Canada is a Metis Nation. John Rauston Saul

I recently listened to a lecture series by John Rauston Saul and was pretty impressed with his arguments. I made some notes from his lecture and have decided to share here.
 

John Rauston Saul has critiqued the mainstream Canadian historiography which he argues is amnesiac as it has ignored the major and the crucial part of Canadian history, the history of the First Nations and the role Indigenous philosophy, culture and the norms played in shaping Canada as a unique country in the world. He challenges the grand-narrative that Canada is a new country which was formed after the arrival of European Anglo-French people few years ago. Though I have reservations in some of the claims he makes in this lecture, I agree with most of the arguments he puts forward.

First of all, Saul makes a bold statement that Canada is not a “new country” and argues that Canada is first and foremost a Métis Nation, not an Anglo-French ‘new’ country that the mainstream historiography claims it to be. The genesis of multiculturalism, assimilation, tolerance and so is on can be traced back to the Aboriginal philosophy and culture. When European settlers came to Canada, they survived in this land with the help of the Indigenous people and they also adopted the native people’s ways of living to adapt to the land.  They also adopted the means of communication of the local people. Saul argues modern multiculturalism which Canada is famous for, comes from the Aboriginal culture. 

Saul then argues that once European settlers established themselves in this land, the entire history was rewritten that misconstrued and misrepresented the Indigenous philosophy, culture and uniqueness. The European settlers became the heroes of the historiography and the entire Aboriginal community was sidelined. Canada, one of the oldest democratic country and the greatest civilizations was rewritten as a new country. The concept of new country completely sidelined the greatest heritage and the legacy of the real Canadian cultures, philosophies, beliefs and value systems. The history that the European-Canadian wrote created a discourse of “me” and the “other”, the “other” i.e, Indigenous people being less civilized. Not only the Aboriginal’s resources exploited, their beautiful cultures were also destroyed in the name of civilizing. The glory of Aboriginal Canada, thus, became a victim of “amnesia”; institutional language and the language the state, European derived one, contributed largely in this process. Canada lacked the language that is intrinsic to its land and that could capture its roots and the glorious heritage. 

Saul glorifies the Native cultures by pitting them against the European ones. He argues, the ideas of consensus, community, harmony and tranquility are the Aboriginal ones and the division of the base of color and race were introduced by the European settlers in Canada. Saul sounds convincing in his arguments when he says European settlers, who came from different countries of Europe tried to show their race and color superior to not only the Natives but to one another. Drawing boundaries in the name of law and supressing another language or race or community etc is European. If Canada is distinct from its neighbour and the entire Europe, it is due to the Aboriginal’s ideals of peace, mutual respect and multiculturalism.

Finally, Saul contention is that the ‘welfare’ system for which Canada is popular has its roots in Metis culture. The state working as a guardian of its citizen, people so open, welcoming and respectful to the immigrants, the citizenship system and so forth, (which are the hallmarks of Canada) come from the Metis culture. While the neighbouring nations grapple with the issue of mutual hatred among different communities and races, Canada remains a quiet country. 

Saul has been very convincing in his opinions and arguments. Canada, I believe, is different due to its own historical roots and it is high time Canada acknowledged it. It is also about time the Aboriginal philosophies, ideas and cultures are institutionalized and Canadian academia invest the resources in making deep studies of those ideas.