Certainly your understanding of the craft of language, it's potential, beauty, risk and more, brings depth to the discourse. Greatly appreciated.
I find myself less in disagreement than in a sort of parallel development as I wonder if you settled here, or are indigenous, that is, born here, in and of this land. I wonder, too, if the many who have come here from far off lands around the globe, settled, assimilated in the Canadian mosaic frame rather than the melting pot down south, see themselves in the term as it is used today. I agree, it is misused.
There are also those who come for a relatively secure base from which to operate and continue remote disputes that are less, even un-related to this diverse land, essentially an exploitation of the society into which they have settled. That's a problem to address. Doing so is fraught with misuse of language.
I arrived as a kidnapped child (another story for another time) and found myself energized by the aspirational nature of Canadian society as my young eyes perceived it in 1967/8. I was ignorant, then, of the specifics of history (be that the expulsion of the Acadians, the Métis revolution, the violence and the beauty of pre-contact norms akin to similar stages of societal development world-wide). The profound and lasting affect is what I see in your last sentence, paraphrased, <i>aiming</i> at lives of dignity for all of us.
By age 12, I had lived within and had experience of multiple ethnicities and cultures in differing jurisdictions in which the prejudices of one group toward others had been exposed, not as a reflection of any one group toward any one "other" but as a human propensity. (It was the right age for such observations and I wonder if the contrast would have been as stark had we moved to, say, Ontario.) That observation has continued, here and in several countries in which I have worked and loved in Asia and Europe.
What I see today is, again, a parallel course, internalized for many. On the one hand, the aspirations of a society fair and just for all. On the other, an elevation of status measured by degrees of real and perceived persecution. The identity cards as the recent NDP convention are but one, to me horrific, example of how we have embraced division in the guise of inclusion. We suffer, too, from a tendency to aggregate in ways that lose the individual. Language grappling with that aggregation invites language that parses meaning and sometimes assigns intent that is far from truth.
I'm looking forward to more of your writing—and who knows one day may find (make?) time for my own!
P.S. The html is in place of italics which Substack does not provide in comments
One of the finest essays I have ever read on being Canadian. It should be mandatory reading for every individual making money in the Indian Industry as well as Canadians who may need a reminder about who we are.
Your essay has been very helpful in coming to a useful definition and understanding of the term settler, thank you.
Certainly your understanding of the craft of language, it's potential, beauty, risk and more, brings depth to the discourse. Greatly appreciated.
I find myself less in disagreement than in a sort of parallel development as I wonder if you settled here, or are indigenous, that is, born here, in and of this land. I wonder, too, if the many who have come here from far off lands around the globe, settled, assimilated in the Canadian mosaic frame rather than the melting pot down south, see themselves in the term as it is used today. I agree, it is misused.
There are also those who come for a relatively secure base from which to operate and continue remote disputes that are less, even un-related to this diverse land, essentially an exploitation of the society into which they have settled. That's a problem to address. Doing so is fraught with misuse of language.
I arrived as a kidnapped child (another story for another time) and found myself energized by the aspirational nature of Canadian society as my young eyes perceived it in 1967/8. I was ignorant, then, of the specifics of history (be that the expulsion of the Acadians, the Métis revolution, the violence and the beauty of pre-contact norms akin to similar stages of societal development world-wide). The profound and lasting affect is what I see in your last sentence, paraphrased, <i>aiming</i> at lives of dignity for all of us.
By age 12, I had lived within and had experience of multiple ethnicities and cultures in differing jurisdictions in which the prejudices of one group toward others had been exposed, not as a reflection of any one group toward any one "other" but as a human propensity. (It was the right age for such observations and I wonder if the contrast would have been as stark had we moved to, say, Ontario.) That observation has continued, here and in several countries in which I have worked and loved in Asia and Europe.
What I see today is, again, a parallel course, internalized for many. On the one hand, the aspirations of a society fair and just for all. On the other, an elevation of status measured by degrees of real and perceived persecution. The identity cards as the recent NDP convention are but one, to me horrific, example of how we have embraced division in the guise of inclusion. We suffer, too, from a tendency to aggregate in ways that lose the individual. Language grappling with that aggregation invites language that parses meaning and sometimes assigns intent that is far from truth.
I'm looking forward to more of your writing—and who knows one day may find (make?) time for my own!
P.S. The html is in place of italics which Substack does not provide in comments
One of the finest essays I have ever read on being Canadian. It should be mandatory reading for every individual making money in the Indian Industry as well as Canadians who may need a reminder about who we are.
Thank you very much for the kind words! I am glad that you enjoyed reading it.