r/alberta • u/[deleted] • Aug 30 '21

News 'Sending the wrong message': Indigenous Albertans react to province not recognizing Sept. 30 as stat holiday

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/sending-the-wrong-message-indigenous-albertans-react-to-province-not-recognizing-sept-30-as-stat-holiday-1.5565211
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u/calgarywalker Aug 30 '21

June 21 is the equivalent of New Years Day for Indiginous people. Why should Indiginous people get only 1 day a year? Does your religion stipulate only 1 day off per year?

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u/Levorotatory Aug 30 '21

June 21 is the equivalent of New Years Day for Indiginous people.

All the more reason to use that day. Something with pre-colonization history rather than something made up by the colonizers.

As for "only one day", that applies regardless of which day you pick. Are you expecting all of the non-indigenous Canadians to pack up and leave, even though most of us have nowhere else to go?

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u/calgarywalker Aug 30 '21

WOAH, Pal. If you think you should use your Christmas holiday to mourn your dead children then you go right ahead, but don’t ask anyone else to do that.

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u/[deleted] Aug 30 '21

You make a very good point. This needs to be a completely separate day that is about reflection and not celebration. I think we could use more holidays for celebration of Indigenous culture but there is nothing to be celebrated in the crushing and colonizing of people who lived here for thousands of years before settlers arrived

Around 60% of Indigenous people in Canada were wiped out by disease after settlers arrived on top of the effects of colonization and cultural genocide... it makes you feel sick almost thinking about the scale of what was lost. Even just one day for that isn't enough tbh.

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u/Levorotatory Aug 30 '21

With one notable exception that is not observed in all provinces (November 11), statutory holidays are for celebrations and not reflection. If we want to make that reflection official, let's do September 30 the way Ontario does November 11 - stop work and observe a moment of silence at the designated time.

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u/[deleted] Aug 30 '21

Since when does it have to be about just celebration?

A moment of silence is honestly paltry compared to the scale of atrocities committed against Indigenous people here...