Category Archives: 2022 Inferior Trip to Superior

Gruelling Inquest and the Quest for Truth

2022 Inferior Trip to Superior, Colonialism, Indigenous People After Contact

 

Sometimes truth does not come in clear images.  The impressionist painters of the late 19th century realized that and I found their images mesmerizing.  Some of you may have noticed that some of my photos are not clear either. That is not an accident.  I have been using a technique called “the Orton effect” after the man who invented it. The technique involves combining 2 identical images into one. The first image is clear and in focus, but over exposed. So it is very light. Then I take a second image of the same subject and blur it deliberately. Why would I do that? When combined the images sometimes are stunning. Sometimes you have no idea what the result will be when the images are combined. When combined it sometimes seems magical what comes together in the computer.

 

A few years ago, I was at photographer workshop in Saskatchewan, with a photographer by the name of Andre Gallant who produced a book called Dream Scapes. He is a master of the technique.  I am a poor elementary student.  His images were deeply compelling to me, but he admitted, as must, I that the technique is not for everyone. After all, why would one deliberately blur a sharp image? That is a good question? Why did the impressionists do that? Sometimes, an ambiguous image can bring its own clarity.

 

Julian Falconer, in the film Spirit to Soar,  together with the Grand Chief Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Alvin Fiddler fought for years for an inquest into the deaths of the 7 young indigenous people in Thunder Bay for years.  Finally one was announced in 2008, but only for one of the 7 students.  The inquest was for Reggie Bushie and it was finally called in 2015. According to CBC reporter Jodi Porter,

“there was a roomful of lawyers there and their only job was to protect and cover-up and they were the ones who got to call [witnesses]…There wasn’t healing in it. It was traumatizing. It was awful to sit there every day. And no one from Thunder Bay bothered to show up.”

 

While the Inquest was being held another indigenous body was pulled from the river. “The gruelling inquest”, according to Talaga, “lasted for 9 months and came up with 145 recommendations including building high schools for every community that needs one. And improving safety for Thunder Bay rivers.

 

I wonder if anyone cared about that. The film did not say. It left a lot of questions unanswered.

In the same way, combining images can leave a lot of questions unanswered. But aren’t questions more important than answers? I don’t want to give up on truth, but sometimes I want to experience it from a fresh perspective.

Unworthy Victims: Investigating the Police

2022 Inferior Trip to Superior, Colonialism, Indigenous People After Contact

 

The maple leaf is one of the most enduring symbols of Canada.  It has a sensational shape. Added to that, in autumn it morphs into a leaf with stunning colours. I particularly like them when the green is leaving the leaf but not yet entirely. Those are my favourite. I had expected more of these leaves in the Thunder Bay area, but there were many. I was grateful for that. I was content.

The Thunder Bay police were investigated by the Office of the Independent Police Review Directorate, who concluded “Overall I found that systemic racism exists in Thunder Bay police service at an institutional level.” The Ontario police watch dog found the problem runs right through the ranks. Directly after that, Senator Murray Sinclair released his investigation into the Thunder Bay police board and found they were also guilty of systemic racism.

9 cases were re-opened as a result of the investigations and 4 of those were of the 7 fallen feathers. Justice Sinclair said he did not have faith in that system however:

“that is because the resistance level is so unspoken and so present. The impetus to blame the indigenous victim was huge. It still is. I would be surprised if it changed so quickly. I’m sure that they say it’s changed but I would be surprised if there had been any significant change in that attitude because that is an ingrained attitude. And that attitude was allowed to permeate the system within the Thunder Bay police force and the board was primarily responsible for trying to change it and doing something about it and they didn’t. They didn’t even see it as a problem.”

 

It’s very difficult to see something you believe is not there. That is like racism itself.  Over and over again I have heard non-indigenous people decline to accept that systemic racism exists, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Resistance to uncomfortable truths runs deep in Canada, just as it does in the United States. People don’t want to accept the fact that our societies are deeply racist. That is exactly how institutional or systemic racism works and why it is so difficult to uproot.

 

In the film Colonization Road, Lawyer Julian Falconer put it well:

“what racism is about is less than worthy victims. Their deaths were not worthwhile enough to make it worthy of a competent professional investigation. That is the message. It’s what they do when the investigate another dead drunk Indian!”

 

Jody Porter also put it well:

“How many times do you have to rediscover the same problems, the same racism within the institutions that are supposed to be helping before you say, ‘It’s not them; it’s us?

 

The fundamental problem is indifference. As Porter added,

“Indifference can kill people especially when it is young people asking for help. Seeking a better life. If you are indifferent to that as a community, then death seems like a natural consequence.”

Too many of us are indifferent to what happened there. It is not our business. We are busy with our own business. I am no better than anyone else about this.

