{"id":496,"date":"2006-10-23T03:34:49","date_gmt":"2006-10-23T07:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=496"},"modified":"2018-08-20T16:09:52","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T20:09:52","slug":"sunday-october-23-2006-the-fate-of-canadian-gaelic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=496","title":{"rendered":"Sunday, October 23, 2006 \u2014 The Fate of Canadian Gaelic"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was look\u00ading up some bio\u00adgraph\u00adi\u00adcal data on Thomas Robert McInnes, a Lieu\u00adtenant Gov\u00ader\u00adnor of British Colum\u00adbia at the turn of the pre\u00advi\u00adous cen\u00adtu\u00adry, when I came across an extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnary piece of Cana\u00addi\u00adan leg\u00adis\u00adla\u00adtion, one that tells us a lot about 19th Cen\u00adtu\u00adry Canada. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Whycocomagh,<\/a>

Why\u00adco\u00adco\u00admagh, in Inver\u00adness Coun\u00adty, Nova Sco\u00adtia, Cana\u00adda. It\u2019s name is from the abo\u00adrig\u00adi\u00adnal Mi\u2019k\u00admaq lan\u00adguage, but is local\u00adly known by a Gael\u00adic ren\u00adder\u00ading of Hoga\u00adm\u00adagh. The vil\u00adlage is in the heart a for\u00admer\u00adly Gael\u00adic-speak\u00ading region. A small num\u00adber of peo\u00adple still speak that lan\u00adguage in a dis\u00adtinct\u00adly Cana\u00addi\u00adan dialect.<\/p><\/div>\n

McInnes was born in Lake Ainslie, Nova Sco\u00adtia, and lived an adven\u00adtur\u00adous youth. He was one of the cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00aded \u201cRush Doc\u00adtors\u201d trained in Chica\u00adgo at the Rush Insti\u00adtute, and served in the Union Army dur\u00ading the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Civ\u00adil War. But he returned to Cana\u00adda and, along with a promi\u00adnent med\u00adical prac\u00adtice, became May\u00ador of New West\u00admin\u00adster, British Colum\u00adbia, and then an inde\u00adpen\u00addent nation\u00adal Mem\u00adber of Par\u00adlia\u00adment. Sub\u00adse\u00adquent\u00adly, he served as a Sen\u00ada\u00adtor, then Lieu\u00adtenant Gov\u00ader\u00adnor of BC<\/span>. His career as Lieu\u00adtenant Gov\u00ader\u00adnor was stormy and eccen\u00adtric, rather typ\u00adi\u00adcal of BC<\/span> politi\u00adcians. He made many ene\u00admies. In 1890, Prime Min\u00adis\u00adter Lau\u00adri\u00ader asked him to ten\u00adder his res\u00adig\u00adna\u00adtion in favour of the tamer Hen\u00adri-Gus\u00adtave Joly de Lot\u00adbini\u00e8re. He attempt\u00aded to get back into Fed\u00ader\u00adal pol\u00adi\u00adtics in 1903, but failed.<\/span><\/p>\n

His most inter\u00adest\u00ading deed was his attempt, in 1890, to make Gael\u00adic the third offi\u00adcial lan\u00adguage of Cana\u00adda. His pro\u00adposed Act to pro\u00advide for the use of Gael\u00adic in Offi\u00adcial pro\u00adceed\u00adings would have made the Cana\u00addi\u00adan ver\u00adsion of the Gael\u00adic lan\u00adguage legal\u00adly equal with Eng\u00adlish and French. The bill made it through first read\u00ading, but when the Orders of the Day were called, McInnes had not yet arrived in the Cham\u00adber. In his absence, the bill was dropped. When it was restored to the order paper, mem\u00adber R.B. Dick\u00adey of Nova Sco\u00adtia moved an amend\u00adment that the read\u00ading be delayed for three months, after which it failed on final reading.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Sunday,<\/a>

A bilin\u00adgual traf\u00adfic sign in Nova Scotia.<\/p><\/div>\n

