Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 19, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba Focus a9 uni i to Isiha 2001 sacrifice gives family a Chance to heal i sat in the auditorium of Toronto native Centre recently thinking it was Nice there was a Public place where a native person could sit Safe and comfortable among their own in the heart of Megarity off Bloor and around for Friendship Cen tres in cities across the country have become Little enclaves where indians can Retreat from the ravages of they feel like Toronto native Centre is a bustling like it was the first time i was there in the Ive gone there for to visit and to see theatrical productions in the auditorium put on by native Earth per forming on this the auditorium was put to use for a funeral a funeral for my Cousin the venue was entirely colonial grip i began writing professionally in 1982 and if theres a consistent theme and narrative that keeps bubbling up in my its the reemergence of the native and society from the debilitating grip of Colo its a painful journey Rife with dysfunction and tragedy though times May be theres still work to be a lot of and it needs to be done in front of chiefs and councils including those in the Gaudy position of National chief have done they Are imposed institutions and As Long As chiefs and on All continue to oper ate the Way they Well never get out from under the Wrath of chief and Council have become the col they work for Indian not Indian the people Are still still committing still abusing each other in Cousin George Sheldon Pratt was one such the Pratt family left the Reserve in 1946 under the cover of night to avoid the Indian whom they would have required permission they eventually settled in Churchill where the my aunts and residential school started having in the Pratt those babies Are the seventh generation since Cousin George is the first of that generation to pass overwhelmed holding a Genius George Sheldon saw the world As it really was and it tortured the smartest member of the Pratt family was overwhelmed by his own Brilliant he spent much of his adult life in prison thanks to the Justus system and in the clutches of drug and alcohol listening to Cousin Bernie give the it struck me that George was perhaps a sacrifice to allow the rest of the Pratt family a Chance to we Pratts Are members of the Gordons first nation in but Georges funeral was in Toronto because that had been his Home since the he didst like it out it caused a bit of a Row in the family until All funerals had been on the i think it was a moot the reserves Arent really our Homes there parcels of land we were forced to live Treyve been a Blessing and a curse a Blessing because Treyve prevented integration a lesson israelis Learned the hard and a curse because dysfunction runs reserves represent there unnatural entities that confine a people once free to the migration tendency is still in the the aunts and uncles in the Pratt family travelled and settled far and wide new Toron to is in ojibway country and theres ojibway blood in the its Possi ble some of our blood was in its ancestral profound Way but Georges funeral was at Home in a More profound funerals Ive been to in the and that Ive writ ten have respectfully combined Indian spirituality and at Georges christianity want a Medicine person facilitated the proceedings As the drum and the pipe replaced hymns and the no one missed the Christian element another Small step in removing the chains of we moved Forward a couple of Steps that Day because of Georges his soul left this world a casualty of his obituary and owed the world and society absolutely in the we will owe judging ethics of Hunters is a risky undertaking by Peter Schroedter climbing the perceived moral High ground and using it As a pulpit to preach ethics is a risky this is especially so when it comes to judging the ethics of cultures other than your it is doubly difficult to resist the temptation to impose your morals on minority groups if you Are part or want to be a member the dominant culture this seems to be the Case in the cur rent Bea baiting in sure that As far As the Bear is getting shot by an american hiding in a tree stand Over a bait or taking a Bullet in the head while slurping Honey from a Farmers Bee hive Doest much this Only becomes an ethical question when people who dont like Hunting want to Stop those who enjoy which brings us Back to one culture imposing itself on As a canadians Are very Toler ant and even supportive of visible in this tolerant Multi cultural Canadian there is Dis regard and outright Nam calling intolerance for people who belong to the invisible minority that makes up Canadas Rural and mostly agrarian its a shame that for Many people with an Urban farm Caps and coveralls on a Man Dri ving a pickup truck Means there looking at the righting redneck who shot it seems to annoy Many urbanite that we wont conform to accepted Urban cultural its almost As though we Embarrass them the Way old fashioned immigrant parents Embarrass their Inte grated economic forces reshaped Canad an society and the Urban culture is now the dominant social our Rural culture is in but make no we do have a culture that is very much our our lit our legends and our status even the Way we interact with our Neighbour Are things unique to ours is Northern euro Pean agrarian culture reshaped by Canadian geography and for Many people in this almost invisible Hunting is As much a part of our Rural culture As rodeos or today weddings with fiddle a big part of Rural culture is about earning a living by using the Fred Are ensure Winnipeg free press archives people stroll along Wasagaming drive in Riding Mountain National Park its not exactly a wilderness resources the land has to for most of it Doest matter much if its logging farming and fishing the lakes or running an outfitting business As Long As we dont have to Migrate to the pave regulated our activities Are regulated by the province and the regulations Are con stantly under review to ensure the Harvest is if the Black Bear or any wildlife population was at there Are regulations in place to curtail but currently this int the Manitoba has a thriving Bear and big game population both in and outside Riding Mountain National that in Speaks Well for Manitoba game management policies because the Park is part of a much larger