Counter-Theme to Victimhood: Canada’s Indigenous Peoples Need Not Be Defined by Past Injustices

First Nations dancers participate in the grand entry on the final day of the 32nd annual Squamish Nation Youth Powwow, in West Vancouver on July 14, 2019. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

Commentary

Following the announcement of 215 unmarked graves at a former Kamloops residential school in late May, the city of Victoria in B.C. announced the cancellation of its Canada Day celebrations. When an estimated 751 graves were then discovered at a former Saskatchewan residential school site, #CancelCanadaDay began to trend on Twitter. The activist group Idle No More urged Canadians “to come together and disrupt the [July 1] celebration” at multi-provincial rallies. Four Catholic churches were burned in B.C. and one in Alberta in the week leading to Canada Day.