|
| |
Here is a reflection from our first day, Sunday, at Sharbot Lake:
Feb 24, 2008
Today we walked through wetlands of spruce, ash, and alder, and woodlands of
cedar, pine, and fir. We saw tall, colourful rock and last summer’s dry
cattails, buds chewed off by deer and the tracks of unknown animals in the deep
snow. As beautiful as it all is to me, I know I don’t understand it or
appreciate it as deeply as I could. I am a settler.
Robert Lovelace, a First Nation leader recently sent to prison for demonstrating
against uranium exploration on historically Algonquin lands, testified that
“Algonquin identity is tied to the relationships that we maintain with the
land.” In refusing to consult with indigenous peoples over the use (and
exploitation) of their lands, we – the settlers and our institutions – not only
hack away at the earth’s sacred gifts to us, but also throw away one of our few
last opportunities at hearing and understanding a perspective on life that is
radically different from our own.
We desperately need the ancient insights of indigenous communities to challenge
our “modern” ideas of self-worth and identity through material goods, resource
consumption, and dominance over other living things. When we are blind to the
inherent worth and personality of the landscapes – seeing only mineral deposits
or lumber – we ultimately become blind to our own deep worth as human beings.
To view life and land in this way, as the indigenous people do, and then to
watch as frenzied, impatient people plunder and drill and cut and grind and burn
away that life and land, must be one of the more vulgar and violating
experiences a community can endure. That the members of the Shabot Obaadjiwan
and Ardoch Algonquin communities are demonstrating non-violently and asking for
negotiations with such offenders as our institutions, I am deeply inspired. I am
also deeply hopeful that, in the process, we will begin to recognize the
consideration of indigenous interests not just as a legal obligation, but as a
light on the path to our own holistic development.
- Kelley Haldeman
NEXT
F
|
