Jan 24 2015
“A people without a history is like wind on the buffalo grass.” – Teton Sioux proverb

English: Buchloe dactyloides (syn. Bouteloua dactyloides) – Buffalo grass – is the mat-forming habit with hairy curly leaf blades is characteristic of this species. It is used as a drought tolerant ‘lawn’ garden plant in temperate North America. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How appropriate this quote seems to me when journalists inform us of overriding plans for a new monument to stand near the Supreme Court of Canada and the Library and Archives building on property meant for a new Federal Court. This site is controversial and there are those who believe it will overshadow our own history. I am certainly not against what the memorial is to commemorate, but I am concerned about what effect this location may have in light of the objections raised.

When I looked for a definition of the proverb, quite separate from any discussion of the memorial, it seems to relate to the overlay of other versions of North American history that displace Navajo (Diné) oral versions of events. http://historum.com/blogs/ghostexorcist/5329-navajo-history-creation-stories.html

Whose version of history do we pass on to future
generations? What monuments will we raise
here, in this city where our history is preserved in old buildings?

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/177673762


Will there be memorials to the first ancestors, to those who
came after, or to those who never were here at all?
Is money the key? Those with the most cash

decide where and how prominent their chosen icons?
What form of governance reigns all-powerful today,
and whom will we salute tomorrow?

CAS Jan 24, 2015

CanadaStatueJustice (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Statue of Truth outside the Supreme Court of Canada in the capitol City, Ottawa in the province, Ontario. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)