Elizabeth Hawksworth: Being patriotic and being Native in Canada

There’s an absolutely wonderful song that was part of one of my favourite musicals, Chess. It’s called “Anthem” and it’s sung by the Russian chess champion on his move to another country. He’s accused of leaving his homeland and renouncing his Russian identity by moving away. Instead, he tells people that his land has no borders, no flags, no politics – instead, his land lives inside his heart.

As a Native and as someone who is learning more and more about my lost and denied culture, I have related to this song for years. Natives often have issues with patriotism because so much of Canada was built on colonialism and on fear, trickery, and massacre. After all, thousands of Native Canadians were sent to residential schools to be abused and to die. Thousands more lost their lands, lost their lives, lost their culture. As someone who was brought up as very patriotic, I find it hard to reconcile my pride and my love for my country with the atrocities that were brought against my people and continue to be brought against them.

So, instead, I focus on why I love Canada. It’s not about the red maple leaf, though seeing that on the world stage reminds me of the great things about our country. It’s not about maple syrup, or my love for poutine, or the wonderful cities and towns full of people that make up this country. Those are only tangential reasons why I love this country.