McInnes\u2019 ini\u00adtia\u00adtive had come too late. The glo\u00adry days of the Gael\u00adic lan\u00adguage in Cana\u00adda had long passed away, and the intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal cli\u00admate of the 1890\u2019s was one in which intol\u00ader\u00adance, racism, and a fanat\u00adi\u00adcal move\u00adment to sup\u00adpress cul\u00adtur\u00adal and lin\u00adguis\u00adtic minori\u00adties were on the rise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gael\u00adic speak\u00aders had been arriv\u00ading in Cana\u00adda for more than a cen\u00adtu\u00adry. Most Hudson\u2019s Bay Com\u00adpa\u00adny fac\u00adtors had orig\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded in the Scot\u00adtish High\u00adlands, the Out\u00ader Hebrides, or the Orkney Islands, and many of them were Gael\u00adic-speak\u00aders. Gael\u00adic was used as a \u201csecret lan\u00adguage\u201d in the fur trade as far west as the Rock\u00adies and the Ore\u00adgon ter\u00adri\u00adto\u00adry, through\u00adout the arc\u00adtic regions of Cana\u00adda, and as far south as the Cana\u00addi\u00adan Riv\u00ader in the south\u00adwest\u00adern Unit\u00aded States. French Cana\u00addi\u00adan fur traders were often famil\u00adiar with the lan\u00adguage, as were many Native Cana\u00addi\u00adans. In Man\u00adi\u00adto\u00adba, a lan\u00adguage called Bun\u00adgay (or Bungee) evolved, which was a fusion of the Cree lan\u00adguage with Gael\u00adic. This was large\u00adly sup\u00adplant\u00aded by French and Michif among the west\u00adern M\u00e9tis, but it is rumoured that there are still a few speak\u00aders of the lan\u00adguage alive in remote reserves.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the bulk of Gael\u00adic speak\u00aders in Cana\u00adda arrived, start\u00ading in the late eigh\u00adteenth cen\u00adtu\u00adry, as refugees from the Jaco\u00adbite upris\u00adings and the High\u00adland Clear\u00adances, which drove tens of thou\u00adsands of Gael\u00adic-speak\u00ading crofters into exile. By 1850, there were 200,000 Gael\u00adic-speak\u00aders in the colonies which would, sev\u00aden\u00adteen years lat\u00ader, become Cana\u00adda. The cul\u00adtur\u00adal impact of the Scots and Irish on Cana\u00adda in the 19th cen\u00adtu\u00adry was, of course, sec\u00adond only to that of French Cana\u00adda, though they were divid\u00aded between Catholics and Protes\u00adtants, and between speak\u00aders of Eng\u00adlish and Gael\u00adic. Even in 1890, when McInnes intro\u00adduced his bill, there were still 32 mem\u00adbers of the House of Com\u00admons, and 18 Sen\u00ada\u00adtors who spoke Gael\u00adic. There were regions of Gael\u00adic-speak\u00ading set\u00adtle\u00adment across the coun\u00adtry. In Prince Edward Island two thirds of the pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion of P.E.I. were Scots, and half of them Gaels. In main\u00adland Nova Sco\u00adtia, and on Cape Bre\u00adton Island, mono\u00adlin\u00adgual Gael\u00adic com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties sur\u00advived well into the 20th Cen\u00adtu\u00adry. In Que\u00adbec, there was an urban elite of Scot\u00adtish mer\u00adchants, usu\u00adal\u00adly not Gaels, but in the East\u00adern Town\u00adships there was a pock\u00adet of Pres\u00adby\u00adter\u00adian Hebrideans from Lewis and Uist, fierce\u00adly deter\u00admined to pre\u00adserve their Gael\u00adic speech and hymns. A large seg\u00adment of east\u00adern Ontario, cen\u00adtered on Glen\u00adgar\u00adry coun\u00adty, was Gael\u00adic speak\u00ading. So was the Bruce-Gray region of south\u00adwest\u00adern Ontario, which Gaels shared with Ojib\u00adway. The Selkirk set\u00adtle\u00adment of Man\u00adi\u00adto\u00adba includ\u00aded many mono\u00adlin\u00adgual Gaels.<\/span>
\n These Gael\u00adic-speak\u00ading set\u00adtlers brought a sol\u00adid pack\u00adage of cul\u00adture with them. Gael\u00adic music, poet\u00adry, folk\u00adtale and lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture were not only brought to the new world, but were elab\u00ado\u00adrat\u00aded and expand\u00aded. Much of the writ\u00adten lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture in Gael\u00adic had been sup\u00adpressed in Scot\u00adland, after the fail\u00adure of the Jaco\u00adbite upris\u00ading, but it was mem\u00ado\u00adrized by the flee\u00ading Gaels in a man\u00adner rem\u00adi\u00adnis\u00adcent of the \u201cwalk\u00ading books\u201d in Ray Bradbury\u2019s Fahren\u00adheit 451. It was thus pre\u00adserved for gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions by vil\u00adlage bards in Cana\u00adda. One author\u00adi\u00adty on the sub\u00adject has remarked that many of these bards (the most famous was a woman) pos\u00adsessed