We’ll never forget it. Seven minutes and 40 seconds into overtime against our American rivals, Sydney Crosby potted what’s now known as “The Golden Goal,” securing the gold medal for Canada and creating what is possibly the greatest moment in Canadian hockey history. It was the crowning win of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games and will be the most reminisced moment for years to come. But don’t forget, there were 16 days of Olympics that came before that and they did more to redefine this country than any hockey game.
With the opening ceremonies, we introduced ourselves to the world. This was our big chance to shout “Canada” from the grandest stage—to let everyone know who we are. That’s why it was so surprising when themes of multiculturalism and bilingualism were notably downplayed. In place of these tried and true national ideals, a new identity emerged. With a reported three billion watching, we extolled the idea that, above all else, we are an Aboriginal nation.
From the initial Olympic bid to the final medal, these Olympics were steeped in Aboriginal tradition. In vying to host the Games at the beginning of the decade, the Vancouver Organizing Committee teamed up with British Columbia’s four host First Nations— the Musqueam, Squamish, Lil’wat, and Tsleil-Waututh—a partnership that lasted all through the hosting process. The Aboriginal Pavilion was among the most popular attractions, as was Canada Northern House, which showcased Inuit culture. The medals awarded in Vancouver bore designs of an orca and raven by First Nation artist Corrine Hunt. Not to mention the official Vancouver 2010 emblem, an Inukshuk.
Of course, only time will tell if 17 days can redefine a country on a constant journey to find itself. With so many cultural, linguistic, ethnic, and geographic inheritances, who can blame us?
Canada’s modern history began with French settlement in the 1600s, commencing a multi-century struggle between France and England for control over the resource-rich land. In the mid-18th century, Britain gained control, establishing Canada as an imperial nation imbued with British tradition for the next couple of centuries. Then, with moments such as Vimy Ridge in 1917, Canada began to break out of its dominion mould. With the Union Jack fading throughout the 20th century, we adopted ideas of multiculturalism, bilingualism, and federalism, led by possibly the greatest nation builder we’ve ever seen, Pierre Elliot Trudeau. We were Chinese-Canadians, French-Canadians, Polish-Canadians, but never Canadians. And for the last 40-odd years, this pluralism remained our creed, leaving the door wide open for divisive claims of French-Canadian nationalism that nearly tore Canada apart.
Perhaps the “mosaic” idea was all in an attempt to distinguish ourselves from our strong and united neighbours to the south. They’ve always been so comfortable and sure of themselves. We were jealous of their certainty and tried to create unity through our diversity, but it didn’t quite work. We were still left scrambling to find our core.
But we were looking in the wrong place. We needed to direct our gaze farther back: past the multicultural creed of the ’70s and ’80s, past Vimy Ridge, even past British colonial rule and French settlement. The characteristics of this country and the people in it—resourcefulness, perseverance, kinship, endurance, respect, modesty, tolerance, and loyalty—stem from a tradition of Aboriginal peoples that lived here for millennia.
Stuck in the urban bastion of Toronto, sometimes it’s easy to forget this tradition, but it’s nevertheless omnipresent from coast to coast to coast. Whether you just arrived on our shores, are a 10th-generation Canadian, or have lineage that runs past European settlement, there’s a common experience many of us share—an encounter with the unbridled, sublime land around us. Camping in Muskoka, plunging into Lake Louise, skating as fast as you can on a frozen Lake Winnipeg until your face hurts, catching dinner off the coast of Cape Breton, watching the midnight sun, or even gazing at the works of Emily Carr or the Group of Seven in the AGO are all experiences that trace back to the first peoples of Canada. As Pierre Burton said, having sex in a canoe is indeed a uniquely Canadian skill.
Now let’s be very clear about something: 17 days of patriotic fun does not erase 400 years of history. Tracing all the way back to European settlement and the Indian Act of 1867 that gave the federal government authority to legislate in regards to “Indians and Lands Reserved for Indians,” Canada has been steeped in Eurocentric policy and practice. There are even several groups, including the Olympic resistance Network and www.no2010.com, who opposed the Olympics because they claimed they were being held on unceded Aboriginal territory.
This shameful history should certainly not be forgotten, or even forgiven. But there comes a point when we must reconcile our historic clashes, and begin to build a new history based on mutual respect and cooperation, and move forward. The Olympics marked a crucial initial step in this process.
Maybe Canada’s connection to Aboriginal culture was so obvious it was overlooked. Not anymore. The 2010 Olympics shone the light on who we really are.
