Re-examining Gordon Lightfoot's Canadian Railroad Trilogy

[jbg]

I was going to put this in "Canada" but thought better of it since I am not familiar with that sub-form's rules

I was set to watch what I thought would be an interesting take on one of my favorite songs, Gordon Lightfoot’s Canadian Railroad Trilogy. This video [youtube]hh7xNDcA6f4[/youtube]
(link), from someone sitting in the comfort of a CBC studio was a diatribe giving faint praise to the song, but attacking White Man for almost setting foot in North America. I asked, in the Youtube dialogue if he was saying that life was idyllic before the White Man. I doubt he'll answer me.

The First Nations continually fought. And it was smallpox, not John A. MacDonald who "stomped on" and "subjugated" the FN. I wonder, why are Canadians guilt themselves. How does excoriating yourself help Canada "move forward towards reconciliation" I love this song, not this hairshirting.

I doubt the producer of this video ever set foot in Attawapiskat, see 'We're in a humanitarian crisis,' Attawapiskat chief calls for more land to build adequate housing.
Re-examining Gordon Lightfoot's Canadian Railroad Trilogy

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I was going to put this in "Canada" but thought better of it since I am not familiar with that sub-form's rules

I was set to watch what I thought would be an interesting take on one of my favorite songs, Gordon Lightfoot’s Canadian Railroad Trilogy. This video [youtube]hh7xNDcA6f4[/youtube]
(link), from someone sitting in the comfort of a CBC studio was a diatribe giving faint praise to the song, but attacking White Man for almost setting foot in North America. I asked, in the Youtube dialogue if he was saying that life was idyllic before the White Man. I doubt he'll answer me.

The First Nations continually fought. And it was smallpox, not John A. MacDonald who "stomped on" and "subjugated" the FN. I wonder, why are Canadians guilt themselves. How does excoriating yourself help Canada "move forward towards reconciliation" I love this song, not this hairshirting.

I doubt the producer of this video ever set foot in Attawapiskat, see 'We're in a humanitarian crisis,' Attawapiskat chief calls for more land to build adequate housing.
Re-examining Gordon Lightfoot's Canadian Railroad Trilogy

I am a Canadian. I am not First Nations (though for reasons of my history, I long thought I was half). I love Gordon Lightfoot, and have for over 50 years.

However, it is unwise to downplay the "White Man's" role in the plight faced by Canada's indigenous people. We may have thought we were doing the right thing by taking children away from their parents (often forever) to put them in residential schools and try to erase from them all hint of their languages and cultures ---- but we were dead wrong. In this, and many other ways, European Canadians did not treat the First Nations with untrammeled kindness, and the scars and pain are visible down to this moment. We are trying to make amends thought "truth and reconciliation," but this is a long an fraught process.

I could only vote "other" in your poll, because none of your choices reflect how I personally feel about the issue. But my personal feelings aren't always wise or correct.

 

[Willamena]

I was going to put this in "Canada" but thought better of it since I am not familiar with that sub-form's rules

I was set to watch what I thought would be an interesting take on one of my favorite songs, Gordon Lightfoot’s Canadian Railroad Trilogy. This video [youtube]hh7xNDcA6f4[/youtube]
(link), from someone sitting in the comfort of a CBC studio was a diatribe giving faint praise to the song, but attacking White Man for almost setting foot in North America. I asked, in the Youtube dialogue if he was saying that life was idyllic before the White Man. I doubt he'll answer me.

The word "Re-examining" wasn't a clue? :-D

Reconciliation is an important part of Canada in the 2020s, and I can understand where the documentary writer is coming from. I watched the film and I don't consider any part of it to be an "attack" against the people who call themselves "white." The relation of history given in the documentary seemed very kind and factual to me. He certainly captures the lovely doom and dire in Gordon Lightfoot's lyrics well. Kudos.

The First Nations continually fought. And it was smallpox, not John A. MacDonald who "stomped on" and "subjugated" the FN. I wonder, why are Canadians guilt themselves. How does excoriating yourself help Canada "move forward towards reconciliation" I love this song, not this hairshirting.

I doubt the producer of this video ever set foot in Attawapiskat, see 'We're in a humanitarian crisis,' Attawapiskat chief calls for more land to build adequate housing.
Re-examining Gordon Lightfoot's Canadian Railroad Trilogy

Reciting a more accurate history (i.e. excoriating) helps us move towards reconciliation by recognizing truth. It's as simple as that. No guilt need be involved.

I don't know what "hairshirting" is, but it sounds very Homer Simpson.

 

[Father Heathen]

Acknowledging that some past events were shameful mistakes and injustices isn't the same as "feeling guilty" for them.

 

[jbg]

The word "Re-examining" wasn't a clue? :-D

Reconciliation is an important part of Canada in the 2020s, and I can understand where the documentary writer is coming from. I watched the film and I don't consider any part of it to be an "attack" against the people who call themselves "white." The relation of history given in the documentary seemed very kind and factual to me. He certainly captures the lovely doom and dire in Gordon Lightfoot's lyrics well. Kudos.


Reciting a more accurate history (i.e. excoriating) helps us move towards reconciliation by recognizing truth. It's as simple as that. No guilt need be involved.

I don't know what "hairshirting" is, but it sounds very Homer Simpson.

Why is "reconciliation" often so divisive? Pierre Trudeau's bilingualism and multiculturalism have not worked well.

 

[Willamena]

Why is "reconciliation" often so divisive? Pierre Trudeau's bilingualism and multiculturalism have not worked well.

I don't know. What are your thoughts? Chretien, in the Trudeau government, made a major blunder trying to undo the Indian Act and abolish the treaties in 1969. It was thoughtless and heartless. And the current government's efforts at reconciliation are mostly PR, though they have succeeded in raising awareness. I don't know any more about the intricacies of Indigenous and Northern Affairs (the department). I feel for the people who go on waiting and waiting for some (any) positive action by Canada. I don't think I'll see it in my lifetime.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

I agree that accepting the harsh truths of the past is different from feeling guilty. I would suggest that ignoring the problems that the past has created in the present day and attempting to sweep them under the rug of denialism is a far more justified reason to feel guilty.