Why the 'Cowboys-and-Indians' photo is not OK - Aboriginal - CBC

Serious food for thought.  As a "self-confessed white-settler" myself, I have long been aware of the harm caused to our indigenous communities.

In the early 1980s I was posted to a High Arctic community.  My education and curiosity began then.  I wanted to know why on earth anyone would live on the "island of gravel" I was visiting.  Doing some research, I learned about the Canadian Government of the 1950's "program" [pogrom?] of enhancing Canadian Sovereignty over the Arctic by moving indigenous communities.

First of all, WTF!  The paternalistic gall of our leaders! [and a tangent for another day]

Then I learned that my location was not the intended destination.  During the transfer, the ship got stopped by ice short of their destination. Because they could go no further that year, it was decided to change the destination and re-locate the community to this uninhabited island.  The epitome of "close enough for government work".

Never mind that it was uninhabited for a reason, there was nothing there!  No hunting, fishing, or any of the natural resources that original communities settled in places for.

I was gob-smacked that the government would move four extended families to this isolated and barren location and literally abandon them there!  I would learn about residential schools five years later.

I personally have been paralyzed for decades after learning of just these two policies of the government.  How can anyone ever make up for, apologize enough for, these kinds of horrific events affecting decades and generations of people?

We, the "royal we", Canadians, have got to start with educating the general public.  Since the internet, and reading comments by average citizens, I am appalled by the lack of education about indigenous peoples.

Reading essays like this one is a start.

The Aboriginal section of cbc.ca is a start.

Why the 'Cowboys-and-Indians' photo is not OK - Aboriginal - CBC: "As stereotypes of indigenous people and a frontier narrative of white-settler ‘progress’ are part of our liberal ideology, it is possible to both have good intentions and act in racist ways within Canada and Saskatchewan.

However, ‘good intentions’ do not undo the effects of our actions nor should they excuse them.

Rather, our responsibility as a (white-settler) community needs to shift from simple blind ‘good intentions’ (which justifies a continued ignorance of the effects of our practices) to critical reflection on our practices before we engage in them and reparations when we cause harm (whether unintentional or intentional)."

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Standard Requirements of an Apology - who knew?

A control freak?

At the same time, Jill Scott, a Queen's University professor in the department of language, literature and culture, said she believes that Armstrong seemed to be hitting all the right buttons — at least at first.

"He started off pretty good. He answered all the questions and he said all the right things at the right times, early on. And that was fantastic," she said.

Scott, who researches conflict resolution, including apologies, said Armstrong did a good job of ticking off the list of standard requirements of an apology — confession , contrition, acknowledgement of pain inflicted on others, remorse, repentance, and acknowledgement that more needs to be done.

"But the further you got on in the interview, the murkier the waters became," Scott said.

Armstrong began micro-managing his message when it came to talking about other people, Scott said. That slowly reduced his portion of responsibility by entering into the territory "of excuse, justification and blame of others."

"As he got deeper into the interview, and clips are coming, we saw the old Lance coming back. Why? The guy is simply a control freak. He was a control freak on the bike, and now he's a control freak on the apology."

Did Lance Armstrong redeem or incriminate himself? - Canada - CBC News:

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Shackleton's whisky returned to Antarctic hut - World - CBC News

Shackleton's whisky returned to Antarctic hut - World - CBC News: "Bottled in 1898 after the blend was aged 15 years, the Mackinlay bottles were among three crates of Scotch and two of brandy buried beneath a basic hut Shackleton had used during his dramatic 1907 Nimrod excursion to the Antarctic."

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Nunavut Tourism - Igloolik

Bucket List - places to visit again.  Igloolik.

Activities & Wildlife

The creative community of Igloolik is a cultural hub of Nunavut that comes alive in the summer months — when the sun never sets — with music festivals and circus performances. 

The land becomes dappled with colourful flowers and numerous birds flock to the area, including loons, geese, eider ducks, jaegers, plovers, snow buntings and snowy owls. Icebergs drift past the island through the narrows of Fury and Hecla Strait, which also funnels migrating beluga and bowhead whales, herds of walrus and pods of narwhal to within easy viewing distance. 

There are ancient Dorset archaeological sites nearby, to be visited with extreme care and respect. As evidenced at nearby archaeological sites, Dorset people lived here 4,000 years ago. Iglulik Inuit are the Iglulingmiut, Aivilingmiut and Tununirmiut people. Their first contact with Europeans was not until 1822, when two British Navy ships wintered in Igloolik. In 1867, the year Canada was born, the American explorer Charles Francis Hall visited Igloolik in his search for survivors of the lost Franklin Expedition. A French-Canadian mineral prospector named Tremblay of the Bernier Expedition visited the island in 1913. In 1921, a member of Knud Rasmussen's Fifth Thule Expedition also visited here. 

In the springtime, when there is still lots of snow and the sea ice is rock solid, there are many enjoyable opportunities to go out 'onto the land' by dog sled or snowmobile expedition, to camp in an igloo or climb upon an iceberg. Expert local guides are happy to escort you and your family safely across the snow and ice, lands and waters that make this place so special. 

In early April, you are also invited to participate in feasts of local foods and traditional Inuit games that celebrate Igloolik becoming a hamlet.

Nunavut Tourism - Igloolik:

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