a very sophis\u00adti\u00adcat\u00aded knowl\u00adedge of the Clas\u00adsi\u00adcal Gael\u00adic lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture, his\u00adto\u00adry, and folk\u00adlore. Gael\u00adic in pre-Jaco\u00adbite Scot\u00adland was no mere rur\u00adal patois. There had been a vig\u00ador\u00adous pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal and lit\u00ader\u00adary scene. Sup\u00adpres\u00adsion of the lan\u00adguage had result\u00aded in a \u201cre-oral\u00adiz\u00ading\u201d of a writ\u00adten lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture. The works of the last two great writ\u00aders of Clas\u00adsi\u00adcal Lit\u00ader\u00adary Gael\u00adic, Alas\u00addair mac Mhaigh\u00adstir Alas\u00addair (Alexan\u00adder Mac\u00adDon\u00adald) and Iain Mac Laine, bard thig\u00adh\u00adear\u00adna Col\u00adla<\/em> (John MacLean), were pre\u00adserved in this way. MacLean immi\u00adgrat\u00aded to Nova Sco\u00adtia in 1819. Eth\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgists record\u00aded Mac\u00adDon\u00adald\u2019s poems still being sung, and his nar\u00adra\u00adtive prose still being recit\u00aded, in Cana\u00adda in the 1930\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cana\u00addi\u00adan Gael\u00adic evolved into a dis\u00adtinct dialect, with fea\u00adtures some\u00adtimes trace\u00adable to spe\u00adcif\u00adic localisms in Scot\u00adland (for instance, the broad l pro\u00adnounced as w , orig\u00adi\u00adnat\u00ading on the Isle of Eigg), and some\u00adtimes home-grown (n<\/em> into m<\/em> after a round\u00aded vow\u00adel, annan to awnan in plur\u00adal end\u00adings), and vocab\u00adu\u00adlary pecu\u00adliar to Cana\u00adda (<\/em>p\u00e0irc-coil\u00adlidh- plant\u00aded clear\u00ading, mogan<\/em> \u2014 moc\u00adcassin, fer\u00admeireachd<\/em> \u2014 to farm free\u00adhold, as opposed to ten\u00adant crofting).<\/span><\/p>\n

The sur\u00advival of Gael\u00adic musi\u00adcal tra\u00addi\u00adtions comes as a sur\u00adprise to no one in Cana\u00adda \u2014- Cana\u00addi\u00adan music, whether strict\u00adly folk\u00adloric or mod\u00adern and pop\u00adu\u00adlar, sung in Eng\u00adlish, French, or Native lan\u00adguages, is so over\u00adwhelm\u00ading\u00adly Celtic in struc\u00adture and style that it dwarfs any oth\u00ader influence.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, after reach\u00ading its peak of influ\u00adence in the mid-nine\u00adteenth cen\u00adtu\u00adry, Gael\u00adic began a dra\u00admat\u00adic decline in Cana\u00adda. This was not the result of some kind of \u201cnat\u00adur\u00adal\u201d inad\u00ade\u00adqua\u00adcy or weak\u00adness in the lan\u00adguage. With\u00adin two gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions, the third-largest lan\u00adguage of the coun\u00adtry was vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly wiped off the map, and this event coin\u00adcid\u00aded with sim\u00adi\u00adlar dev\u00adas\u00adta\u00adtion in the abo\u00adrig\u00adi\u00adnal lan\u00adguages of Cana\u00adda, and with attempts to lim\u00adit the influ\u00adence of the French lan\u00adguage out\u00adside of Que\u00adbec. Much the same tech\u00adniques were used to crush the Gael\u00adic lan\u00adguage as were used to crush Native lan\u00adguages: cam\u00adpaigns of con\u00adtempt and ridicule, and the forcible con\u00adver\u00adsion of chil\u00addren. As with Native Cana\u00addi\u00adan lan\u00adguages, there were sys\u00adtem\u00adat\u00adic efforts by pub\u00adlic author\u00adi\u00adties to elim\u00adi\u00adnate Gael\u00adic speech, includ\u00ading the vio\u00adlent phys\u00adi\u00adcal pun\u00adish\u00adment of chil\u00addren for speak\u00ading the lan\u00adguage. Con\u00adstant ref\u00ader\u00adences to the \u201cback\u00adward\u00adness\u201d, \u201cprim\u00adi\u00adtive\u00adness\u201d, and \u201cbar\u00adbar\u00adi\u00adty\u201d of Gael\u00adic speech filled the reports of edu\u00adca\u00adtors, cler\u00adgy\u00admen and bureau\u00adcrats. These were iden\u00adti\u00adcal to their remarks on Cree, Ojib\u00adway, Sal\u00adis\u00adhan, Mic\u00admac, Dene, or Black\u00adfoot. Every effort was made to cul\u00adti\u00advate a