When after a brief but somewhat ferocious storm\u00a0
we are left\u00a0with\u00a0\u00a0
the aftermath and destruction,
when the fallen and snapped off portions\u00a0
have been cut, chipped and carted\u00a0
away\u00a0
the disfigured remainder\u00a0\u00a0
left standing\u00a0\u00a0
now added to the terminal list,\u00a0
how sad one feels\u00a0
at the inevitability of losing\u00a0
one more\u00a0
beloved\u00a0\u00a0
tree\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and again, everything that gets trampled underfoot
and demolished\u00a0
in the\u00a0\u00a0
meantime\u00a0
as well, great disappointment in just what we have done\u00a0
to our earth\u00a0
and also
to its people… <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One hundred and fifty thousand<\/strong> Indigenous people, children\u00a0\u00a0 the last residential school was still open in 1996\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we can raise a generation of non-Indigenous kids who don\u2019t normalize discrimination, and have the tools to peacefully and respectfully advocate for the end of this kind of apartheid system, then we\u2019ll be in a position where First Nations children never have to recover from their childhoods again, and non-Indigenous children never have to say they\u2019re sorry.\u201d\u00a0 When after a brief but somewhat ferocious storm\u00a0we are left\u00a0with\u00a0\u00a0the aftermath and destruction, when the fallen and snapped off portions\u00a0have been cut, chipped and carted\u00a0away\u00a0the disfigured remainder\u00a0\u00a0left standing\u00a0\u00a0now added to the terminal list,\u00a0how sad one feels\u00a0at the inevitability of losing\u00a0one…
were taken
from families\u00a0
not just uprooted\u00a0
but ripped, limb from limb\u00a0
150,000<\/strong>
thousands never ever returned
thousands
simply
vanished<\/strong>
\u00a0
stories for some only now beginning to surface
as numbers and young body counts\u00a0
mount <\/p>\n\n\n\n
we have had this truth\u00a0
yet, it is we\u00a0
who have not been\u00a0listening\u00a0
it is we\u00a0
it IS we who believe that indigenous people live \u2018on reserves\u2019\u00a0\u00a0
of their choosing, as \u2018their own land\u2019\u00a0
instead\u00a0of the very real facts of indigenous people being forced, pushed\u00a0\u00a0
and confined to restricted areas\u00a0
systematic attempts of control\u00a0
and degradation\u00a0
often little access to clean drinking water, poor medical care
simple basic needs, let alone\u00a0
rights and\u00a0\u00a0
freedoms
as a nation of perpetrators we should indeed be
ashamed\u00a0
\u00a0
it is our responsibility to listen\u00a0
to the earth\u00a0
and to its people\u00a0
to ALL<\/strong> its people\u00a0
\u00a0
we need a deep open-hearted listening\u00a0
to heal\u00a0
we need less noise, less shame, less anger, less\u00a0
disassociation, less greed, less\u00a0self-centred\u00a0bravado\u00a0
less\u00a0\u00a0
complacency\u00a0\u00a0
we need more compassion, more empathy\u00a0
more\u00a0\u00a0
kindness\u00a0
we need atonement, \u00a0honour\u00a0and\u00a0\u00a0
dignity\u00a0
we need understanding, possibility and Love\u00a0
Above all
we need Love
\u00a0
we, ourselves\u00a0\u00a0
will again plant a tree here
as a kindness to the earth,
and to a healing
we will open our hearts\u00a0
we will learn
and we will listen\u00a0
\u00a0
as the very, very least we can do\u00a0
is listen\u00a0
where once again,
we Are
our only hope \u2665<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0~ Cindy Blackstock<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[686,684,494,685,74],"class_list":["post-4037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abovealllove","tag-afterastorm","tag-knowbetterdobetter","tag-listenandlearn","tag-toyouthisday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4037"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4052,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4037\/revisions\/4052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}