New Citizen! Gina at the Ceremony, having just been presented with her Citizenship Certificate
New Citizen! Gina at the Ceremony, having just been presented with her Citizenship Certificate
Gina cutting the cake with Bishop Poole - we ordered it specially in honour of this special day!
Surprise! This is how Gina found her work space when she returned from the ceremony!
Surprise! This is how Gina found her work space when she returned from the ceremony!
What a welcome from work colleagues! We are proud to call ourselves Canadians.
Hi Gina,
Lookslike a great wintry break.
Interesting. I have the exact Tony Hunt Print, #119 you have on the blog. Signed by Tony Hunt. Can you provide any specific information? We love the North West. Visited Vancouver Island last summer. Would love to know if the print has value to anyone so I can explain Tony Hunt, his work and the significance of this particular print so my kids (really 50 years old now) can appreciate this rich history. I bought this print in the early 60’s in Phoenix at a art museum show.
Thanks. Julius Marcus, mark@julius-marcus.com
Hi Julius
I can’t add much to what is on my blog I’m afraid. I bought mine on Vancouver Island around 1973. There is a reasonable amount of information about Tony Hunt around the Web.
Good luck,
Gina
I am feeling transported to New England already.
Your latest post conveys the mood so convincingly. I can almost taste the lobster too!
Would the bear do and extension too, while plucking acorns? Thanks for the wintery account from Algonquin Park.
Thanks Bob! Hope you have enjoyed a good West Coast winter!
Lovely account Gina. Must have been a great time away.
Thanks Bob, it was, especially the chance to try out our snowshoes (though for the first time in 3 years or so my back has flared, so we had to keep our expeditions reasonably short).
These are wonderful impressions Gina. I really like the photos with captions.
Thanks Bob! Yes, I think captioning can add an interesting dimension to ‘storytelling’ and like the way WordPress is now displaying these.
Absolutely beautiful Photos and lovely commentary.
Thanks, Jessie! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for sharing all this. I wonder what that MP said about Japanese Internment. There are some similarities in the plight of Japanese Canadians and Indigenous communities, however it’s important to remember that the Japanese nationals were basically latter stage colonizers.ì
I’m curious about the notion of Creator. I’m not sure what it means and how that relates to Mother Earth. I’ve also wondered that if it does mean a higher power created earth, if it’s much differrent in principle to Creationism. A quick look on the internet seems to use similar language. But as you said, learning from books (I’d add the
internet) is not the same as lived experience immersed in related activity.
The pow wow I attended had very interesting dance steps. Hard to follow and intriguing to witness.
Thanks for the explanation of regalia.
As I remember it, the MPs acknowledgement was essentially of the harm inflicted by the behaviours of past governments and society as a whole.
I suspect that perception of what is meant by ‘Creator’ varies between Indigenous individuals much as concepts of ‘God’ do in other religions. There are definitely creation stories, but story is used in traditional cultures as a way of accessing wisdom and the unseen – perhaps there is an even less literal relationship to it than in Western cultures. Often I ‘hear’ it more in terms of ‘life force’.
Former Indigenous Bishop Mark MacDonald states that “when the elders use the term “Creator,” they indicate that the Spirit is the fundamental reality in all of Creation”. ( https://anglicanjournal.com/on-the-creator-9556/ )
Another phrase I came across is that “the Great Spirit, the Great Mystery, the Universe is our Great Creator”.
( http://www.firstnationsdrum.com/2020/05/great-creator-gave-us-everything/ )
What I take from this is a sense of ‘Creator’ as the animating force of life and ‘Mother Earth’ as that which nurtures us in a relationship of reciprocity, which our dominant culture seems to have forgotten.
Yes, the dance steps can be very complex! You might enjoy trying the basics in the video I linked to. The foundational step is easy once you ‘fall into it’ – I have been practising. I now need to add in the variations. It’s good exercise!