dis\u00addain and con\u00adtempt for the grand\u00adpar\u00adents who might pass on tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal lan\u00adguage and cul\u00adture to anoth\u00ader gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion. In the 1840\u2019s, when Dr. John Black was sent to preach to the Red Riv\u00ader set\u00adtle\u00adment in Man\u00adi\u00adto\u00adba, \u201chis lack of the Gael\u00adic was at first a griev\u00adous dis\u00adap\u00adpoint\u00adment\u201d to parish\u00adioners, and he found accep\u00adtance dif\u00adfi\u00adcult. They had been promised Gael\u00adic-speak\u00ading ser\u00advices. But a gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion lat\u00ader, local chil\u00addren were being whipped and humil\u00adi\u00adat\u00aded for speak\u00ading a sin\u00adgle word of Gael\u00adic (or Ojib\u00adway) on the grounds of school or church.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, like many abori\u00adnal Cana\u00addi\u00adan lan\u00adguages that were pushed to extinc\u00adtion, or near-extinc\u00adtion dur\u00ading the late 19thth cen\u00adtu\u00adry, Cana\u00addi\u00adan Gael\u00adic did not die of nat\u00adur\u00adal caus\u00ades \u2014 it was murdered.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, this process did not take place in an intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal vac\u00adu\u00adum. The dri\u00adving force behind it was a new and expand\u00ading move\u00adment of inter\u00adlock\u00ading ideas, which com\u00adbined total\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan pol\u00adi\u00adtics, mys\u00adti\u00adcal doc\u00adtrines of his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal des\u00adtiny, and the pseu\u00addo-sci\u00aden\u00adtif\u00adic crankery of racism and \u201csocial Dar\u00adwin\u00adism\u201d. These ideas were gen\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded in uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adties and adopt\u00aded by ide\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal move\u00adments and cul\u00adtur\u00adal elites. From the pon\u00adder\u00adous, schol\u00adar\u00adly-sound\u00ading (though sci\u00aden\u00adtif\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly worth\u00adless) writ\u00adings of men like Arthur de Gob\u00adineau, Johann Got\u00adtfried Herder, Hous\u00adton Stew\u00adart Cham\u00adber\u00adlain, George FitzHugh and Karl Marx, a pow\u00ader\u00adful trend emerged that radi\u00adat\u00aded from insti\u00adtu\u00adtions of high\u00ader learn\u00ading into every cor\u00adner of soci\u00adety. We are accus\u00adtomed to think\u00ading of racists as une\u00add\u00adu\u00adcat\u00aded hood\u00adlums, back\u00adwoods red-necks, brain\u00adless skin\u00adheads and oth\u00ader mar\u00adgin\u00adal dead-ends in soci\u00adety. But that is mere\u00adly the scat\u00adtered residue of some\u00adthing once more pow\u00ader\u00adful. In the late 19th cen\u00adtu\u00adry, racism and its allied ideas were dynam\u00adic, \u201cfutur\u00adis\u00adtic\u201d, and appealed to the edu\u00adcat\u00aded, the clever and the ris\u00ading stars.<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cnew thought\u201d that swept the world in this era invoked all sorts of pseu\u00addo-sci\u00aden\u00adtif\u00adic notions and plau\u00adsi\u00adble-sound\u00ading philo\u00adsoph\u00adi\u00adcal clap-trap, from \u201cdialec\u00adtic log\u00adic\u201d to absurd mis\u00adin\u00adter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtions of Darwin\u2019s dis\u00adcov\u00ader\u00adies. But the essence of it was sim\u00adple: the strong should humil\u00adi\u00adate the weak; some were des\u00adtined to rule oth\u00aders; vio\u00adlence is cool; \u201cenlight\u00adened\u201d, \u201cpro\u00adgres\u00adsive\u201d or \u201crev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary\u201d elites should dis\u00adpose of the lives of whomev\u00ader they please; human beings are mere objects, prop\u00ader\u00adty, cogs, com\u00adpo\u00adnents, sta\u00adtis\u00adtics, zeks<\/em>; the indi\u00advid\u00adual human being is of no val\u00adue or account \u2014 only the col\u00adlec\u00adtive, the race, the class, the