Quote:
Originally Posted by Cube Inmate
Europeans did some pretty inexcusable things trying to wipe the aboriginal culture form the face of the earth. And many of us are still doing things that are harmful, based on that history. So I'm not going to say "get over it." There's a lot of reparation due to natives as a group, if not individually. But it has to be based on reality, and the reality is that the "traditional" version of the land is gone, and we can't bring it back. We can try to help preserve what's left of the culture, and also help patch some of the wounds that are festering, but changing some road signs is not going to do that.
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I find it kind of interesting, because I agree with you but I think “changing some road signs” goes a lot further than we think.
To us, they’re just road signs. The general points against any change range from “pointless” and “expensive” to comments that come across kind of ignorant “when will it end” etc. But as you said, the land is a BIG part of aboriginal culture and traditions. Their link to the land is strong and I think a LOT more important to them than it would be to a lot of us, and I think we need to understand that.
It might just be a gesture, but it’s one that says we recognise what Canada is and where we are, and most importantly, that we recognise our history and our original people. So to us, maybe it means little, but to them, a gesture that firmly says “we recognise your history and your place in it as our own” I think is extremely important.
I don’t know the answer. But I go to a lot of events where the speakers starts out by recognising that we’re on traditional land. It’s a small gesture that means a lot, so if that happens on a grand scale, then I have no problem with it.
I personally think whoever brought up changing signs to recognise both names is a really great idea.