternalistic purpose, and that even after all is revealed about them — the physical and sexual abuse, the forced relocation of children, the ban on speaking native languages — Canada meant well. The country was simply limited by the assimilative vision of the times.

The full story of those deaths has not entered the Canadian consciousness. The Canadian Encyclopedia says nothing about tuberculosis under “residential schools” or “native education.” When the Canadian government apologized in 1998 for sexual and physical abuse at the schools, it said nothing about the deaths of children. (Globe and Mail, “The Lost Children of Our Schools.” April 28, 2007.)



For what it’s worth, Jim Prentice has stated in the last day or so that Canada will launch a new effort to learn more about this sad chapter of Canada’s past that remains fresh for many people across the country:

“As for a government apology, the minister said it is better to wait until a new Truth and Reconciliation Commission completes its five-year mandate to tour the country and issue a definitive report on the history of residential schools. Mr. Prentice told the House that his decision to attach “enormous significance” to such a commission dates back to his experience working as a constitutional adviser in South Africa in the early 1990s as the country worked to dismantle its apartheid structure.”

While this is a noble and likely important project, it’s not enough for right now. The Liberal opposition today spearheaded a largely symbolic vote that passed unanimously in Parliament today. It calls for the House of Commons to apologize to First Nations peoples for what the residential school system did to them.

As these recent revelations — “reminders” is perhaps a more appropriate word here, as these details were never forgotten by the First Nations — show us, the effect of what Canada did to the First Nations through the residential schools alone are still an everyday part of life for those people:

“In his opening speech, Saskatchewan Liberal MP Gary Merasty, a former Cree Grand Chief who moved yesterday’s motion, painted a dark picture of the residential schools experience.

‘I stand here for numerous victims whose stories will never be told, whose remains are scattered across our land in unmarked graves, scars on the land and even larger scars on our nation’s psyche,” he said. “According to some reports, students in the early to middle part of the last century often had to help bury their classmates, their friends, their relatives. Yes, children buried children.'”

Reading words like that, like many of the words we’ve read this semester are hard, painful, depressing, devastating even. But they’re also important and words that I hope we all try to remember and not forget. We’ve seen this semester the power that stories can have. Stories are not simply entertainment. They are fundamental to who we are, how we see the world, and to the decisions we make about how we live our lives and what we demand of the leaders and representatives we elect. We’ve seen what can happen when we change the stories we tell ourselves. As King tells us, we can change reality by changing the stories we tell ourselves. Changing those stories is hard, but necessary work.

From the Huffington Post:

The events of the past week in the Vermont legislature mark the beginning of a sea change in American political power. This may sound a bit grandiose coming on the heels of a defeat of an impeachment resolution in the Vermont House, but is true nonetheless.

Read the whole article here.

First off, I’ve been eagerly awaiting Michael Ondaatje’s Divisadero (currently in stock and ready to ship from Northwest Passages, by the way) since the moment I heard it was coming out. I now have a copy of the Canadian edition in my hands (it doesn’t get released in the US for another month) and just need a bit of free time to get started. I can hardly wait!

There’s been lots of press and reviews in the last few weeks about the new book, and I expect we’ll see a lot more in the US in the coming months. As usual, Aritha Van Herk’s review is as much a pleasure to read as the books she discusses:

A lesser writer might strive to unite these characters, but Ondaatje refuses such obvious resolutions, and instead simply presents the lamellate of their lives. The method of this segmented novel is archeological, revealing itself in fragments and between the lines. The multiple strands of the story are never insistent or chronological; any causal tyranny is stifled. Nor is this a tripartite story, but a slow fanning through the shale of memory and connection, the characters encountering other lovers and lives. “With memory, with the reflection of an echo, a gate opens both ways. We can circle time.”

Such poetic measure is one reason why the reader is content to pace these pages slowly. Ondaatje’s imagistic prowess flavours every line. Yet — and here is his true power — the style is modest rather than flamboyant. Wonderfully, its purity means that the narrative explains little, simply shows the characters living through their moments and within their own skins. Although the attentive reader will delight in every sentence, will revel in the vividly original language and narrative approach, Divisadero refuses the aggrandizement of pyrotechnics. By virtue of that reserve, the novel accomplishes an intimacy that is extraordinary, nakedly beautiful.

There’s a nice audio interview with Michael up at the M&S site here.

If I had more time, money, and childcare, I’d be in Montreal this weekend hearing him read as part of the incredible Blue Metropolis writing festival.

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Margaret Atwood has also been in the news a lot of late and some of this attention is due to her upcoming appearance at the Blue Met festival where she will be receiving the festival’s Grand Prix this year.

She’s also been quite outspoken about the lack of support for the arts coming from the current Tory government in Canada, saying that the feds are out to ‘squash the arts.’ I really like that about Ms. Atwood, as she knows that these statements have more of an impact coming from someone of her international stature.

She’s also been talking about Oryx and Crake a bit recently in The Guardian. Like The Handmaid’s Tale, it’s a book that’s seeming all the more prescient every day. There’s a good podcast of her discussion of the book here.

Like many people, I was really disappointed to see the mainstream American news last night fill hour after hour of screentime with the image and words of the man who murdered so many earlier this week.

I thought that we all had learned our lesson years ago and would have decided against giving someone all the publicity they craved and more. Yes, we all want to understand the actions of the killer, but how could we lose our focus on the victims in just a day? And how could anyone possibly think that showing those pictures over and over again while they pore over the man’s incoherent ramblings would be of help to anyone except future copycat killers? NBC, to my mind, set a new and remarkably dangerous precedent this week in irresponsible reporting and I’m glad to see some of the victims now refusing to speak to them in response.