nation mat\u00adter. The apoth\u00ade\u00ado\u00adses of this sick intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal garbage were, of course, Lenin, Stal\u00adin, Hitler and Mao. For a peri\u00adod of fifty years, the ideas of indi\u00advid\u00adual human worth, of democ\u00adra\u00adcy, of lib\u00ader\u00adty and of human rights almost dis\u00adap\u00adpeared from the face of the Earth. Ulti\u00admate\u00adly, the only real motive behind any total\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan move\u00adment is sim\u00adple greed for wealth and pow\u00ader, but the self-jus\u00adti\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion, its mythol\u00ado\u00adgy of expla\u00adna\u00adtion, is a sort of com\u00adplex-look\u00ading pos\u00adtur\u00ading of phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy, which gives crude greed and bru\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adty a dis\u00adguise of intel\u00adlect. Most of the big total\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan move\u00adments lost some of their polit\u00adi\u00adcal pow\u00ader when the world recoiled and reflect\u00aded on the parade of geno\u00adcide, death camps, tor\u00adture, exploita\u00adtion, famine and war that they gen\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded. How\u00adev\u00ader, the core ideas that cre\u00adat\u00aded them are still untouched, respect\u00aded, and wait\u00ading for a comeback.<\/span><\/p>\n

The impact of these ideas var\u00adied from place to place. The expan\u00adsion of colo\u00adnial empires, and the sub\u00adse\u00adquent hor\u00adrors of colo\u00adnial\u00adism, con\u00adsti\u00adtute an exam\u00adple. In colo\u00adnial impe\u00adri\u00adal\u00adism, the home\u00adlands of the colo\u00adnial pow\u00aders were treat\u00aded as the \u201crev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary van\u00adguard\u201d, and some lib\u00ader\u00adties and priv\u00adi\u00adleges retained in them, while the exploita\u00adtion and vio\u00adlence were trans\u00adferred to dis\u00adtant lands. How\u00adev\u00ader, the mythol\u00ado\u00adgy of expla\u00adna\u00adtion employed the same com\u00adpo\u00adnents as nation\u00adal totalitarianism.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Unit\u00aded States, the same ideas were used to push back the progress gained in the 19th cen\u00adtu\u00adry. Their prin\u00adci\u00adple influ\u00adence was seen in the Jim Crow laws, which sti\u00adfled and reversed any progress made by African Amer\u00adi\u00adcans after the Civ\u00adil War. Seg\u00adre\u00adga\u00adtion in the South, and laws in the North that made it impos\u00adsi\u00adble for African Amer\u00adi\u00adcans to oper\u00adate busi\u00adness\u00ades, where the chief instruments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Com\u00adpared to total\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan\u00adism, colo\u00adnial\u00adism, and seg\u00adre\u00adga\u00adtion, the effects of these ideas in Cana\u00adda were not on a large scale. This was not because Cana\u00addi\u00adans were more intel\u00adli\u00adgent or moral than peo\u00adple else\u00adwhere. It was sim\u00adply because Cana\u00adda was out-of-the-way, over\u00adwhelm\u00ading\u00adly rur\u00adal, and not much con\u00adnect\u00aded to the intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal cen\u00adters from which these ideas radi\u00adat\u00aded their influ\u00adence. In oth\u00ader words, Cana\u00adda was an unfash\u00adion\u00adable, unim\u00adpor\u00adtant place, so it received intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal fash\u00adions late, and in dilut\u00aded forms. Most of its pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion lived in eco\u00adnom\u00adic and cul\u00adtur\u00adal inde\u00adpen\u00addence from any urban edu\u00adcat\u00aded elite, and was unaf\u00adfect\u00aded by their fashions.