Second Summer

Kia ora all. Thanks for the few emails of support regarding the demise of Piki. Special thanks to Melissa for not filing a report with CYFS. (Mind you, it was only because she couldn't figure out whether I should be considered abandonned or Piki. But at least she didn't suggest that Piki absconded from my (poor) care). A couple of you noticed that I've never explained why Tiki disappeared off the scene. Well, he's safe and in a box with a pile of business cards. He wasn't very co-operative with the camera, unlike both Piki and Hiki, who are very photogenic, don't you think?

Anyways, Ontario is doing heatwave (with tornado watch thrown in for good measure on Sunday). It means I'm having second summer - sweetcorn, watermelon, strawbs, and temperatures that are meant to head into the low 30s. Loving it! Well, kinda. The humidity is unlike any I've ever felt before, and the mosquitos so thick I think I should never complain about mossies in NZ again. When it's that hot and humid steam rises up from the paddocks and trees after the rain like a light fog in some places. While all that's going on, the lightning puts on a display flashing red and blue from behind thick silver clouds. Cool, love a good storm.

My inner girly swot has resurfaced, and I've been at work on an article and a funding application, while also eating extraordinarily well thanks to Sabrina and Sue. Judging by the emails, I think some of you (Haley, Robyn) are turning into girly swots too - asking if the end-of-blog test will be open-book, and listing off the things you remember from your catch up reading just to prove you have been reading. I never thought setting an exam could be so much fun.

Monday night Sue gave me the patented tour of the Rez, with comparative insights provided by going off Rez here and there. Went to her Long House, and the local village of Ohsweken where we had kai at the local Chinese restaurant. An interesting experience, the place had a kinda retro look, the food was good, and you can smoke there. I can't remember the last time I went to a restaurant that allowed smoking.

The touring continued on Tuesday. I spent a little time with Sabrina at the Ohsweken public library and then we went to Brantford to the Goodminds Bookshop which is an Indigenous North American store, and I love it. It's got books for academics, educators, children, general readers plus DVDs and CDs. It stocks all my faves: Sherman Alexie, Thomas King, Louise Erdrich. We need a bookshop just like it in NZ I reckon, and funnily enough the store owner asked if we had a similar bookshop in NZ. I said not that I knew of. I mentioned Huia Publishers, though, and he said he'd heard of them. He had Patricia Grace's Potiki in stock too. I reckon take that concept and put a little wine bar in it with some good music playing and I've got me a retirement plan.

At Brantford I also spent a bit of time at the Woodlands Cultural Centre First Nation Resource Library, which is located in a former residential school for Indian boys and girls. I think I mentioned American residential schools in an earlier blog. The one that houses the Library closed in the late 60s, and inside it is scarily like the old part of St Joe's, with the wooden staircases and the convent-looking square rooms. They're all offices and library space now, but there's something about the dark timber joinery and the poorly-lit hallways and the lines of fluorescent lighting in the rooms that had me expecting a nun to walk through the door at any moment. Sue and I also did the Museum while we were at the centre, which had a contemporary art exhibition in one of the galleries. Really nice facility, and it was good for me to see the the libraries, Goodminds and the museum given that my mob is on the cusp of settling and we've already got plans for some kind of cultural and resource centre.

Last night was my last on the Rez and Sue took me to a pot luck dinner with a women's singers group. Man, feels like we just ate and laughed and laughed and ate. One of the women made a comment about someone's Indian donuts being the world famous. "In Six Nations?" I asked. The come-backs were thick and fast: "Where else is there?" "What does she mean - the only person at the table not from here, sitting in the middle of the Reservation?" I could go on and on with the funny one-liners on a whole range of topics, but I don't want to implicate anybody, like the mutual friend, not at the dinner, who slept in a carwash on the Rez one night. One of the most interesting things I found out on my last night was that to the indigenous ear my name sounds like Erhar, the Mohawk word for dog. Hmm, nice to have that pointed out, especially as someone earlier in the week had commented (not to me) that it pays to be careful how you say Aroha.

Overall, I had a fantastic five-day detour. I had some great conversations with Sue and Sabrina, about being indigenous in the university system, researching for government policy-makers, iwi libraries and archives, all that stuff. Oh yes, there's a whole lot of indigenous snap going on. In one of our conversations Sue said it's funny how someone you just met from the other side of the world gets you in a way that the people who have been your neighbours for hundreds of years are unable to. It's so true - true and sad.

This morning I did the train ride thing from Brantford to Ottawa. It took pretty much all day. It was a reasonable ride on a beautiful day, with a short stopover at Toronto. Outside the train station there was this (shall we say interesting?) sculpture dedicated to the ideals of multiculturalism. The plaque refers to: the United Nations international covenant on civil and political rights, 1966; Prime Minister Trudeau's official statement on multiculturalism, 1971; and the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms, 1982. Trudeau's statement reads: "There cannot be one cultural policy for Canadians of British and French Origin, another for the original peoples, and yet a third for all others. For although there are two official languages, there is no official culture. Nor does any ethnic group take precedence over any other. No citizen or group fo citizens is other than Canadian, and all should be treated fairly." Hiki was not impressed, she just rolled her eyes sideways, just like Piki used to.

Here's Hiki at the base of the multi-culturalism sculpture.

It's late and I'm only just settled into my room for the next five sleeps. The Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, apologised to former students of the Indian Residential Schools for the damaging impact of the schools on 'Aboriginal culture, heritage and language'. The apology was offered on behalf of the government and all Canadians for a 'sad chapter' in Canadian history. Harper said "Today, we recognise this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in and has no place in our country." Hmm. NZ could learn something, a Prime Minister willing to see the harm of a policy as a whole, rather than looking for evidence of specific incidents of harm, as if policy has no role. Harper also asked for the "forgiveness of the Aboriginal peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly". Well, I don't know if everyone will forgive them. Certainly there seems to have been a range of reactions from First Nations people, at lest on the mainstream media. Some have talked about accepting the apology and moving on with the healing. Some are cynical and are reserving judgment till they see the follow through. Others are still angry, and one woman was on camera asking if the Prime Minister was now going to come and teach her her language. It'll be interesting to see how it unfolds over the next few days, and also to hear indigenous responses outside of the media frame. I'm also looking forward to some good weather (mid-20s and less humid than it has been) and getting out and about in a very pretty looking city.