True North.

Yesterday was the birthday of the nation of Canada. I've been thinking a lot about what I think about my country and what I think of being a Canadian lately and thought it was a good time to share.

Our Home on Native Land.
I've always liked this twist on the line "our home and native land" from our national anthem. It is true, and few places as apparent as Whitehorse and the North in general. I reflect on the history of the people who call this massive land home...Aboriginal people, European immigrants, displaced peoples from around the world, peacelovers from South of the border, former slaves, intellects, scientists, entrepreneurs, mail-order brides, fortune seekers...all of us who have come to live together, in whatever sense of the word.
It is sad and true that the first time I learned of the minimal existence of treaties in British Columbia was in my 5th year at the University of Alberta, in a 300 level Native Studies class that I begged the faculty to let me in to without the pre-requisites. The intensity of the utterly profound realization that what is now 7 generations of my family have lived on land that was never legally ceded or surrendered is as real now as it was then (my shout out to Dr. James Dempsey at the UofA School of Native Studies for powerful teaching). With a course in Constitutional Law now solidly under my belt, it is even more profound for me to contemplate this idea. Working here with a myriad of agreements, legislation, understandings and misunderstandings, it is difficult to see how our country operates on a semblance of justice or equity.
The difficult thing for my (our) generation is...where do we go? How do we move forward? How do we recognize the war that has been waged against Nations in the background of the building of our country? I was born here too, and while I did not have a hand in creating the situation we're in, I think I best take note of it and start from a different place. Billy Joel says it best: We didn't start the fire...we didn't light it but we'll try to fight it (OK, something like that, sorry Billy!).
Living in a territory where there are self-government agreements and a much larger proportion of the population that is First Nations has opened my eyes at least a little bit to the realities of the history of all our nations and what it means to the future of our country. We can't go forward and leave some people behind. We have a rich natural and cultural history tied up with the First people of Canada. The sooner we recognize that the path forward is one of building communities out of the foundations of respect and understanding, the sooner we can truely see what we can achieve together. Are we on the right track? It's not for me to say.

True North
Living for a short time in the north is something that every Canadian should do...on second thought we should probably all spend time in all the regions of Canada. But the thing is that there is MAGIC here. I have been drawn to the North, sort of circumpoloarly for a while, not knowing why. After spending a fall in Finland, at about the same latitude as I am at now but in a very different climate, I knew I needed to visist Canada's North.
I can't really describe what it is, and anybody who has been to the North knows what I mean. The pictures I take might tell 1000 words, but I need a million. It's the way it makes me feel, the way the night never comes, the trees don't block out the sun, the mountains that look like praries that got their backs up, the forgetting to go to bed because there is so much to do, the water that doesn't really warm up enough to go for a comfortable swim, the mosquitoes, the closeness of Alaska (I can see it from my backyard hahahahaha) with the ocean and the big mountains that rise right out of it. Or that there is this strange feeling that it's important to have people living up here (OK, I'm not even north or important compared to Old Crow, etc) just in case somebody wants to check in to see that we're squatting the North properly so that it doesn't get taken away buy hmmm, Russians? Greenlandians? The Swedes? I'm rooting for the Swedes, for sure...imagine our potential for hockey greatness if were were annexed by Sweden...or our potential for a school system that teaches based on merit and not ability to pay (whoa, I think I feel a whole other tangent coming on...noted and saved for later).
At any rate, there is so much to love about the North. The wild spaces (WILD!), the clear and raging rivers, the active lifestyle embraced by so may, the art, the time to make art (less a product of the North and more a product of lifestyle). But I can't tell you about it, you have to come and experience it yourself!

Strong and Free
Being to Alaska and back a few times since I've been here, even since the great passport law which I still don't understand the big deal about, I realize how lucky we are to be able to come and go (not like the Cubans I met this winter). And that while we may not always get along, we do have pretty great neighbours (good friends, good neighbours as Boris from Haines said). We need them, they need us, simple as that. Working for an organization that spans both sides of the border and connected by a river highlights that. Downstream users need us to kindly refrain from polluting their water and we need the downstream communities to take care of the migrating salmon populations that people depend on upstream. Whether there is an international border between communities doesn't much matter to fish or to water quality...the decisions we make about how to care for them is what matters.

Oh. Canada.
You are not perfect, you've got a past that you don't teach your children about. You have a neighbour that is a bit of a bully but who you know depends on you (sounds like a relationship that needs some work). You have wild things and wild places.
I think that we have some work to do if we really think that we can be a truely equitable nation that respects the dignity and history and determination of ALL the people who live here. But I don't think that I would want to do that work any other place in the world. Because this is home, from Coast to Coast to Coast. And I'm starting to feel a bit about what that means...it took me 2500 kms from my roots to start to understand that....

Happy Canada Day!