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the notions did have their effect, and they were most pow\u00ader\u00adful wher\u00adev\u00ader you had an edu\u00adcat\u00aded, urban elite put in a posi\u00adtion of rel\u00ada\u00adtive pow\u00ader over peo\u00adple who were polit\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly or eco\u00adnom\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly vul\u00adner\u00ada\u00adble. One of the most wide\u00adspread of the \u201cmod\u00adern\u201d notions was that chil\u00addren should, wher\u00adev\u00ader pos\u00adsi\u00adble, be seized from the \u201ccor\u00adrupt\u00ading\u201d influ\u00adence of \u201ccul\u00adtur\u00adal\u00adly infe\u00adri\u00ador\u201d par\u00adents and grand\u00adpar\u00adents, and then reg\u00adi\u00adment\u00aded into con\u00adfor\u00admi\u00adty and obe\u00addi\u00adence. Church\u00ades and gov\u00adern\u00adment offi\u00adcials leaped on any excuse to grab chil\u00addren from their par\u00adents and put them into com\u00admu\u00adnis\u00adtic insti\u00adtu\u00adtions. There, they could be bul\u00adlied and beat\u00aden into sub\u00admis\u00adsion, mold\u00aded in con\u00adfor\u00admi\u00adty with the \u201ccor\u00adrect\u201d cul\u00adture, and wiped clean of all deviant cul\u00adtur\u00adal influ\u00adences. This was always pro\u00admot\u00aded with the clich\u00e9s of char\u00adi\u00adty and progress. Lan\u00adguage, the key to any cul\u00adture, was the prin\u00adci\u00adple focus of such cam\u00adpaigns, and lin\u00adguis\u00adtic minori\u00adties were the usu\u00adal victims.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, start\u00ading in the sec\u00adond half of the 19th cen\u00adtu\u00adry, and con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00ading all the way into the 1950\u2019s, Cana\u00adda saw a pro\u00adlif\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of lit\u00adtle total\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan insti\u00adtu\u00adtions, most of which behaved in pret\u00adty much the same way. The most destruc\u00adtive were the res\u00adi\u00adden\u00adtial schools for Native Cana\u00addi\u00adan chil\u00addren, which could be eas\u00adi\u00adly imposed on scat\u00adtered native com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties which did not have the polit\u00adi\u00adcal sophis\u00adti\u00adca\u00adtion or eco\u00adnom\u00adic pow\u00ader to resist them. But the same tech\u00adniques were used in homes for unwed girls who got preg\u00adnant (or where mere\u00adly \u201cwild\u201d), when their par\u00adents were not wealthy enough to ignore the inter\u00adfer\u00adence of pub\u00adlic author\u00adi\u00adties. Orphans, juve\u00adnile offend\u00aders, the men\u00adtal\u00adly afflict\u00aded or hand\u00adi\u00adcapped, and the elder\u00adly with\u00adout fam\u00adi\u00adly to pro\u00adtect them were all easy prey for insti\u00adtu\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adiza\u00adtion. In many cas\u00ades, insti\u00adtu\u00adtions would have been nec\u00ades\u00adsary and laud\u00adable, if they had been designed to respect the dig\u00adni\u00adty and rights of the indi\u00advid\u00adual, but the exist\u00ading ones were dri\u00adven by entire\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent motives. Whether run by church\u00ades or by the gov\u00adern\u00adment, they invari\u00adably showed the same struc\u00adtur\u00adal fea\u00adtures.\u2026 drawn from Plato\u2019s Repub\u00adlic. And they invari\u00adably com\u00admit\u00adted the same crimes of exploita\u00adtion, bru\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adty, sex\u00adu\u00adal abuse, humil\u00adi\u00ada\u00adtion and cul\u00adtur\u00adal suppression.<\/span><\/p>\n

Up until the end of the nine\u00adteenth cen\u00adtu\u00adry, no observ\u00ader of Cana\u00addi\u00adan soci\u00adety would have con\u00adclud\u00aded that Native Cana\u00addi\u00adans were in any way social\u00adly infe\u00adri\u00ador or eco\u00adnom\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly or polit\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly dis\u00adad\u00advan\u00adtaged. Cana\u00adda had been formed by a series of polit\u00adi\u00adcal alliances between dif\u00adfer\u00adent cul\u00adtur\u00adal groups, which had, on the whole, treat\u00aded each oth\u00ader as equals. There had nev\u00ader been any \u201cIndi\u00adan Wars\u201d in Cana\u00adda, nev\u00ader any cam\u00adpaigns of