Toast gets a run in.
September is a good month. Still no frost in the valley bottom. Soon though, and I’m looking forward to it. Most of the tomatoes and the last of the cucumbers have been picked.
Toast and I piled wood this afternoon. I split a few so she gets used to the sound of the axe hitting a block. She will also have to get used to the sound of the chainsaw. So far nothing seems to scare her. She is a little reluctant with new people, but I don’t mind that.
These days the skies are blue. The tourists have receded somewhat. However, as I write this I can hear vehicles doing burnouts. There is a classic car rally in the valley that brings participants from far and wide. They can’t help it.
I expect the next month or so to be busy as people start realizing they have to get things done before the snow flies.
The trip to Quebec has renewed my interest in Canadian history and I have been reading some old journals and books in the public domain. I’m also rereading The Orenda by Joseph Boyden. Boyden was cancelled in the Canadian literary scene, maybe rightly so, however he sure can write. His books, based on historical events, are from the individuals perspective. That’s what I find interesting. I know dates and how it all panned out, I am interested in what people where thinking and how the world was changing in their eyes.
Boyden did this well in Three Mile Road about a man coming home from the First World War. Some of the stories within the book were similiar to the ones my father and grandfather told. There is an authenticity to his stories. So it is quite ironic that Boyden was cancelled due to his own lack of authenticity. Things change, soon people will be judged by their work or art. That’s not now however.
The moon is growing. I point it out to Toast. She gnaws on a piece of bark and doesn’t look up. I know she feels it though.
Off the ridge.
mountaincoward
You’re certainly training your new dog right – getting her gradually used to things which will be a part of her every day life and so on.
That author sounds really good – I’m surprised he was ‘cancelled’.
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underswansea
Toast is really coming along and learning quickly. She has a very calm demeanour.
Boyden was cancelled because he presented himself as indigenous, but was not. This allowed him to write stories about indigenous subjects. This is not to be done, in Canada, by people that are not indigenous. He also accepted literary prizes meant for indigenous authors. His career is over and a lot of ink has been spilled justifying why.
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mountaincoward
That’s understandable about Boyden then. Glad Toast is coming along well – she sounds to have a great personality.
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Carol A. Hand
Such a great action photo of Toast! She is so lovely.
How fragile people are when it comes to reading something that expresses views differnt than their own. I learned a lot from books that wrote about my “savage” Ojibwe ancestors. They also brought me inside of the cultures that produced such disparaging worldviews which I would never have imagined otherwise. (It helped prepare me for what we’re witnessing now in the U.S.)
Your photos and discussion of Quebec were fascinating. I understand only a little about my ancestors who originally emigrated from France and settled in Quebec (30 percent of my DNA). I only visited there a few times long ago and often had trouble at the border when trying to reenter the U.S. There are times when I wonder why I tried so hard to come back. But then, I remember all of the lovely people I have had a chance to work with here.
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underswansea
Hi Carol. Thanks for your comment. Toast is really coming along and it is great to have a dog again.
Quebec was very interesting. Some of the history we learned in high school, although not very much. I also may not have been paying attention. Unfortunately, Canadian history is no longer taught in our high schools. I assume it is taught in universities, but it may not be.
If you get a chance to see Quebec again, it is well worth the trip and you will be welcomed with open arms. Canada and the US may have strained relations right now, but US citizens are always welcomed into Canada, as we recognize the difference between US people and their administration.
Getting back into the US could be tricky however. Lisa and I used to go to the States occasionally. It was always a different place, there were things I liked about it and things I didn’t. I was once robbed by a highway patrol cop 6 miles from the US/Canadian border. That was interesting. He took all my money which was about $300. I was glad to get across the line.
I went back plenty after that however.
Now we never go nor want to.
The author Joseph Boyden was ‘cancelled’ because he presented himself as indigenous. After an investigation by a reporter it turned out he wasn’t and his career was over. This happens a lot in Canada. You may have read recently of Buffy St. Marie. I agree with the principle but feel sorry for the individuals like St. Marie. And Boyden I admire for his stories, that can appeal to anyone regardless of racial makeup.
Thanks again for commenting. Take care.
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Carol A. Hand
I have never heard about Joseph Boyden or read any of his works, but the treatment of Buffy Sainte-Marie is heartbreaking. She is such an incredibly talented artist in so many ways and was a role model for Indigenous communities and children throughout the U.S. She also created and performed episodes on Sesame Street, a TV show in the U.S. where my daughter’s paternal grandmother worked as one of the VPs..
I am afraid that “Blood quantum” and “who’s a real Indian” will ever be with us, splintering communities to the joy of those who just want indigenous people to all disappear. There are so many things people from different backgrounds can learn from each other, and uncomfortable as it has been to be born in-between, I’m grateful for that opportunity. I’ve had a chance to work with so many people on different sides of those divides. Sometimes, for a while, the partnerships across divides are transformative for everyone involved. They can mellow us and make us wiser.
The presences of beloved four-legged and winged companions in our lives is also a transformative gift and I’m so grateful that you and Lisa found Toast. 🪶❤️
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underswansea
Thank you so much Carol. It has been wonderful to be walking the bush with a dog again.
I agree that the treatment of Buffy Sainte-Marie was very poor. Blood quantum in Canada is not generally treated the same way as it is in the United States. That does not mean there aren’t stringent requirements surrounding Indigenous identity, citizenship and status, however. Increasingly, the important question is not simply whether someone claims Indigenous ancestry, but whether the Nation or community they claim a connection to recognizes that connection.
In Canada, falsely claiming an Indigenous identity is taken extremely seriously, and there are good reasons for that.
Indigenous people and communities have certain constitutionally protected and treaty rights, and there are also programs, scholarships, grants, awards, employment opportunities and academic positions specifically intended for Indigenous people. In the justice system, courts are required to consider the particular historical and systemic circumstances affecting Indigenous offenders.
There have been a number of highly publicized cases in Canada in which people claiming Indigenous identity have obtained positions, awards, funding, professional opportunities or credibility that were intended for Indigenous people. When the claimed identity is later challenged or disproved, the consequences can be enormous, particularly in universities, the arts and public institutions.
There is another aspect that is harder to quantify but is important. Claiming an Indigenous identity can provide cultural authority and credibility. It can allow someone to speak as an Indigenous person rather than as an outsider commenting on Indigenous experiences. It may also allow someone whose ancestry is primarily settler European to distance themselves from that history and instead identify with the people who were colonized. Very commonly done in Canada.
That is why this is about much more than someone’s distant ancestry or what percentage of Indigenous “blood” they might have. A person may genuinely have an Indigenous ancestor without necessarily being a citizen or recognized member of an Indigenous Nation. Lisa for instance has indigenous blood but does not claim any connection to a community, her brother, on the other hand has. It can get very complicated. In Canada, those distinctions have become extremely important and are almost entirely up to the Indigenous Nations as it should be, but still may not be without impartiality.
That is also why falsely claiming an Indigenous identity can end careers here. It isn’t regarded simply as somebody exaggerating their family history. If that identity has been used to obtain opportunities, authority or recognition intended for Indigenous people, it can be regarded as taking something from the very people those programs were created to support.
Joseph Boyden is such a good writer I was sad to see his career end, but understand why he was treated the way he was. I keep checking to see if he is working on anything else, but so far nothing.
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Julie@frogpondfarm
Oh wow that pup looks gorgeous! Give Toast a cuddle from me. I’ve never heard of cancelling an author before
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