To Kyle...On Native Land Claims

A man named Kyle has been responding to my blogs on native land claims and giving me some interesting history lessons. This blog is directed at him because I don't know any other way of reaching him.

Hello Kyle:

I've been very impressed with your responses. They are heart felt but you haven't shown anger towards me for my views and I'm thankful for that.

Blogging is a way for all of us to put forth our thoughts on many subjects that interest us and one of the biggest threats these days to the peaceful day to day living in Canada is the disruptions by the natives. My goal was to express how these disruptions affect the non-natives of this country.

Please understand, Kyle, that my sympathies have always been with the natives for what they lost 200 years ago. My ancestors didn't arrive in Canada until the early 1900's so they didn't steal anyone's land. In fact, they came to Canada because they lost their own in Ireland and immigrated here to try to rebuild their lives.

Many generations of immigrants came to Canada for just this reason, worked hard, bought land legally, and are responsible for creating the country we have today. Natives, on the other hand, chose to remain on reservations where they stagnated. That is one of the reasons I've hated the reservations because I believe they stifled the growth of the natives.

My understanding of the years native children were torn away from their families and put in residential schools is that religious groups, who had tremendous influence on the government in those days, were the perpetrators. It was one of the most shameful things our government has ever been responsible for and we should never forget it happened. Non-native children in regular orphanages in those years suffered the same hell and we should never forget that, either.

What I'm trying to explain, Kyle, is that this is today, not 200 years ago, and natives can not hold today's citizens hostage to the wrongs done hundreds of years ago. We resent it deeply.

I'm very grateful that you took the time to respond and that you did so with dignity. I hope I've been able to make you understand how the other side feels in this ongoing drama, too.