Sitting in a small neighbourhood café, I gaze out the window at the horizon, vast and wide, stripped of plant life to the detriment of the concrete that cares so much about our consumption. I’ve just placed Cyndy Wylde’s essay Émergence insoumise[i] on the table. I’m pensive, even worried. Originally from Pikogan in Abitibi, this woman, who is both Anicinapeke and Atikamekw, voluntarily chooses to communicate in a language that everyone can understand some of the many, hard-to-forgive flaws of our shared past, so that I can perhaps catch a few whiffs of them. In a way, it’s a muted song that whispers in my ear that it’s right to shed a few tears on behalf of those who suffered among our First Nations friends.
Cyndi says she’s learned to control her anger. When she hears our national anthem – O Canada, Our home and native land – she takes a deep breath. These lands weren’t ours before we unexpectedly intruded. When she points out to the white leader that his prisons are overcrowded with a strangely large aboriginal population, and he stands there without flinching, she tries to remain calm. How do you explain to these inmates these rules and policies that they didn’t choose, and that they can’t understand in a language that isn’t their own? If she’s thinking about the justice system that trivializes so many repressive, even monstrous, acts committed against aboriginal women….Regrettably I too close my eyes and try to breathe.
June is National Aboriginal History Month in Canada. Little by little, the hope of a collective consciousness is slowly emerging. Our outlook is changing, sometimes too slowly, but it must. From a small neighbourhood café to thousands of First Nations people across the country, I apologize for yesterday, I give you all my love for tomorrow. I sincerely extend my hand. I look out the window, and I see a horizon, one that I hope will be greener for my First Nations friends.
[1] WYLDE, Cyndy (2024), Émergence insoumise, Québec, Éditions Hannenorak
Simon Renaud, Québec – Regional Vice-President for UVAE
Sent on behalf of UVAE’s National Human Rights Committee