ecosystem dominated by human the fact that in most areas game populations have increased in the last 30 years is also proof that we have a Good game management system in Riding Mountain National Park is a wonderful asset for the province but to pretend its a wilderness zone is a its a tourist destination for peo ple who want to fit a nature experience into a Busy the real wilderness begins where the Bush about a half Days paddle from where the Road the fact is that most people Proba Bly enjoy a trip into the Bush much past where the Road but that Doest mean that they dont have the right to enjoy what they see As their connection with nature in a groomed other people want to connect with nature by Hunt ing and who to say which activity does More the legions that flock to the groomed gravel path campgrounds or the both Are acting on a powerful need to somehow connect with what we generally Call different peo ple need to connect in different the closer you Are to the the deeper it seems we need to people who live in or Are still part of the Rural culture usually want to reconnect with nature by exercising their Hunting however atrophied they both Hunter and non Hunters have an Impact on the environment and the Hunter in the tree stand knows he or she is there to kill a the camper and cottage who condemn the Hunter should remember they also kill bears by proxy to accommodate their activity when the bears Are removed and shot because they Are labelled Nui Sance bears around campsites and very Fine Point to claim the High moral ground and declare that this method or that is a More ethical Way to kill wild animals is to stand on a very Fine so Fine a Point is usually reserved for dancing Peter Schroedter is an Interlake sheep rancher and agriculture letters to the editor the free press welcomes letters from they must include the authors address and Telephone letters May be letters to the 1355 Mountain r2x fax email include adoption in same sex legislation this letter is to urge the provincial government to include adoption rights in its new same sex legislation i remember attending the Public hearings held a few years ago Over the proposed now thankfully anti homophobia education program for Public hundreds of peo ple attended these and Many people spoke out on both sides of the one image from the hearings has particularly stuck in my a opposed to the stood up and introduced himself As a father and a he explained to the Assem Bly if his children returned Home from school exhibiting signs of anti homophobia he would in turn educate he slapped one hand against the other As he said As if to demonstrate that this Educa Tion would be if it seems like insanity that same sex couples cannot enjoy the very adoption rights As this bigoted Man already enjoys under the that because it Edja zen Winnipeg allow adoption by same sex partners i am writing to you As a citizen of a lifelong Manitoban and a woman in a same sex i would like your readers to imagine this scenario and place themselves there for one imagine that you and your have been together for a number of years after much decide to have a imagine that your family shares All the things that other families do in Manitoba time spent at our Beautiful bundling up for a cold Winter Day enjoying our renowned hot summer afternoons at the imagine the your leaving you with a Young child to care you Are left to Deal not Only with your own but to Comfort a child who is missing their other imagine the horror when your family comes to take your child to live with them they and they because it is the Law in being a resident of Man you were not Able to adopt your child together with your there Are four other provinces that do include legislation for same sex and i would but reluctantly consider these provinces As potential Homes for my and our if we should choose to expand our i believe that As Gay and Les Bian should be Able to adopt our children i urge Premier Gary doer and the nip government to Amend Bill 41 to include changes to the adoption Shelley Turner Winnipeg show respect to gain respect in response to the letters from Thomas Wilson and Erin Buckels june both of whom were involved in the ant free Trade of the americas agreement protest at the Winnipeg convention Centre on May there is another perspective on the i attended the dinner and witnessed the i might add that i am part of the same generation As most of the i believe is Buck Els when she says that the protesters did having spoken to several of i was quite impressed by their level of knowledge on the subject of the was not with what the protesters were doing but with How they were doing the pro testers had a great Opportunity a Chance to inform the More than 900 people who Many of them politicians and Community about an Issue they care deeply people Arent going to respect you or your message if you dont offer them denying people Access to the convention trying to trip jostling Yelling at them and breaking a window Are not ways to gain respect for your Mes Sage or for Sean Alexander Petty Winnipeg mentally ill not treated equally i want to commend Karen Toole for having the courage to write an article on mental health mental illness often linked to spiritual june 2 and the Winnipeg free press for pub Lishing the mentally in Canada and Are often found to be with out a voice because of fear and it is even More appropriate that the subject is appearing in the Faith Section of the Winnipeg free is Toole is there any other disease where the Label becomes the persons entire identity one Only has to read or listen to the daily news to see that the mentally ill carry the Burden society has placed upon the Media has done nothing to dispel the the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms Equality 15 enshrines the right for equal Protection and equal Benefit of the Law with out specifically identifying individuals who Are men tally or physically and in Canada and equal Protection and equal Benefit Are major omissions when it comes to the care of the mentally at the end of the we must look at ourselves in the Are we Able to say that we have treated All including the mentally with the respect and dignity they Are entitled to is this not what Faith is All about Beverley Goodwin Winnipeg doonesbury by Garry Trudeau of four Mower macakmik5 wat a Mac Arthur of your Art amp in vew group of Man f ;