The Meeting

   The band playing at the summer Blues Festival in Orillia, ON wasn’t really working for me, so I wandered off to find out who the statued man at the top of a huge monument was.  He stood astride, cape flowing, looking out over Lake Couchiching.  

Climbing up the cement stairs that led to the base of the statue I read the bronze plaque.  “1615 – 1915  Erected to commemorate the advent into Ontario of the white race under the leadership of Samuel de Champlain the intrepid French explorer and colonizer…”   I have never seen the phrase “white race” in print on a plaque before and I was shocked.  But it got worse.  At the base of the statue on two sides were groups of men.  The Canada Parks sign explained that they represented “Commerce and Christianity.”  On one side was a European fur trader standing above two Indigenous men who sat at his feet.

  On the other side was a priest, cross held high with another two Indigenous men crouching below. 

   Horrified, I found my partner and showed him.  We learned that the statue was created in 1915 by English sculptor Vernon March to celebrate the 300^th anniversary of Champlain’s arrival in the area and to be a “symbol of goodwill between the English and French speaking people of Canada.”  The colonial and racist attitudes of the time and the paradigm of hierarchy were plain to see.  I remembered seeing the statues of Saddam Hussein being toppled over in Iraq and pictured the same thing happening here.

   Later that summer (2014), at the Mariposa Folk Festival, I listened to Sherry Lawson from nearby Chippewas of Rama First Nation (www.mnjikaning.ca) tell engaging, informative and funny stories about her life which she has included in her books (www.sherrylawson.ca).   She also talked about the statue of Champlain.  She felt the same way about it as I did and she pointed out that the cannons at the base are actually pointing at the Rama First Nation just to make things worse.

  

   This summer (2015) heralded the 400^th anniversary of Champlain’s arrival and the area was abuzz with preparations.  I was reluctant to attend in case it was anything like the statue in Orillia.  That was until my friend, Ojibway artist Paul Shilling (www.paulshilling.ca), told us that he was attending the celebration with his beautiful paintings and prints.  He showed us the statement he had prepared for the event.  It read, 

“Samuel de Champlain: 400 year celebration of his introduction to the first nations, first people of this continent.  Champlain had a mission.  The rest is his story.  History. Personally, I don’t celebrate his arrival but I do celebrate the gathering of all people of Champlain’s descendants and all the beautiful, colourful people that make up this world. Underneath the brokenness of most people there is an extraordinary spirit. This is what I celebrate. Dazaunggee”

   With this attitude, I felt I could also go and celebrate the people that had gathered.  My partner and I visited with First Nations artists, saw old canoes and boats, people dressed up in old fashioned French outfits and Metis groups.  When we walked down to Penetanguishene Harbour (part of Georgian Bay) we came across a new statue to commemorate the meeting of Bear Tribe Chief Aenon of the Wendat people and Samuel de Champlain. 

This bronze statue created by Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz is called “The Meeting”.  In contrast to the statue in Orillia, in this statue the two men are meeting face to face as equals.  According to Raymond J. de Souza writing for the National Post on August 3, 2015, for Schmalz, this is an apology for the earlier depictions of Indigenous people (ews.nationalpost.com/full-comment/father-raymond-j-de-souza-a-tribute-to-two-cultures-and-their-twin-spiritualities).

   The artist also included elements of the two cultures such as the Three Sisters (corn, squash and beans), Christian symbols, Sky Woman and Turtle Island and French explorers with Jesuits.  Aenon and Champlain hold a wampum belt between them which is the agreement or contract for how they would deal with each other. The wampum belt is about the relationship between groups of people.  We know that most of these agreements and treaties were not kept by the Canadian governments and were used instead for cultural genocide.  The attitudes that formed the Orillia statue are still alive and well to this day.  So what to make of this new statue?

   Schmalz has created a physically balanced visual representation that tells some of the stories of the people that now live in Huronia.  He seems to be bringing the past to the present while giving us hope for the future.  If the Orillia statue is in the paradigm of hierarchy and competition, this new statue is in the paradigm of cooperation and communication.  Despite my reluctance, I think The Meeting could be a vision of what we can co-create together.  My eyes were drawn to the hands and the wampum belt.  They speak to me about the healing of damaged relationships. Damaged relationships are bad for all of us.

  There is a lot of work to be done. There is listening and learning for people who never knew any of this history. There is governmental change that is drastically needed. And so much more.  It seems huge.  Paul Shilling always says that he wants to be part of the solution not part of the problem.  So do I.  We may not always know exactly what that looks like but I do believe that it is possible for all of us to be part of the solution in our own ways.  This is work for all of us and the ways will emerge once we begin to look.