2 the Other Press February 4, 1992 Other Editorials & Opinions 5 SORES STN IR EO TCR a RO RRA TE CNR Se The Fraser Means Sto-lo From therampartaround the College, look outawhile overthe Fraser River and watch it run its course. Go ahead, just take a minute. Watch the barges coming down, the ships pulling in and out, or the fish boats, or whatever. And while you're watching, think about this. Not long ago the Coastal Salish people lived along this river and the Fraser River was not the Fraser. For the Salish, the Fraser means Sto-lo. What they saw when they looked out on the Sto-lo, what the river meant for them, what was their ‘common sense’ about living in this part of the world, has absolutely vanished. Today, the ideas which assure us that a river crossing is done by bridge, or that schooling is synonymous with learning, are common sense ideas few people question. They are our modern day certainties. Canada’s cultural and social make-up is not a certainty for many Canadians. There are those who refuse torecognize, never mind accept, that cultures outside the Western European tradition are in fact an in’ ofthis society. And thereisa covert, though often explicit, fearandignorance which manifests itself in racistand bigoted attitudes and language through- out this campus and this nation. But these little people, the shameless perpetrators of petty crimes toincite fear and hatred, need notbe responded to here. This is best accomplished by the enormous number of outspoken Canadians who in their everyday lives shout down all the fear and hatred around them, the courageous throngs of Canadians who refuse to listen to racist jokes, who tell their friends and relations that they can’t talk that way about an entire race of people. Those fearless Canadians who will say that that statement is a gross and erroneous generalization which has no basis in reality, and so would you please stop withit. And all the cultural stereotyp- ing inall the popular and not so popular forms of media which Canadians stand on guard to identify and make relentless protest against to publishers and producers and promoters. Students here at Douglas College know all too well that the first people to ply the current of the Sto-lo were occupied and committed to near genocide by our political forebears. We know that all the rest of us are immigrants to this place, either ourselves or our mother’s or our mother’s mother’s mother’s mother. As immigrants, we are sure that in our various ways of living our cultural heritage has either sustained itself intact or folded itself into the everyday lives of our friends and neighbors, and we ourselves know good common sense. And from where ever we have immigrated, we are not a cluster of hyphenated persons. We are, simply, ians. Multiculturalism Week at Douglas College is February 24 to 29. Remember, it’s not just a week, it’s a way of life. ~~ ther v ress as, The Other Press is Douglas College's autonomous student news- paper since 1976. Being autonomousmeans neither the Douglas College Students’ Society or the College administration can tell the Other Press what to print. Only you, the students, can decide what goes in the paper by soe 3 out. It means that if someone doesn't like us, they can't shut your voice down for telling the truth. We receive our funding from a student levy collected from you every semesteratregistration,and alsofrom local and nationaladvertising revenue. The Other Press is a member of the Canadian University Press, a cooperative of almost 50 student newspapers from across Canada. We adhere to CUP's Statment of Common Principles and Code of Ethics. The Other Press reserves the right not to publish anything sexist, racist, homophobic, or against the principles of good taste. Letters received by the Other Press should be a maximum of 300 words, F and contain the name, program of study, and student number of the writer (although the latter canbe withheld upon request). The Other Press reserves the right to edit for space constraints. And double-check your spelling and grammar: letters are oe uncorrected. The collective is the final arbiter of disputes. PHONE - 525-3542 FAX - 527-5095. Staff This Issue Another Monday night at the Other Press. After much procras- tination and some hostilities, Tim Crumley crumbles and work begins. It dawns on Dawn Agno that “fuck the state” is great, but still she berates Matthew Martin, the yellow weird pen monster. Phil Dobrikin, unhappy with his sobriquet, and the unhealthy bouquet bestowed by Stephen So, rants in fury against the yellow weird pen wielder. Suddenly Neil Art, practising his art, not with a screaming tree, but instead a moaning, yea evena shrieking tree, loses his composure, and hauls off on Brad Mosure. Not to be outdone, Trevor MacNeil shouts “You heel,” and clouts the yellow weird pen wielder briskly about the ears. Now in tears, Karen ie cries in disbelief, “Is this for really?” But she is drowned out by Sean Veley, who hasa plan. Unknowingly, George Kaplan, who used to bea captain, choked ona piece of stale beef jerky, which had been lodged under the couch, next to Marianne Berkey. She thomped him on theback, fearing a heart attack, until Tom Phillips, with his two eager lips, attempted A.R. But the door was ajar, and in came Shirley Dommisse, so instead he opted for a kiss. On this happy note, it seemed the evening could draw toa close without further mishap. But the yellow weird pen wielder wasa persistent chap, and struck again, evoking fearand dismay in the hearts of all who saw the devastation. Once more, defenestration was the only possible recourse. Of course, lacking any windows, dedoration had to suffice, and did. Coordinators neil art advertising « stephen so & hillary tasker arts & review + angus adalr features » vacant graphics » angela chiotakos news tim crumley office + trevor macnell photos - dawn agno production + jim holmes sports 8 x } 2 & § § 2 5 Other Letters Anglo-Saxon heritage is a moot point in Quebec debate If we permit Preston Man- ning and company or the vacillating Getty to have their way with Cana- da’s future it will prove