Sorry?

[sabotabby]

I'm not in a position to reject or accept Harper's apology for the residential schools.

This said, I'll believe he—and the filthy and crooked institutions he represents—actually mean it when they come out and say that it was genocide, when they stop playing dirty tricks to undermine indigenous self-determination, when they pay attention to the poisoned water and the crumbling communities, when they end the cancerous blight that is the tar sands, when they sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, when they repatriate the remains of the children murdered by the Canadian state and the churches.

Until then, it's just words. And I don't believe he really means it.

Comments

[goodlookinout.livejournal.com]

Fucking seriously.

I was watching the coverage beforhands yesterday on CP24 (my professor from last year Cynthia Wesley Esquimaux was on) and they were asking "is an apology enough?" and on the plus side, every single person who called in the whole time was saying basically the same thing, which was nice to see from Toronto.

[culpster.livejournal.com]

I said it to Matias and now I'll say it to you: this is Bill Clinton bombing Sudan in reverse. Hormonal crisis? Change channel!

[theoldanarchist.livejournal.com]

Well said.

[queerasmoi.livejournal.com]

If Stephen Harper's face was capable of expressing any subtleties at all, then perhaps I would have means by which to judge his sincerity.

[eboniorchid.livejournal.com]

This is an issue that's close to home for me, so I do very much understand your perspective, but I can't say that I don't appreciate the words as a step in the right direction. There just need to be more and bigger steps to follow it up.

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

when they repatriate the remains of the children murdered by the Canadian state and the churches

I am not disagreeing with you, but I'm uneducated on this issue - what are you referring to here?

[sabotabby]

A lot of the children who died at the schools were just buried in mass, unmarked graves on school grounds. As far as anyone knows, they're still there.

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

oh my god.

Why does anyone argue this wasn't a genocide? Isn't "mass unmarked graves" a big part of genocide?

[sabotabby]

Fun fact: When they were defining "genocide" post-WWII, Canada pushed really hard to have cultural genocide omitted from the UN's official definition? Why? Because they committed it. Even with the edits, though, "kidnapping children of one ethnic group to be brainwashed into the sick-fuck ideology of another ethnic group" (I'm paraphrasing here), not to mention the whole killing-and-burying-in-mass-graves thing still somehow snuck in, though, so by the UN definition, it was very clearly genocide.

But, you know, we can't actually call it that in Canada. It would make (white) people feel bad.

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

I've been randomly reminded of the whole "OMG, we can't teach kids about what happened to First Nations people in this country - they'll feel bad."

Which, of course, goes back into "what do we teach kids" and "what lies do we tell kids" and at what age are peoeple 'old enough' to hear the truth in the same world where I work for the fucking government and most of the people I work with don't read the paper because it's too sad, and people I know regularly say "I don't study history because it's all about death" and I just want to SCREAM AT PEOPLE.

Gosh, if we understand things, we might fight to change them. Mustn't do that.

[robotar.livejournal.com]

what makes this even more disgusting is that they are mass unmarked graves of children. the whole situation is sick as fuck, and without necessary recognition from any governments. this all calls into question for me how my government is dealing with issues of genocide of First Nation peoples in america, and then i just wind up feeling despondent. how the hell does andrew jackson deserve to be on our money, anyway?

[thasolumn.livejournal.com]

Seriously. Fuck that guy. Every time he's brought up in a conversation I end up cursing his name till I run out of breath. How anyone could think he was anywhere near a good person/leader is beyond me.

[threeliesforone.livejournal.com]

The best part was when he started apologizing in different languages. Apparently, he only used 5: Ojibwe, Cree, Inuktutuk, French & of course, English.

Last time I checked, there were far more nations affected by the mission schools & not all nations speak ojibwa, cree or inuktutuk. Especially seeing as Mohawk speakers are on the rise, population-wise. Then again, why apologize in Mohawk? They're them dirty Indians who keep running blockades & occupying nice, suburban, potential neighbourhoods.

Ugh.

I could complain about the speech from here 'til tomorrow. But I'm still taking it for what it's worth: a beginning to restitutions & reconciliations. This is just one step towards holding Canada & its government accountable for all its intentional harm towards Native, Métis & Innu peoples.