exter\u00admi\u00adna\u00adtion or con\u00adquest. The tra\u00addi\u00adtion of strate\u00adgic alliance between native and new\u00adcom\u00ader, begun with the French Regime and con\u00adtin\u00adued in the British colo\u00adnial era, remained the dynam\u00adic prin\u00adci\u00adple. The Amer\u00adi\u00adcan inva\u00adsion in 1812 was resist\u00aded and repelled by the co-ordi\u00adnat\u00aded efforts of abo\u00adrig\u00adi\u00adnal and set\u00adtler armies. A Cana\u00addi\u00adan of Euro\u00adpean ori\u00adgin felt him\u00adself per\u00adfect\u00adly com\u00adfort\u00adable serv\u00ading under an Ojib\u00adway offi\u00adcer in an Ojib\u00adway reg\u00adi\u00adment, or vice ver\u00adsa. In many places, such as south-cen\u00adtral Ontario, Native Cana\u00addi\u00adans enjoyed a high\u00ader stan\u00addard of liv\u00ading than aver\u00adage, farmed the most pros\u00adper\u00adous farms, and formed part of the local elites. Native Cana\u00addi\u00adans did not feel any need to sup\u00adpress their cul\u00adture or hide their eth\u00adnic\u00adi\u00adty. It was typ\u00adi\u00adcal that Canada\u2019s only inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly-known poet of that time, Tekahion\u00adwake, was from a social\u00adly promi\u00adnent Mohawk fam\u00adi\u00adly, and vig\u00ador\u00adous\u00adly cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00aded her her\u00aditage in verse. By the mid\u00addle of the cen\u00adtu\u00adry, the Mohawk, Seneca, and Ojib\u00adway lan\u00adguages were begin\u00adning to estab\u00adlish a print\u00aded literature.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was in the late nine\u00adteenth cen\u00adtu\u00adry that the posi\u00adtion of Native Cana\u00addi\u00adans began to shift. Legal obsta\u00adcles, social prej\u00adu\u00addices, pres\u00adsures to sub\u00admit to res\u00adi\u00adden\u00adtial school\u00ading, dis\u00adre\u00adspect for native prop\u00ader\u00adty rights, and a gen\u00ader\u00adal con\u00adtempt for native lan\u00adguage and cul\u00adture grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly worked their way into Cana\u00addi\u00adan soci\u00adety, spear\u00adhead\u00aded by those who had been edu\u00adcat\u00aded in Europe or the Unit\u00aded States. The ero\u00adsive effect of this trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtion took a heavy toll. The devel\u00adop\u00adment of native-lan\u00adguage lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture came to a halt. Once-pros\u00adper\u00adous com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties became impov\u00ader\u00adished. In 1900, the aver\u00adage Native Cana\u00addi\u00adan lived at the same stan\u00addard of liv\u00ading as any\u00adone else in the coun\u00adtry. Fifty years lat\u00ader, they were sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant\u00adly poor\u00ader. For most Native Cana\u00addi\u00adans, the 1940s-1950\u2019s was the most dis\u00adas\u00adtrous peri\u00adod, when the res\u00adi\u00adden\u00adtial school sys\u00adtem reached its peak of destruc\u00adtive pow\u00ader. At the same time, the once eco\u00adnom\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly prof\u00aditable fur trap\u00adping econ\u00ado\u00admy col\u00adlapsed, the Ojib\u00adway-owned Great Lakes fish\u00aderies were destroyed by cor\u00adpo\u00adrate pol\u00adlu\u00adtion, and land titles, treaties, and civ\u00adil lib\u00ader\u00adties were trashed. Since that low point, it has been a long, slow, and painful strug\u00adgle of recovery.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is a mat\u00adter of great pride and relief to me that that hor\u00adri\u00adble phase appears to be over. Native cul\u00adtures in Cana\u00adda still have many prob\u00adlems, but they are much clos\u00ader now to the strong posi\u00adtion they held when this coun\u00adtry was young. The new gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion, even in very remote cor\u00adners of the bush, is a new type: bold, ambi\u00adtious, and self-confident.