 

Grueling Inquest

2022 Inferior Trip to Superior, autumn, Indigenous Issues, photography

 

Sometimes truth does not come in clear images.  The impressionist painters of the late 19th century realized that, and I found their images captivating.  Some of you may have noticed that some of my photos are not clear either. That is not an accident.  I have been using a technique called “the Orton effect” after the man who invented it. The technique involves combining 2 identical images into one. The first one is clear, but over exposed. So it is very light. Then I take a second image of the same subject and blur it deliberately. When combined the images sometimes are stunning. Sometimes you have no idea what the result will be when the images are combined. Sometimes the results are duds. When combined however, sometimes the images seem magical what you see the two images coming together in the computer.

 

A few years ago I was at photographic workshop with a photographer by the name of Andre Gallant who produced a book called Dream Scapes. He is a master of the technique.  I am a poor elementary student.  His images were deeply compelling to me, but he admitted, as must I, that the technique is not for everyone. After all, why would one deliberately blur a sharp image? That is a good question? Why did the impressionists do that?

 

Julian Falconer, in the film Spirit to Soar, together with the Grand Chief Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Alvin Fiddler fought for an inquest into the deaths of the 7 young indigenous people in Thunder Bay for years.  Finally, one was announced in 2008, but only for one of the 7 students.  The inquest was for Reggie Bushie and it was finally called in 2015. According to CBC reporter Jodi Porter,

“there was a roomful of lawyers there and their only job was to protect and cover-up and they were the ones who got to call [witnesses]…There wasn’t healing in it. It was traumatizing. It was awful to sit there every day. And no one from Thunder Bay bothered to show up.”

 

While the Inquest was being held another indigenous body was pulled from the river. “The gruelling inquest”, according to Talaga, “lasted for 9 months and came up with 145 recommendations including building high schools for every community that needs one. And improving safety for Thunder Bay rivers.

I wonder if anyone cared about that. The film did not say. It left a lot of questions unanswered.

In the same way, combining images can leave a lot of questions unanswered. But aren’t questions more important than answers? I don’t want to give up on truth, but sometimes I want to experience it from a fresh perspective.

When the land is special, but death is normalized

2022 Inferior Trip to Superior, autumn, Colonialism, Indigenous People After Contact, Indigenous--Indian Residential Schools

I love maple leaves just before they die. Maple Leafs of Toronto not so much.  Maple leaves,  attain a stunning beauty just before death consumes them. The tree doesn’t die; the leaves die and fall to the ground. On the ground we see their last grasp at beauty. I am always amazed by their shape and colours. Even from behind they look wonderful.

A number of deaths in and around Thunder Bay have brought back painful memories of Indian Residential Schools to the people of the region. This has sparked fear among many indigenous youth. Particularly, when it appears that the deaths have been normalized.  When nobody cares it’s time to be scared. And when there is nothing special about the deaths, you know it’s dangerous out there. It’s the same thing the indigenous women have felt in Canada for decades.

Yet at the same time, the land is incredibly  beautiful. Reminds me of what W.B. Yeats once referred to as “beauty like a bended bow.”  As Julian Falconer, a lawyer acting for indigenous people said in the film Spirit to Soar, as he was flying over the region I was travelling by in my car:

“We are flying where Jordan Wabasse was found. Nobody needs reminding of how tragic these losses, these deaths, are to indigenous communities. But I also think that you can’t talk about Thunder Bay without appreciating how special the land is. That creates the ultimate irony. Easily some of the most beautiful landmarks in the world are here with some of the ugliest dynamics in the form of racism. All of that is part of the story. And the whole story needs to be told.”

Wisdom from a lawyer. How rare. Go figure.

The land is special, the people are special, and things get complicated. We have to appreciate that. There are no simple answers here, because there are no simple truths. Truth is usually complex.

 

 

Fear and Trembling

2022 Inferior Trip to Superior, autumn, Colonialism, Exploitation, Indigenous People After Contact, Indigenous Treaties, Indigenous--Indian Act, Indigenous--Indian Residential Schools

 

I love autumn and in particular the maple leaves of autumn.  What is more beautiful?

The Canadian federal government in 1876 introduced the Indian Act. It has been amended a number of times since then, but is still on the books. That statute gave the federal government authority over indigenous people. Indigenous people were shocked by the introduction of that statute, since many of them had recently entered into treaties which they thought guaranteed them sovereignty over their own lands and peoples while agreeing to share (but not cede) the land with non-indigenous Canadians. That law actually gave the federal government the authority to completely control the lives of indigenous people in Canada. That statute gave the federal government the power to take away indigenous children from their homes and send them to church run government funded Indian Residential Schools. There were eventually more than 140 residential schools across Canada. 150,000 indigenous children were taken from their families and sent to these schools often at considerable distance from their home communities and far away from their families. The last school closed in 1996. Again, this is not ancient history. This is yesterday. And the ill-effects of those schools live on in the lives of descendants of the survivors.

