Canada C3 Reflections Pt. 3: Understanding Canada’s Truth as a New(er) Immigrant
When I was 18, my parents and I took a long-haul flight from Moscow to Toronto — the first time I stepped foot on Canadian land. We continued on to Halifax and finally, Fredericton, where my parents dropped me off for university. Years later, I had fallen in love with the place, so I decided to begin the process to become a Canadian permanent resident.
I was 25 when I finally received my Permanent Resident status last November. It was an emotional moment. I felt I finally had the right to call Canada home after years of feeling unsure if I can. Before that, it was like being in that stage of a relationship where you’re not quite sure whether you and the other person are a couple or not. But the day came when Canada and I became official. Next step, citizenship.
Since then I’ve been thinking, what does it mean when I say I love Canada?
One of the things that made me stay was Canadians’ openness to people of all races, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender, etc. Here, I was able to create my own identity with all the building blocks that make me who I am. This openness to diversity is one of Canada’s strength and the world knows that. But the longer I stayed, the more I learned about the truth: that this country, where the $100 bill smells like maple syrup (It’s true — I’ve sniffed it while crossing the street once) and the Prime Minister can use his socks to celebrate the Pride Parade and Eid at the same time, also has a dark side. It hasn’t treated its Indigenous people very well. In 2013, a UN indigenous rights investigator said Canada faced a “crisis” when it comes to the treatment of Indigenous people. The Canadian government has since put in place a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to lead reconciliation efforts with the Indigenous people of the land.
I didn’t have much exposure to the history and current realities of Canada’s Indigenous people. I learned a little bit about the residential school system and the Metis nation in one Canadian history class. I had two classmates who are Mi’kmaq, and they were always very passionate about their identity, and I didn’t understand why. At that time, I have to admit I didn’t try too hard to dig deeper.
Earlier this year though, when a youth council I’m involved in was trying to hold an event to showcase the diversity of youth leaders, we realized we were missing Indigenous perspectives. So we racked our brains for contacts that may be able to help, only to find we didn’t know many Indigenous youth at all. I looked at my own life and saw that I also don’t know much about the First Nations in New Brunswick, even though I’ve lived on their territory for years. This was unacceptable to me.
Naturally, I jumped at the chance to apply for the Canada C3 project knowing reconciliation was one of the key themes to be explored. Going on board the Polar Prince, my intention was not only to share my story as an immigrant, but more importantly to listen and learn about Canada’s Indigenous peoples.
The first night, I found out my cabin mate is a brilliant Metis youth from Ontario. Not only is Melanie-Rose studying to later help provide healthcare in the North, she is also very proud of her identity as a Metis Anishinaabe and Franco-Ontarian. Along with dozens of other Indigenous youth leaders, she is advocating for a declaration seeking to integrate Indigenous history and culture into high school curricula nationwide.
That night, I asked her so many questions and we had a long discussion about various issues that Indigenous people face. For example, there’s a wide gap of funding for on-reserve schools, which are under federal jurisdiction, compared to those under provincial systems. Some schools are in such horrible condition, you’d think they were in a war-torn country. She also told me there are around 94 reserves that have been without clean water for years, and some aren’t even that difficult to reach. One community is only about 45 minutes away from Ottawa. I’ve been living in prosperous, magical Canada for years and not know about what Maclean’s recently called “the Canada most people don’t see.”
On National Aboriginal Day, a few of the Leg 3 participants started a discussion in the Legacy Room on board, which was gifted by the Downie-Wenjack Foundation to facilitate conversations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. There are various cultural items and books in the room, as well as gifts from chiefs of communities the Canada C3 team visited. This became a very important room in the journey. Fellow participant Aryn, who is Anishinaabe from Ontario, explained to us about the impact of residential schools and told us about her workplace, a former residential school where reminders remain on some of the walls.
We spent that afternoon with the Innu community in Pessamit, Queec. Not only did I try beaver meat and bear grease for the first time, I had a special intercultural exchange moment with Chief Max and others from the community. I don’t speak French or Innu, they don’t speak English or Indonesian, but somehow we managed to teach each other how to say “thank you” in Innu and Indonesian. On the bus back to the ship, Aryn also taught me some words in Anishinaabemowin. Language is such an important part of culture and identity. The way I think would have been so different if I didn’t speak English or Indonesian. So, it was such an honour to be able to share such an important part of the Innu and Anishinaabe culture with the Pessamit community and fellow participants.
