The Goal Of Reconciliation

 More images of the country's centennial year are seen here.

Canadian accomplishments on the world stage. Northern Dancer was a Canadian horse, one of the great horses in racing history, and the first Canadian to win the Kentucky Derby. Retired to sire more horses, his legacy is still present among racehorses today. In center, a suitcase belonging to Glenn Gould, the Canadian classical pianist who was deemed a virtuoso of the industry. And Nancy Greene is one of the country's greatest Olympic athletes. 

Terry Fox left a big legacy behind that endures today. He was a runner who lost a leg to cancer, decided that he would raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society by running across the country from east to west. He started in St. John's, Newfoundland in April 1980, running the equivalent of a marathon a day, before cancer returned and cut his journey short near Thunder Bay in Ontario. He would die of cancer the following year, but each year, millions of people around the world follow his example to raise money in the fight against cancer, running in Terry Fox Runs. 

This is a prototype of his prosthetic leg.

Our relationship with our southern neighbours is one that has a big influence on us- for good and bad. SCTV was a comedy series of the late 70s and early 80s that also got broadcast south of the border. Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas played off the differences between countries in their characters, the Mackenzie Brothers.

On September 11th, 2001, the country offered shelter to incoming planes from around the world as America closed down its airspace after the terror attacks, taking in travelers who would have understandably been in a state of shock after that. This photograph dates to a ceremony one year after that day. 

We move into an area that looks at Canada through a series of themes. The first being the First Peoples, and it is a troubled one. Following Confederation, the government chose the wrong courses of action. Instead of treating as a partner, the choice was that of subjugation.

Inuit statues, but with a dark story to them. Tuberculosis outbreaks in the Far North in the 1940s and 50s required medical evacuations of patients to the south. Their families were often not even informed that their loved ones had died.

The residential school program was the darkest aspect of this oppression, with the intent to simply "civilize the Indian". Children were sent to boarding schools run by religious organizations, separated from families without understanding why, treated with neglect or abuse, and traumatized in ways that left lasting scars. This was a decades long scar on the country, with the last schools only closed in the 1990s.

This quote, by one of the missionaries involved in the program, spoke for itself.

Every dot on this map represents one of the residential schools. With the exception of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, each province and territory had them.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was active from 2008-15, tasked with documenting the history of residential schools and their impact on people across the country, gathering testimony and evidence, and making recommendations on how to right this terrible wrong. It was led by Murray Sinclair, an Ojibwe lawyer, judge, professor, and politician. His quote printed here is very wise.

Hope And Looking Ahead

Picking up where I left off yesterday in the Museum's Canada History Hall, this photograph was on the wall. It was originally taken during the Constitution negotiations in 1981; Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau is at the left in the shot, while at the right is the premier of Quebec at the time, Rene Levesque. The latter was rarely seen without a cigarette dangling from his lips- he might well have slept with a cigarette in his mouth.

This large photograph dates back 50 years, taken on July 1st, 1967 during the centennial celebrations in front of Centre Block. The photographer of the original? The landscape photographer Malak Karsh.

A display panel nearby goes into detail on Terry Fox, the young amputee marathon runner who lost a leg to cancer at 18 and set out to run across Canada from east to west to raise money for cancer research. Starting in St. John's Newfoundland in April 1980, his marathon a day journey caught the imagination of the country, ending near Thunder Bay in Ontario when the cancer had returned. He died in 1981, but his example has continued to inspire others, and each year, runs in his name are held in Canada and beyond to raise money for cancer research. One of his T-shirts is on display.

The relationship between Canada and the United States is examined here as well, including the Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas comedy characters Bob and Doug Mckenzie. Other panels include quotations from Pierre Trudeau and American president John F. Kennedy about the relationship between the countries. With the last of these shots, both national flags are at half mast in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, a shot taken in Gander, Newfoundland, where numerous international flights bound for the United States were taken in on that day.

This is the second copy of a stained glass window that has been placed in Centre Block on Parliament Hill in recent years. Metis artist Christi Belcourt designed this window titled Giniigaaniimenaaning (Looking Ahead) as part of efforts to recognize residential school survivors and their families among the ongoing efforts at reconciliation with First Nations peoples. Its counterpart is placed above the west entrance into Centre Block.

This ceremonial headdress is on an extended loan to the Museum from its owner. Phil Fontaine is a former National Chief of the Assembly Of First Nations, serving in that role from 1997-2009, and a member of the Sagkeeng First Nation of Manitoba. 

I neglected to photograph the details on this, but this ceremonial attire is also of First Nations origins.