I imagine myself able to see to a degree from the indian side, how they feel about their culture, history, and especially the land ... having strong feelings on land myself, and having seen civil war over land elsewhere ... had i enough indian blood to claim status in a local band, i might very well be arguing the other side ... don't though, here i am one of the borg reciting the resistance is futile line
Indians have a great deal to offer their neighbours, the culture was quite rich here on the west coast, they have no lack of smarts, there's a strong sense of humour in a unique style ... assimilation is a multi-directional process, changes all involved, the rest of us could use their input ... and it takes centuries to mature anyway, no one loses their distinction until they choose to, not in this country, we're not a melting-pot, more of a lightly simmering bouillabaisse with each ingredient retaining colour and identity, fourth and fifth generations keeping surprising amounts of language and customs of the auld country are fairly common ... a pretty relaxed small-b borg, not hard-wired at all
But the inevitability of that joining has to hurt, has to be read as great loss, as catastrophe by some ... and it is, especially compared to idealised fancies of the past, it is, nothing can compare with a state of perfection ... still, it is inevitable, question is how do we deal with it, and when |
