It has been a while since I have been able to put thoughts to words, as I had the first of two cataract surgeries, which is a process to replace the lens in one’s eye that over time has gotten a bit cloudy. My immediate reaction was that the difference between my new lens and the old one was like going from a black and white TV to colour…it was like I had a sepia filter on my eyes for the last while…everything was suddenly so much brighter and the colours were so much more vibrant…I initially thought about the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and the reference to kaleidoscope eyes. Once I have the second lens replacement next month, my overall vision including distance will improve substantially. Maybe there will be much that I will be able to see more clearly. In any event, I can certainly see my computer screen a lot better and will now get back to writing out ideas and concepts. I must confess at this stage that I tend to feel most motivated to write when I am listening to music…for the last while that has mostly been the sounds created by a magician from Northern Ireland named Sir George Ivan ``Van`` Morrison whose influences were certainly soul, rhythm and blues, his songs consist of lengthy, spiritually inspired musical journeys that show the influence of Celtic tradition, jazz and stream of consciousness narrative, which is the art of putting thoughts and feelings, sometimes in a disjointed way, into song. His opus, the album Astral Weeks is a wonderful example and an inspirational listen.
Almost two months ago I was invited to play in a golf game in Oakville, Ontario that was in memorial for an old friend who I had worked with, golfed with and shared stories, primarily about racing. The day was September 30th, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which coincides with Orange Shirt Day…I had my orange golf shirt on that day and while I was the most colourfully attired player, I was very conscious of the significance of my apparel choice. On about the fourth hole, what was somewhat serendipitous was that as I was getting ready to play my second shot I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye (yes, they were still OK for close ups) which turned out to be a turtle moving towards me...as our Indigenous friends say, we were playing on Turtle Island…the picture above is one I took of him.
IS CHRISTIANITY THE FOUNDATION OF COLONIALISM?
Two weeks later, it was Thanksgiving in Canada on Monday, October 13, which south of the border is Indigenous Peoples Day…which until a while ago was celebrated as Columbus Day, to acknowledge or recognize the arrival of said Italian who was sailing westward from Europe on a Spanish financed journey to locate China, but bumped into some islands off the coast of the western hemisphere. Operating under the Papal decrees known as the Doctrine of Discovery, Columbus and his merry men planted the seeds for colonialism to take root in this so called new world and set about seizing and controlling all lands not occupied by Christians…the name change from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day was to protest the historical conquest of North America by Europeans, and to call attention to the losses suffered by the Native American peoples and their cultures through diseases, warfare, massacres, and forced assimilation.
These 15th century papal decrees called for the promotion of Christian domination and superiority throughout the non-Christian world, thus providing legitimacy to the dehumanizing treatment of Indigenous Peoples, resulting in their being captured, subjugated, subdued, vanquished, enslaved and in many cases killed.
There is a direct correlation of how European expansionism was driven by the evangelical zealotry of these Christian explorers that resulted in the colonial exploitation and genocide of the Indigenous Peoples. On the heels of the explorers and conquistadors, came the missionaries, as agents of colonialism, intent on cleansing the Indigenous Peoples from their so called heretical beliefs and culture…their pagan secularism. Many have therefore concluded that the Vatican is the birthplace of colonialism.
In the United States, the lawmakers looked to these Catholic decrees and the Doctrine of Discovery as the rationale for Manifest Destiny, the 19th century belief that the expansion of the US throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable and thus sealed the fate of the native tribes who happened to be in the way. In Canada, it was the Christian churches who were the administrators of the residential school system, with the specific intent of cultural genocide of the Indigenous Peoples. So, here we are, years later and there are those in the United States who want to rebrand Indigenous Peoples Day as Columbus Day again…it sure looks like another Heritage Day for the proudly oblivious, sponsored by erasure and denial.
IS COLONIALISM THE FOUNDATION OF CLIMATE CHANGE?
Colonialism is fundamentally about exploitation…of the land and of the people to generate wealth. Canada and many other western countries have a long history of disregarding Indigenous rights to push forward corporate economic interests. The arrogance of colonialism, is to do as they want without any consultation with Indigenous Peoples. In many vulnerable areas of the planet, we are reaping what we have sown from the colonial processes that robbed Indigenous Peoples of their land, and robbed the land of Indigenous collective management, as models of individual property ownership were imposed.
DOES COLONIALISM ENABLE CAPITALISM, OVER-CONSUMPTION, EXTRACTIVISM & CLIMATE CHANGE?
After the industrial revolution, modern capitalism arose when more and more natural resources were required to feed the increasing productivity of new factories…those raw materials were in their colonies…thus the confluence of colonialism and capitalism, and as personal wealth increased, human consumption exploded. Capitalism is an ideology founded on the principle of endless economic growth, driven by over-consumption, a proposition that is unsustainable, if we are to reverse ecological breakdown. Over-consumption is driven by human choices…human decisions, without in many cases, an understanding of the ecological or social costs. The full impacts of colonialism…capitalism in its current model…and extractivism are revealed only too clearly in their long term consequences. They radically transformed landscapes, relationships, philosophies and cultures, leaving a plunderous economic model. The never ending pursuit of resources continues unrelentingly, which destroys many of the ecosystems and human interactions necessary for preventing climate change…but many Indigenous Peoples are standing their ground, on all our behalf…they need our support.
So, here we are…the new lens in my eye allows me to see that climate disasters are accelerating…corporate power is consolidating and democratic institutions are under pressure. And the decisions being made today – about energy, about our environment, about our future – will echo for generations. In a future blog, we’ll take a look at a new pipeline project that is being proposed from the Tar Sands of Alberta to the northern coast of BC, where a tanker ban is currently in place.
Please check out our fundraising initiative the Paddle Project which allows us to continue our advocacy for Indigenous climate action: Our Paddles - Canoe Foundation