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is inter\u00adest\u00ading is that the same tragedy hap\u00adpened, in a sort of warm-up exer\u00adcise, to the Gael\u00adic speak\u00ading com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties of Cana\u00adda. Once the third lan\u00adguage of Cana\u00adda, Gael\u00adic sur\u00advives only in a hand\u00adful of vil\u00adlages tucked away in one of the poor\u00adest cor\u00adners of the coun\u00adtry. Unlike the recov\u00adery and re-invig\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion of Native Cana\u00addi\u00adan cul\u00adtures, it is unlike\u00adly that the Gael\u00adic lan\u00adguage can expe\u00adri\u00adence the same type of renais\u00adsance. The Celtic her\u00aditage is now cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00aded in some parts of the coun\u00adtry to the point of induc\u00ading nau\u00adsea, but the lan\u00adguage is not going to be revived except among a few hob\u00adbi\u00adests. For\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, the music nev\u00ader suf\u00adfered any seri\u00adous dam\u00adage. Cana\u00addi\u00adans may not speak Gael\u00adic, but they cer\u00adtain\u00adly sing it, and it haunts every foot\u00adstep, drum\u00adbeat and fid\u00addle-bow-stroke that occurs in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

I point these par\u00adal\u00adlel events out because I want peo\u00adple to under\u00adstand that they did not hap\u00adpen in iso\u00adla\u00adtion from the intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal his\u00adto\u00adry of the world. There is a rea\u00adson why most of the Cree I know can\u2019t speak Cree very well, except in the most remote com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties, and why the epic adven\u00adtures of Glooskap are not recount\u00aded in Cree vers\u00ades in Cree books on shelves in Cree libraries. And there is a rea\u00adson why the kids I knew from the pre\u00advi\u00adous gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion were more pre\u00adoc\u00adcu\u00adpied with glue sniff\u00ading, alco\u00adhol, and sui\u00adcide than with turn\u00ading them\u00adselves into doc\u00adtors, lawyers, or nuclear physi\u00adcists. Their fate was one of the myr\u00adi\u00adad tragedies, large and small, that come from one intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal source. The fruits of that intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal ori\u00adgin include great crimes like the Holo\u00adcaust and the Gulag and the Lao\u00adgai, but also thou\u00adsands of pet\u00adty tyran\u00adnies and injus\u00adtices prac\u00adticed in every cor\u00adner of the Earth. All of them, from Bush\u2019s tor\u00adture cells in Abu Graib, to Stalin\u2019s Lubyan\u00adka, to the beat\u00adings and sex\u00adu\u00adal abuse in res\u00adi\u00adden\u00adtial schools, and down to the small\u00adest lit\u00adtle sneer\u00ading arro\u00adgance of a Marx\u00adist pro\u00adfes\u00adsor, or a Neo-Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Think Tank snot-head, or an Islamist Mul\u00adlah, or an Amer\u00adi\u00adcan tel\u00ade\u00advan\u00adge\u00adlist spew\u00ading hatred of gays, belong to one sin\u00adgle problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is iden\u00adti\u00adfy\u00ading the intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal roots of this prob\u00adlem, iden\u00adti\u00adfy\u00ading its per\u00adpe\u00adtra\u00adtors and agents, and expos\u00ading their lies and deceits, that is the heart of my his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal inquiry.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was look\u00ading up some bio\u00adgraph\u00adi\u00adcal data on Thomas Robert McInnes, a Lieu\u00adtenant Gov\u00ader\u00adnor of British Colum\u00adbia at the turn of the pre\u00advi\u00adous cen\u00adtu\u00adry, when I came across an extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnary piece of Cana\u00addi\u00adan leg\u00adis\u00adla\u00adtion, one that tells us a lot \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-au-blog-2006"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=496"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9383,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496\/revisions\/9383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}