Posted at 2:00 p.m.
What a magnificent text, touching, intelligent, challenging and wise! It happens that we come across a piece of writing that gives us the desire to hug the other, to hold ourselves close to him or her with pride even if others look at us crookedly, to remake the world, with or without beer, letting our milk surges express themselves, listening to each other, then letting our dreamy eyes shine with solidarity and hope. This is how this text makes me feel. thanks Mrme Picard for being open to us. Looking forward to reading you again and, perhaps, to making our eyes shine from a distance!
Denis Vallee
The history of all times, of all continents, of a very large number of peoples is filled with conquests, subordination by invaders, etc. The majority have recovered or, at the very least, a large number have learned from it and, fortunately, even hurt or frustrated, have moved on. This fixation on forgiveness, reconciliation, etc. leaves a bitter taste and is a major irritant for many people, including First Nations people, whose silence is significant to me. I would draw a crude parallel with union leaders and union members. The interests of the latter are not always those of the former, on the contrary. It would indeed be high time to move on.
Claude Menard, Laval
Yes, please move on! You are not the only ones to have been abused. What can be done after apologies, after requests for forgiveness, after reparations? It is not by constantly bringing this up on the carpet that we advance. Indeed, it is high time to move on!
Raymonde St-Amour
You don’t have to move on to anything else. I know how much the perception of aboriginal people is fraught with prejudice among too many Quebecers today. The visit of Pope Francis will at least have had the advantage of putting part of the indigenous reality in the news for almost a week. Let’s hope that for some foreigners, this visit and these words, despite their limits, will have allowed some awareness.
Jean-Marc Charron, Montreal
I simply want to tell you that I fully understand your emotional fatigue, your frustration, your discouragement. Ignorant people, imbeciles, intolerants, there will always be some. For you and your community, I hope you reach the fullness summed up so well by Dr Stanley Vollant: “I want to be the last generation to feel this deep pain and be a shield for my children. Your resilience and kindness will overcome the ignorant around you.
Denis Cossette
I understand my fellow citizens are fed up with hearing about these problems. I say to my fellow citizens, imagine if you were indigenous! Our ancestors stripped them of their lands, marginalized them, put everything in place to integrate them into our society with our laws and our values. We took away their livelihoods and gave them checks while restricting them to fields called “reserves”. Even today, there are many indigenous villages without running water and basic services. This is unacceptable ! Let’s start to support them and put pressure on our elected officials who do not assume their responsibilities. And above all, let’s respect the natives, their values and their cultures. Don’t forget, they were here before us.
Gilles Hébert, Saint-Jerome
My maternal great-grandmother, Marie, from Lac des Îles in Maniwaki, was Algonquin. For her, for all those who suffered and those who still suffer from this genocide, I also say that the time it will take to heal does not have to be evaluated by anyone. You who have never seen a reserve or have never heard a grandmother tell you about the racism experienced by her family, be generous. Go to meet the moral beauty of these nations, go to hear the sweetness of the words of these people, discover the benevolent heart of these peoples who lived here before us. My grandmother told me about my great-grandmother’s daily life and we have a lot to learn from these customs: preservation of nature, respect for the land, animals and humans, reading the weather, bad weather to come, gratitude for what is offered, medicine for body and mind, sharing of knowledge without competition.
Carole Maisonneuve, granddaughter of a Métis grandmother, great-granddaughter of an Algonquin great-grandmother, I say with great pride, I am!
For those who want to learn more about the harms suffered by Indigenous peoples in Canada, I strongly recommend that you watch Richard Desjardins’ documentary “The Invisible People” for free through the National Film Board app. of Canada (NFB). My heart goes out to you and yours, Madame Picard, and I wish you good luck!
Luc Montmarquette