Superfunkomatic - Observations of the Socially Inept

‘rollin’ down rodeo with a shotgun, these people haven’t seen a brown-skinned man since their grandparents bought one‘ - rage against the machine

being that my major is canadian history one can’t help but be moved by the injustices against native/aboriginal people’s in our short history. in only a few hundred years we’ve exploited and denigrated everything in their lives. we co-opted their knowledge, information and customs for our own commercial ends then booted them off their lands and put them in a safe place where they are free from being “preyed on”.

we’ve systematically written and rewritten history, revisionist approaches to justifying our greatness and that whitey was right. we’ve pulled away their social fabric, one long thread constantly being removed and unravelled. we’ve heralded explorers and imperialists that conquered and economically developed without ever really acknowledging the role of the natives in the development of our country.

the simple fact that textbooks still refer to aboriginal peoples as ‘indians’ is appalling to me. it has such a negative connotation now, it’s amazing that anyone would still use the term. to me it would be like the evolution of american society and black culture and still calling black people ‘niggers’ in formal lectures. unacceptable.

we even developed laws and government departments to help keep them in “their place” - reserves. undereducated, underfunded, social ills like alcoholism and poverty and yet in modern canadian history we’ve done nothing in the form of reparations. at what point as a society do we realize we’ve marginalized an entire people and try and get things back on track.

i think we as white canadians are lucky that they truly are a minority in terms of population numbers. blacks revolted in the 60s in america, we had a minor uprising in the 80s at Oka, Quebec; in an age of modern terrorism, i’d hazard a guess that it’s only a question of time before we have a serious event in canada to do with native rights. one would think there would be a time when negotiation, and one-way communication would cease and real concrete action begins.

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