Canada is generalized as a massive slab of ice with a minute population that lives in igloos with polar bears and beavers as pets. It seems a though only those who have lived in this great country or have visited it know this to be false. However, as a proud Canadian myself when I think of the northern territories; Nunavut, Northwest Territories and the Yukon, I imagine it as the stereotype widely believed by foreigners. I always pictured northern Canada to be a giant slab of ice housing a very small amount of people living in igloos, although, to be fair, I never thought they had vicious, flesh eating beasts as pets. After reading Lori-Anne Dolloffs’ article about her experience in northern Canada I acknowledged that the artic is more than my predisposed ideas and stereotypes.
Throughout the beginning of Dolloffs article she made it evident that the she does not like the term indigenous as it generalizes a wide, diverse population. The word indigenous, as explained by Dolloff, applies to all first nations’ peoples as if they were the same, however, this encompasses tribes and peoples of different history, culture, traditions, languages, etc. Using the word indigenous to classify this wide range of people would be the same as labelling everyone living in North American as American. I found this very interesting because I never thought of “indigenous people” being that different from each other.
Furthermore, for the longest time I understood that Canada had only two official languages, English and French. It had never occurred to me that there were more languages to be included. It surprised me to see that official languages can change from provincial or territorial borders. In Nunavut the official languages still include English and French, however they also include Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun. This instantly made me think how complex their cereal boxes must look because here in Ontario we have two sides, one English and one French. It made me contemplate the complexity of cereal boxes in Nunavut. Are they separated into quarters for each language? Will English and French suffice? Are there special cereals with only Inuktitut writing?
However, what frustrated me the most were my predisposed, generalized ideas of a place that I have never visited, seen or even really read about. It turns out Iqaluit isn’t so much different than the cities that I have lived in. They all have restaurants, lawyers, business executives, plumbers, government workers, teachers, etc. And who knows if a unique teaching experience opens up there I might just find myself on that giant slab of ice they call Nunavut.
Questions:
Would you ever move to Nunavut?
How might we alter or break the stereotypes we have of Northern Canada?
What made the north so appealing to you?
Throughout the beginning of Dolloffs article she made it evident that the she does not like the term indigenous as it generalizes a wide, diverse population. The word indigenous, as explained by Dolloff, applies to all first nations’ peoples as if they were the same, however, this encompasses tribes and peoples of different history, culture, traditions, languages, etc. Using the word indigenous to classify this wide range of people would be the same as labelling everyone living in North American as American. I found this very interesting because I never thought of “indigenous people” being that different from each other.
Furthermore, for the longest time I understood that Canada had only two official languages, English and French. It had never occurred to me that there were more languages to be included. It surprised me to see that official languages can change from provincial or territorial borders. In Nunavut the official languages still include English and French, however they also include Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun. This instantly made me think how complex their cereal boxes must look because here in Ontario we have two sides, one English and one French. It made me contemplate the complexity of cereal boxes in Nunavut. Are they separated into quarters for each language? Will English and French suffice? Are there special cereals with only Inuktitut writing?
However, what frustrated me the most were my predisposed, generalized ideas of a place that I have never visited, seen or even really read about. It turns out Iqaluit isn’t so much different than the cities that I have lived in. They all have restaurants, lawyers, business executives, plumbers, government workers, teachers, etc. And who knows if a unique teaching experience opens up there I might just find myself on that giant slab of ice they call Nunavut.
Questions:
Would you ever move to Nunavut?
How might we alter or break the stereotypes we have of Northern Canada?
What made the north so appealing to you?