 

The Indian Act is a piece of legislation that amounts to the extreme use of colonial power and paved the way for exploitation of indigenous people. It is based on the false notion that whites were superior to indigenous people. I will have more to say about that legislation in future posts.

 

Children are still leaving their homes and families and communities just to get an education.  Now they do it by “choice.” Many go to places like Thunder Bay where they are the objects of powerful and deep racism. Of course, indigenous people are compelled to go there by economic circumstances. Many of these modern students report that they feel unsafe in places like Thunder Bay. One said, “I feel like I have to look over my shoulder every second, or I’m going to, you know, get hurt.” Many are scared because they know of others who have gone missing.

Of course, the 7 deaths of indigenous students in the Thunder Bay area brought painful recollections of Indian Residential Schools where often young children were sent to schools far away and never came home. Was this not comparable to that? Were we living through another heinous event like that?

Very Big lies: White Superiority and the Doctrine of Discovery

2022 Inferior Trip to Superior, autumn, Colonialism, Hate, Indigenous People After Contact

 

 

When European settlers came to Canada, they brought with them a lot of lies. They packed lies you might say. One of the big ones was the doctrine of discovery.

 

As Tanya Talaga said on the CBC documentary Spirt to Soar,

“When the settlers came to our lands they brought with them many stories of falsehoods. The most harmful being the doctrine of discovery-–terra nullius. With lands belonging to no one, this justified the theft and discover of our homelands. But the land belonged to someone. We were here. We are still here.”

This reminded me of a recent television series I watched called The English. In that series  the villains included a group of Mennonites who had come to settle Kansa in 1800s. The English woman in the series asked the Mennonites why they were there? “Do you not realized people live here”, she asked. The Mennonites were shocked. How could their good intentions be questioned?  The replied, “God sent us.”  That was all they said. They never considered that they might be trespassing on land of others. Such an idea never entered their minds.

I actually think there was another doctrine–at least as harmful as the Doctrine of Discovery and closely related to it. That was the doctrine of white supremacy.  It held that whites were superior to all other races. All other races are inferior. This reminded me, obliquely, of my inferior tour. It was inferior not just in the sense of being puny, but also in the sense of any lingering sense of superiority I might have. I have been trying to oust this pernicious doctrine from my soul. It is not easy. The doctrine of white supremacy is entirely irrational, but that does not make it any less real. Anyone who benefits from doctrine must renounce it. Justice, fairness, and reason all demand it.

Both doctrines were lies—very big lies.

According to Jody Porter, CBC reporter in the film, Spirit to Soar, “there is a sense in this town [Thunder Bay] that you don’t have to account for these things.” That is what privilege is all about. That is what makes Thunder Bay the Hate capital of Canada. Those who have white supremacy deep in their souls often do not recognize that it is there. They are blind to it. They accept the benefits of privilege and look down on its victims, if they notice them at all. That is the spirit that does not soar. That is the spirit that leads to hate.

 

 

Predators and Prey in the Hate Capital of Canada

2022 Inferior Trip to Superior, Colonialism, Hate, Indigenous People After Contact

Beautiful Ground along Superior North Shore

I blogged earlier about the Hate Capital of Canada. As I returned on my jaunt to Thunder Bay I want to return to that subject as well.

There is a story in Thunder Bay that if you die in the water you deserve that kind of death. 7 indigenous teens had gone missing in Thunder Bay from 2000 to 2011. The indigenous community was deeply disturbed by what happened. Canadian society not so much. 5 of the  teens were later found dead in rivers in and around Thunder Bay. Did any of them deserve that fate?  I could not fathom such a thought. As Tanya Talaga who wrote a book about this series of events called 7 Fallen Feathers, and producer of the show Spirit to Soar, said this, ‘our youth must come alone to Thunder Bay just to go to school in a city where First Nations people have faced racism. Racism that kills.” That is often a traumatic experience for young children. They come to a city where as many have said racism was rampant and are there alone without their families because they want to go to school. The lovely city of Thunder Bay has been called the hate crime capital of Canada! Imagine if your grade nine indigenous student daughter [or son] flew in from up north all by herself. Would you be terrified?

Yet hundreds of indigenous youth make that trip each year. It made me think about the crocodiles that travel each year to the Mara Mara River in Africa to meet, greet, and eat wildebeests and zebras. The poor beasts must face a horrifying number of deadly predators, yet they plunge into the river in a desperate effort to get across the river and join the herd on a search for spring grasses. Is that how it is with these  young indigenous children who want to get an education so badly they are willing to go to the Hate Capital of Canada to get it. And inevitably they go alone leaving protective families far behind.