I was very glad to see that some media outlets have taken a higher line than NBC, CNN, and others by choosing not to show any of the pictures or footage. If you’re reading this, please take a minute to read this editorial from the Editor-in-chief of CBC News. Definitely read the whole article, but here’s a brief excerpt that I thought says it all:

On its evening newscast, NBC ran several minutes of excerpts, and this video has been rebroadcast by a multitude of other networks. At the CBC, we debated the issue throughout the evening and made the decision that we would not broadcast any video or audio of this bizarre collection. On CBC Television, Radio and CBC.ca, we would report the essence of what the killer was saying, but not do what he so clearly hoped all media would do. To decide otherwise – in our view -would be to risk copycat killings. Speaking personally, I have long admired NBC News and I am sure my admiration of their journalists will endure. But I think their handling of these tapes was a mistake. As I watched them last night, sickened as I’m sure most viewers were, I imagined what kind of impact this broadcast would have on similarly deranged people. In horrific but real ways, this is their 15 seconds of fame. I had this awful and sad feeling that there were parents watching these excerpts on NBC who were unaware they they will lose their children in some future copycat killing triggered by these broadcasts.

This might be something that only Canadians can truly understand, but you would not believe how excited I am to see The Tragically Hip on Tuesday night at Higher Ground.

The Hip are a Canadian institution, but for far more than simply making great music. Already inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the band’s lyrics touch on everything from hockey to Canadian history to Canadian literature and their sound captures in some way the essence of the entire country. More than any other Canadian band, they’ve built a huge national following while maintaining a rich, yet down-to-earth connection with the people and the landscape. They are poetry, they are passion, they are the puck in the net as Team Canada scores the winning goal. If that sounds hyperbolic, so be it; it’s hard to talk about them any other way. Explaining the significance of the Hip in Canada to an American audience is almost like trying to explain Don Cherry to them. I’ve tried and failed at the latter, by the way.

For me, the errant Canuck, it just takes a few bars of At the Hundredth Meridian, Fireworks, or Yer Not The Ocean (among many, many others) to make me feel at home no matter where I am. The new album, World Container, is brilliant, by the way, and has only recently been released here in the US.

The fact that we get to see these guys in two days at a small club here, while fans in Canada have just been turning out in droves to see them play in arenas, explains what a treat we’re in for in Burlington. On my way into the office this afternoon, I saw what I’m certain was their bus across the street waiting at the light. Before I knew it I was waving frantically out the window at them! With luck, none of my students were also waiting at the light…. ahem.

More to come on the Hip’s visit to Burlington and my thoughts on their place in Canadian culture.

From this story on the CBC news:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is getting a pat on the back from Alberta RCMP for helping to nab a pair of Canadians suspected in a pepperoni theft.

Sausage suspects? What about Bratwurst bandits? Pepperoni pilferers? Ham hijackers?

An inspiring article on my colleague Huck Gutman in UVM’s The View today. I miss his enthusiasm around the department these days… Like my Dad, Huck’s too busy having fun to even dream of “retirement.” That’s a great lesson for all of us.

Gutman has altruistic goals for his work in Washington, to be sure — “I love the sense that we might actually change the world” for the better, he says — but more personal forces are also at work. While many of the colleagues he began teaching with are winding down, Gutman is not remotely ready for retirement.

“This is a chance to grow, to move onward with your life,” he says. With any luck, he’ll return to teaching in a year or two “more vibrant, with a renewed sense of how wonderful” being a college professor can be. To make his point, he paraphrases a favorite line from Normal Mailer: “A law of life is that we all have to grow or pay more for staying the same.”

So who do I cheer for now that the regular season is over?

My second favourite team, Montreal, is out too.

I did live in Calgary for a year…. but, no, still can’t do that.

Ottawa? Hmmmm….

Vancouver?! Uhhhhh…. no.

I think it’s down to the Penguins or the Islanders….

As Roy MacGregor points out today, you might even be able to argue that the Penguins are as close to being “Canada’s team” as anyone else out there.

But no “American” team is quite so star-struck “Canadian,” however, as the Pittsburgh Penguins.

I mean, what could be more Canadian?

Then again, it’s hard not to cheer for any team that has Ryan Smyth. It would be hard not to argue that Edmonton that trading Smyth was the fatal blow to the Oilers this season. One also can’t ignore the incredible injury problems that gutted the team, especially over the last half of the season.

Caught this tribute to Smyth on YouTube today. This really says it all….

Michael Leddy, whose blog Orange Crate Art is well worth reading regularly, also write a great monthly column on writing at lifehack.org. His most recent column on “How to Punctuate a Sentence” is something you all should read. Mastering proper punctuation is a must for you at this stage, especially if you’re an English major. If you’re unclear about how to use commas or semicolons, there’s no better time in your life than right now to figure those out once and for all.

I also recommend Leddy’s columns on “How to unstuff a sentence,” Granularity for students, and “Beware of Thesaurus.” The latter is especially helpful. Take, for instance, how he ends the article:

What student-writers need to realize is that it’s not ornate vocabulary or word-substitution that makes good writing. Clarity, concision, and organization are far more important in engaging and persuading a reader to find merit in what you’re saying. If you’re tempted to use the thesaurus the next time you’re working on an essay, consider what is about to happen to this sentence:

If you’re lured to utilize the thesaurus on the subsequent occasion you’re toiling on a treatise, mull over what just transpired to this stretch.