Later on in the journey, we spent an afternoon at the Innu cultural centre in Ekuanitshit, Quebec. It was amazing to hear the Innu language spoken all around. We received a song and a dance, and also stories about Chief Pietacho’s solidarity with North Dakota’s Sioux tribe at Standing Rock. We learned how to make dream catchers, and Aryn told us the related story of the spider lady. We also learned how to make Bannock bread from scratch, cooked under hot sand. It was so delicious!
A lot of learning also happened on the ship. Ossie, an Inuk journalist from Labrador, shared about the importance of the caribou to his family. He also showed us a video piece he did for the CBC on the correct way to identify people from various nations. One of the things I didn’t realize before the expedition was how diverse the Indigenous population is. For example, I learned that words are pronounced differently across various Innu dialects, or that some nations allow smudging on people who has had alcohol the day before, others require at least four days of no alcohol.
The most difficult and meaningful parts of the learning though, came from two occasions. The first one was when fellow participant Jeff, an accomplished Anishinaabe man from Ontario, shared his story about alcohol addiction, how he and his family are affected by suicide pacts and the discriminatory treatment of Indigenous women, and racism in general. Jeff is a hilarious person, I wouldn’t have imagined what he had gone through if I didn’t have long conversations with him. But he was very open about his experience, now speaking publicly about it to help others who may be in similar situations. One night at dinner, he told me that the next day would have been his 100th day of being sober. I’ve only known Jeff for a few days, but I was so proud of him for picking himself up and helping others on the way.
The second was when we did the Kairos blanket exercise at the hangar, a very useful role-play tool to learn and teach about Indigenous history. Aryn led the activity, spreading us across about eight blankets laid on the floor. The blankets symbolize the land that was taken by European settlers, at this time played by C3 staff Tara. As the exercise went on, more people lost “land” and “children,” and “communities” were wiped off. We dived deeper into the history of residential schools and I learned about something I never heard about before, the Sixties Scoop. We had a talking circle afterwards because the exercise was very emotional. Many people were crying, as was I. I was mostly confused and angry when I realized how systematic this oppression was. I understood then why Indigenous people did not want to celebrate Canada 150. And I wondered if I benefited from that system. But I was also amazed about the resilience and grace of my Indigenous friends, and very proud of their efforts to move forward, share their culture, and make their communities better, like Melanie-Rose, Jeff, Aryn and Ossie are doing.
Soon I’ll be eligible to apply for citizenship. On my journey to calling Canada home, I felt I had to understand its good and bad in order to know where I can contribute. This process was part of my profession of love for a place that has taken me in with all that I am. I learned a lot about Indigenous history, as well as the Innu, Anishinaabe, Mi’kmaq and Inuit cultures from my friends on board and people in the communities we visited. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The learning and work don’t stop there if we truly want to make reconciliation efforts successful.
On the ship, there’s the analogy about a canoe that was used, told beautifully in a song by Leg 2 participants Alex Cuba, Heather Rankin and Andrea Menard. Canadians are rowing together on this canoe towards a better future, but the canoe currently has holes and we need to work together to patch them up before we set sail. In terms of patching up the relationship with Indigenous peoples, we can start with two simple steps: Reach out to the Indigenous communities around us to create genuine friendships, and, as Leg 6 participant Shaun Majumder said, “listen deeply.”
To my Indigenous friends and the Innu communities in Quebec, I’m so grateful that you were willing to share your culture and history with me to aide my learning. Migwetch, nakummek, tshinashkumitin.
Disclaimer: I was one of the 300 out of 5000 applicants lucky to be selected to join the expedition. I’m writing this independently, to share my experience and learning with others. Canada C3 is a Canada 150 signature project aimed at connecting Canadians from Coast to Coast to Coast while exploring the themes of Reconciliation, Youth Engagement, the Environment and Diversity & Inclusion. The expedition is currently on Leg 7. You can follow the remainder of the journey online through their social media and website.
