Best of counterweights 2011 C : Aboriginal peoples of Canada, 2005-2011 .. and btw have you met Andy Radia yet?
Dec 28th, 2011 | By L. Frank Bunting | Category: In Brief
We are of course far from alone in our view of 2011 as a hinge of fate. Here, eg, is Bloomberg Business Week on the subject: “Rampaging natural catastrophes, global financial calamities, the deaths of despots and desperados, the passing of America’s greatest modern technical innovator and roiling protests that shook the Arab world and occupied Wall Street –Â they made 2011 a year that will be remembered for its almost unrelenting turmoil.”
What at least a few in the true north etc are also asking is whether 2011 has also finally convinced the Canadian people to take the aboriginal peoples of Canada seriously, at last? (Where, as defined in the Constitution Act 1982, “‘aboriginal peoples of Canada’ includes the Indian, Inuit, and Metis peoples of Canada” – and where, as Harold Innis urged as long ago as 1930 : “We have not yet realized that the Indian and his culture were fundamental to the growth of Canadian institutions.”)
Counterweights, X and I have just calculated, has run at least a dozen pieces on one or another sense of the aboriginal peoples of Canada over the past half dozen years – one in 2005, three in 2006, two in 2007, none in 2008, one in 2009, three in 2010, and two in 2011. For those who may somehow be interested, here is our full list:
OCTOBER 31, 2005 – Kashechewan calamity .. Gomery watch interrupted way up north
MAY 26, 2006 – Tekahionwake’s war party at Caledonia
AUGUST 5, 2006 – Iroquois origins of modern Toronto
AUGUST 20, 2006 – Caledonia war party drags on .. and what does it say about democracy today?
FEBRUARY 28, 2007 – Happy birthday to who? .. where does the Six Nations Caledonia protest go from here?
DECEMBER 24, 2007 – David Thompson’s Canadian West .. and east .. and the Métis middle ground today
JUNE 5, 2009 – There’s Pontiac .. and then there’s Pontiac .. both worth a few historical tears
FEBRUARY 15, 2010 – Happy Louis Riel Day 2010 .. that’s what it should be called everywhere in Canada, coast to coast to coast
MARCH 10, 2010 – Go north young person: falling into the Ring of Fire on Open Ontario’s exotic last frontier
NOVEMBER 17, 2010 –Â Pat Martin’s Bill C-417, An Act respecting Louis Riel .. another way of helping Canada lean forward
JUNE 21, 2011 –Â Happy National Aboriginal Day 2011 Canada .. even if the Ossossane Ossuary in Old Wendake is still not perfect
DECEMBER 11, 2011 – Our seven-year itch .. Aboriginals, Europe, Harper style, MLSE, Monarchy, United left, Voter turnout
To end on an “And now for something completely different” note, have you bumped into “Andy Radia … Freelance sports and political writer based in Vancouver, BC” yet? Both X and I agree that we have been reading Radia’s work with some admiration for a while now, without quite being aware of who he is. Now we have looked into the matter. For general background and a sample of his work try: “Welcome to Radia.ca … Andy Radia is a columnist/reporter based out Vancouver, British Columbia Canada” ; “Andy Radia … Independent Newspapers Professional … Vancouver, Canada Area Newspapers” ; and “Blog Posts by Andy Radia.” For two intriguing holiday season posts see “Helena Guergis files lawsuit against Stephen Harper, others” and “Harper’s patronage appointments becoming a holiday tradition.”