First Nations communities repeatedly called for investigations into the deaths of these 7 fallen feathers.   The Chief of the local First Nation asked Talaga why she was not writing a story about Jordan Wabasse the 7th of the missing students.

Talaga did write a book about those events and then discussed some of the issues again in the 2018 CBC Massey Lectures.

The deaths are part of the colonial history of Canada which our political leaders have denied. And this is not ancient history. This is recent history. It is ongoing.

According to Talaga each death was investigated and pronounced accidental or undetermined. She says the investigations were inadequate. No one was ever charged for any of those crimes.

This also reminded me of the fate of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in Canada.  It goes on an on. Predators find the vulnerable victims. Often, like the zebras and wildebeest in Africa come to the crocodiles, the women prey come to the predators. When will this ever end? It will come to an end only when Canadian society takes this problem seriously. Only when Canadians look at themselves critically and say, ‘enough is enough.’ This must stop.

 

 

Ozone Creek

2022 Inferior Trip to Superior, autumn

 

 

Driving back from Rainbow Falls on the way to Thunder Bay, I stopped at Ozone Creek to take a photograph of another lovely stream and bridge surrounded by autumn leaves. I really can’t get enough of such lovely scenes.

 

I wonder why it is called Ozone Creek?  Is there where the pieces of the hole in the ozone layer have landed? Where has all the ozone gone?

I guess I am also a sucker for bridges.  I love covered bridges and those modern ones with an array of reinforced wiring to hold it up.

This bridge was pretty plain. But plain is sometimes good. To my mind today was good.

I returned to Thunder Bay weary and hungry. It was a great day along the north shore of Lake Superior. A fine day on a modest inferior tour.

 

Ecological Integrity: Rainbow Falls

2022 Inferior Trip to Superior, Nature, New Attitude to Nature

 

 

I admit it: I am a sucker for a water falls. I really can’t drive by without taking a closer look and taking a photo. Sometimes even many photos. I amounts to a compulsion. Today was no exception. On the advice of the park ranger/interpreter I stopped at Rainbow Falls and was not disappointed.

 

Rainbow Falls Park prides itself on honouring the ecological integrity of the area. What does that mean? This is how they advertised it:

“What is Ecological Integrity? Close your eyes and imagine an old growth forest. See the trees, adorned in lichens and mosses, their branches swaying high above you. Hear the gentle bubble of water as it emerges from a hidden spring, the vibrant chorus of birds as they flit through the forest canopy above you, the soft padding of wolves’ feet along a well-used route. Smell the richness of the soils, where earth and water and plants come together in a combination that is unmistakably rejuvenating and full of life. Imagine this beautiful space, unmarred by traffic and pollution. This is an ecosystem with integrity. This is what we strive to protect and restore in Ontario’s provincial parks.”

 

That sounded pretty good to me.  That was what my jaunt was all about. The park also provided a more technical definition of ecological integrity:

“The guiding legislation for Ontario Parks, the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act (2006) defines ecological integrity as

 

“a condition in which biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems and the composition and abundance of native species and biological communities are characteristic of their natural regions and rates of change and ecosystem processes are unimpeded. 2006, c. 12, s. 5 (2).”

The heart of ecological integrity is the ‘naturalness’ of an area.

Ecosystems have integrity when they have their mixture of living and non-living parts and the interactions between these parts are not disturbed (by human activity).”

 

 

When ecological integrity is compromised, as it is in most places in southern Canada, the biodiversity of life becomes vulnerable, and the ecosystems are damaged. The area I walked through today was fantastic. I was a bit disappointed at the absence of red maples with their red leaves and sugar maples with their orange leaves, but I was content. After all, the waterfalls were terrific.

 

On the way back, I realized I had missed what the  interpretative guide signs referred to as a panorama view. Darn. I contemplated going back, but the trail was treacherous, I was weary, and it really was time to head back to Thunder Bay. I hate driving at night in unfamiliar territory. Maybe that comes with old age. Or perhaps wisdom?  So I missed that. You can’t see it all. So be it. Next time, it will be a must see. But I must admit that omission has been bugging me. What did I miss?

Rainbow Falls

2022 Inferior Trip to Superior, autumn

 

After grabbing a few photographs of the lovely little island in very dull light, I decided to try Rainbow Falls Provincial Park as the ranger had recommended. He was not mistaken about this little place of wonder. The Falls were lovely. The hike out to the falls was a bit treacherous because the wet and slippery trail went very close to a fast-flowing river, but it was worth the trip.  The rapids and falls were lovely, the air was fresh, and I was able to make up for what was really a dull gray day.  Not great for photographing scenics but fine for close-up images. So, I concentrated on close-up shots and shots of the falls. Frankly, I felt like I was in heaven.