“Reconciliation may also involve reparations and restitution too.” Niigaang Sinclair
“To be a hero in Canada’s history is to be several things but it is often, and usually first and foremost, graded by an ability to disregard, disempower, and hate Indigenous peoples.”
“Celebrating men like Sir John A. Macdonald doesn’t do this.No one can change history, but we can learn the truth about it. We might even be able to alter what we think a real Canadian is.”
“Hey Johnny: me and a few million others aren’t fit to change. Your assimilation project failed.”
“In January 2015 Maclean’s magazine declared Winnipeg “Canada’s most racist city. If anything, the magazine’s suggestion that such a comparison is necessary underlines a national epidemic. Found in virtually every segment of Winnipeg life — from everyday tweets and internet message boards to the over-incarceration of Indigenous men and alarming number of murdered/missing Indigenous women and girls—racism is clearly evident here and Indigenous peoples experience the brunt of it.”
“Canadians aren’t born racist; they are born into a racist society. Racism against Indigenous peoples is a product of a 150-year old violent, draconian and genocidal relationship Canada has relentless pursued. Whether it be via an ever-controlling Indian Act, ongoing land/resource projects exploiting Indigenous-held resources, or the fact Canada’s predominant symbols, narratives and leaders still espouse a belief that this country was founded solely by Europeans, Canada is built on a foundation of marginalizing Indigenous peo- ples. Manipulating Indigenous communities, legislating them into subordination, and then blaming them for the “problems” of this position is not only the building blocks of Canadian Indian policy but a hallmark of Canadian identity.”
“The reality is that all of Canada has a problem with racism — we just see it more clearly in Winnipeg. Outside northern contexts, Manitoba has the highest percentage of Indigenous peoples in the country, leading our prairie neighbours (16.7 percent according to the 2011 census and four times the national average of 4.3 percent). Winnipeg also has the largest urban community of First Nations (25,970) and Métis (46,325) populations in the country — not to mention the number of non-status and unregistered Indigenous peoples that push these numbers much higher. While citizens in most urban Canadian communities can try (and unfortunately successfully so) to ignore Indigenous communities, this is virtually impossible in Winnipeg. Simply put, Winnipeg is the epitome of Canada’s racism “problem.”
“Tackling racism means not only challenging misperceptions but rebuilding relationships from the ground up. Understanding the truth of Canada’s past is important but it is only a step.” Are we to believe that Niigaang is a truth teller or a provider of misconception.
“Changing the past and becoming more than what you inherit is another. This doesn’t come from merely understanding how Indigenous peoples and Canadians exist in systemic cycles, but via the courageous steps needed to break these cycles. Another word for this is: reconciliation.”
“Reconciliation may also involve reparations and restitution too.”
Britain landed and conquered
In 2021 Sinclair’s son Niigaang provides this assessment. “Reconciliation may also involve reparations and restitution too”.
Was the TRC a method to receive cash/land or something more nefarious?
PRESENTISM - Is an uncritical adherence to present-day attitudes, especially the tendency to interpret past events in terms of modern values and concepts. Some Canadians believe that it is correct in 2021 to judge the actions of men or women who lived more than 150 years ago and blame them for the accepted actions that were followed during the 19th Century.
Senator Murray Sinclair from Manitoba working with The Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) has expressed the opinion that toppling Macdonald statues and taking his name off buildings does nothing to forward the Indigenous cause. It smacks of revenge or acts of anger.
“Celebrating men like Sir John A. Macdonald doesn’t do this.No one can change history, but we can learn the truth about it. We might even be able to alter what we think a real Canadian is.”
“Hey Johnny: me and a few million others aren’t fit to change. Your assimilation project failed.”
“In January 2015 Maclean’s magazine declared Winnipeg “Canada’s most racist city. If anything, the magazine’s suggestion that such a comparison is necessary underlines a national epidemic. Found in virtually every segment of Winnipeg life — from everyday tweets and internet message boards to the over-incarceration of Indigenous men and alarming number of murdered/missing Indigenous women and girls—racism is clearly evident here and Indigenous peoples experience the brunt of it.”
“Canadians aren’t born racist; they are born into a racist society. Racism against Indigenous peoples is a product of a 150-year old violent, draconian and genocidal relationship Canada has relentless pursued. Whether it be via an ever-controlling Indian Act, ongoing land/resource projects exploiting Indigenous-held resources, or the fact Canada’s predominant symbols, narratives and leaders still espouse a belief that this country was founded solely by Europeans, Canada is built on a foundation of marginalizing Indigenous peo- ples. Manipulating Indigenous communities, legislating them into subordination, and then blaming them for the “problems” of this position is not only the building blocks of Canadian Indian policy but a hallmark of Canadian identity.”
“The reality is that all of Canada has a problem with racism — we just see it more clearly in Winnipeg. Outside northern contexts, Manitoba has the highest percentage of Indigenous peoples in the country, leading our prairie neighbours (16.7 percent according to the 2011 census and four times the national average of 4.3 percent). Winnipeg also has the largest urban community of First Nations (25,970) and Métis (46,325) populations in the country — not to mention the number of non-status and unregistered Indigenous peoples that push these numbers much higher. While citizens in most urban Canadian communities can try (and unfortunately successfully so) to ignore Indigenous communities, this is virtually impossible in Winnipeg. Simply put, Winnipeg is the epitome of Canada’s racism “problem.”
“Tackling racism means not only challenging misperceptions but rebuilding relationships from the ground up. Understanding the truth of Canada’s past is important but it is only a step.” Are we to believe that Niigaang is a truth teller or a provider of misconception.
“Changing the past and becoming more than what you inherit is another. This doesn’t come from merely understanding how Indigenous peoples and Canadians exist in systemic cycles, but via the courageous steps needed to break these cycles. Another word for this is: reconciliation.”
“Reconciliation may also involve reparations and restitution too.”
Britain landed and conquered
In 2021 Sinclair’s son Niigaang provides this assessment. “Reconciliation may also involve reparations and restitution too”.
Was the TRC a method to receive cash/land or something more nefarious?
PRESENTISM - Is an uncritical adherence to present-day attitudes, especially the tendency to interpret past events in terms of modern values and concepts. Some Canadians believe that it is correct in 2021 to judge the actions of men or women who lived more than 150 years ago and blame them for the accepted actions that were followed during the 19th Century.
Senator Murray Sinclair from Manitoba working with The Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) has expressed the opinion that toppling Macdonald statues and taking his name off buildings does nothing to forward the Indigenous cause. It smacks of revenge or acts of anger.