we haven't learned anything at all from history. The philosopher George Santayana???? warns that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” So let us pause to study some Canadian his- tory that may not be found in “offi- cial” history records, but is certainly influencing todays events. Consider the immeasurable damage inflicted over a period of time on the basically decent Cana- dian Imagebya malignant collusion, once ensconced in the English speak- ing milieu and masquerading be- hind the misapplied nomenclature, Anglo Saxon, which by some fantas- tical self-deception was meant to in- dicate a Nietzsche-like(sic) superiority. Unfortunately, this self- induced aberrance was obviously communicable, because it appeared torun withtheinvasiveness of a wild bramblerootsystem throughout that whole particular segment of Cana- dian society. It is, of course, now recog- nized that the Anglo Saxons had a very limited and very much over- rated influence in the formativecom- position of the English people. Far lessin factthanthatof the Romanized Celts, who evolved from the original people of Albion, i.e., England dur- ing its partial occupation, by the Ro- man legions. When added to the influence of the Brythonic and Gaelic Celts not subjected to occupation, and thelater impact of the French speaking Normans, who incidentally were authors of the Magna Carta, there is little wonder that less than twenty five percent of the words in the Eng- lish language are of Anglo Saxon derivation. Even more elusive, are signs of that influence in the characters of those earlier immigrants to Canada from the British Isles. Notwithstand- ing many of the English immigrants themselves disclaiming wei any Anas Saxon lini whatsoever, the Scots and the Irish constituted by far the majority. Then there were, of course, the Welsh, Manx and Cornish immi- grants. The question thenis, why this elaborate attempt to foster the Anglo Saxon myth upon a different ethnic grouping? The answer is, it was a stratagem by an overseas Establish- ment to protect and extend the suze- rainty of its Canadian “Branch Office.” To understand how this de- ception was made to work, itmustbe realized that most of these immi- grants arrived under the most de- plorable conditions. They were victims of persecution, evictions and poverty. Once settled on Canadian soil, they had then to submit to their children being forced through a low gradeeducational system, which was inactuality anindoctrinational proc- ess that induced total obedience and compliance with the designs of the powers that be. The next step was their infusion into the growing ranks of thosealreadycompliantones, who had decided that was best to “Come in from the cold.” Now abley assisted by well trained specialists in mass control, such as hate spewing, bible waving zealots; jingoistic, monarchist sychophants and such like agents- provocateurs, as well as its ever de- pendable, secretive Fraternal Societies, so integral to its own very existence, the Establishment loosed these transmogrified creatures onto the scene. The was to bring to heel all lesser orders of humanity in Canada, who wereseen to bea threat to the Status Quo and the Establish- ment’s august authority. One of the methods to be employed in this regard was by deni- gration, humiliationand outrightvic- timization; and so it was, the descendents of those unfortunates who were driven away from their ancestral homes tothesneers of “Hag- gis eating oatmeal savages”, “Igno- rant brawling Paddies”, and “Ra thieving Taffys” wereseen and ed mance with equally mindless venomous epithets, such as: “Lazy, stupid Indians” ; “Super- stitious, priest ridden Frogs”; “Dirty, hunky Gallicians” and similar im- ecations against other identifiabl detenealoes groups. How they a elled in their ive immunity! How bravely they flaunted their W.A.S.P.ishness and maladjusted loyalty from their ramparts of privi- lege! But why, in their abysmal ig- norance, were these brainwashed, scaremongering pawns e to know thatmany of those they vilified camefrom thesameethnological and cultural wellspringsasthey and their forbears? For example, practically the wholeofsouth-westernGermany, touching the Rhine at Cologne and beyond past Bohemia, is historically Celtic. The very mountains, rivers and other place names testify to this. ee ice le of Spanish Gallicia, are Celtic Paris is a Celtic city and large parts of France, especially Bretany and areas in Normandy, are even linguistically Celtic. Tivescountaadcdcettitedie basicunderpinning of European civi- lization, of which the British Isles is an integral, equal part. One of the principle Fathers of Confederation, Thomas D’Arcy Magee, often reiter- ated this unifying fact; before being silenced in a rigged assassination. At the prompting of the Es- tablishment, this senseless spectacle continued to be enacted until the realization that, if for nootherreason alone than its galling arrogance, this vicious numbers game would inevi- tably belost.A moresubtlea ch was called for. The loaded insults were quietly replaced with softer, but no less derisive, terms. “Anglophone” and “Two Solitudes” became of the lexicon. Then, a little later, with a bland disr for its originally absurdly elitest credo, it magically elevated all to the single equal status of... English! This was a change indeed, and change once set in motion can- not be easily stopped. Within a short ace of time Crate had its own National Flagand Anthem. TheCon- stitution was patriatedand, although we seem ostensibly to have two dis- tinctly homogeneous societies, one “English” and the other “French”, wes of Canada asa Nation. We say the Oath of Allegiance should only be to Canada, its people and Constitution. Guess who is setting the example in this ? And greatly to its credit, the Toronto Met- ropolitan Police Force! And more recent still it was announced, on Robbie Burns Day most appropri- ately the OntarioBar Association will follow the example of the [Toronto] police force. Their Oath of Allegiance will notbe to Canada. Not the Queen of England! Tom Phillips Ex-Douglas CollegeEmployee