Nations are made of aboriginals and immigrants . Nations make the world . Canada is a prime example of a national  mosaic of different peoples unified by a diversity that ultimately binds it into a nation rather than divides it . With the recognition of native aboriginals and of the long term  wrongs done to them, much to the credit of the current Federal government and the efforts of the aboriginals themselves,  Canada has truly come into its own as a nation. The  recognition of  injustices and the manner in which they are righted is key any just society . It is the recognition and the corrective effort taken that counts, regardless if there are flaws and imperfections that currently remain on either side whether aboriginal or government .A true nation and  government must recognize  honestly the collective hand it had  over decades and centuries  in the making of the conditions that gave rise to  current flaws and injustices on either side .
Aboriginals are the closest to the land and arguably the most intimate with the essence of  it. They knew the land  before it was covered and transformed by concrete, glass,electricity, rails, asphalt as well as European culture and values . Modern cities can have a beauty all their own but it is the landscape, the quality of the light that falls on them, and the people that occupy them that give them their own individual unique character and beauty . I often think of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s song about Hawaii in reference to this ( see the You Tube link below for a beautiful song )
How we correct injustice as a nation and a world is what counts and often a long term view is required on both sides as it may take as much time to carry out and truly rectify the wrong as the time that it took over generations to give rise to it . Every action has an equal reaction and remedy . All aboriginals should be recognized for their contribution, suffering or distinct character and allowed their place in a fair and just manner no matter which country it was that they originally fostered . There is no excuse for prejudice or for justifying the blaming of the ills of a country or of the world on one race or ethnicity regardless of which way the the blame is directed Often times the blame comes from both conflicting sides at the same time .This can apply to nation country or race . The fact of the matter is as Tadeus Rozewicz who has experienced both war and I’m sure prejudice, has said in one of his tweets “We must love people not black white or yellow”. How can one think that when one race or country is persecuted  disadvantaged or adversely affected that it doesn’t affect the rest of the world . When a hand, leg ,or heart is injured or wounded ,does it not affect the whole of the body ? Is the thief solely responsible for the crime or do social conditions, life experience, genetics, upbringing and education  ( or lack of it ) come into it ? Yes there is such a thing as a bad seed but to negate the whole  particular crop or the garden as disfunctional or disposable because of it is shortsighted, illogical and without common sense, not to mention racist .The contagion of racism  can spread however given the right conditions so let us contain the bad seed and make another use for them.  Why blame a nation or race if the actions of a few who are ruled  by a purely selfish motive or by agendas of greed, pride, or self aggrandizement are the cause.
Nations are made of of aboriginals and immigrants . When immigrants emigrate oftentimes  they are made orphans, by separation  from their families . At one time if you go back far enough, aboriginals were immigrants . The difference with aboriginals is that they may have not encountered other distinctly different races other than their own, and initially are devoid of the experience of racism , naive and unaware  of what it can lead to .
In one way or another we are all immigrants . On a deeper level each of our individual souls is an immigrant . Why does the body cease to be alive and decay when the soul departs ? It is much like the country or nation that loses it’s immigrants or aboriginals that vivify it , when it causes them to suffer die or depart  .When that death happens the liveliest, most diverse and most productive part of that nation or country dies . And so the world begins to die.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuU0jnHFSV8 

The Orphan, the Immigrant, and the Survivor.

The Orphan , the Immigrant

and the Survivor..

They are three.

Sometimes,

and at different times,

we are all of us orphans,

and some are more than others,

and for longer times.

And some always remain

orphans in their minds.

And sometimes we are immigrants,

traveling from one place to another,

leaving behind all the familiar

and our comforts,

our attachments,

and our home,

to know and feel

just what it means

to be human,

and to be free,

and all on our own .

And there is

another immigrant too

that is in us,

and that we are in,

that is our soul,

that travels

across space

and time,

and dimensions

without number.

Some of us may be martyrs ,

but not all of us are survivors..

They are a special breed,

with well connected

thought and deed,

they survive to often spread

their seed.

They are themselves

devoted,

and are disciples of hope

or faith or greed ,

and sometimes of all three.

And kindness must be shown

to the orphan,

and to the wandering immigrants,

on their journey all on their own,

as the survivor must remember

that the survivor is often left,

and remains alone,

and all on his own,

unconnected to wander,

whether In the physical world,

or in the well traveled corridors,

of the survivor’s mind.

Without question,

and sometimes without mercy,

the survivors are all left in time,

to contemplate their fate,

and the final

dropping of the stone,

that must be faced alone,

and with a singular

survivor’s resolve,

that is tested to the bone .

From “Dreams for a Saturday Morning ” by PWChaltas