Tuesday, 8 May 2018

How can being tied to a culture be helpful to an individual?

How can being tied to a culture be helpful to an individual? In the documentary “The Oka Legacy” it reveals that being tied to a culture is beneficial as the people in that culture all try to stick together and help one another in time of need. I personally feel that being tied to a culture is helpful as individuals can connect over their past history with ancestors and traditions. I’ve always thought that the bond of a true culture is like the bond of a family, it is a true connection that has been built upon for generations. In the “Oka Legacy” when the police had thrown tear gas into the reserve to push the Aboriginals out of their home, the Indigenous people stayed together to fight the government and save their reserve where many people had lived their whole lives in. I also personally feel that being tied to a culture is beneficial as other cultures can learn new traditions and languages, which makes this world multicultural and proves that people are open to accepting and following new cultures. As a result of the Indigenous people sticking together they realized that they had caused some issues with the Canadians when the Aboriginals tried to flee from the government the Canadians were throwing rocks at their vehicles to show they did not agree with what the culture was doing. The Indigenous did benefit from other things as well as they all lived together in a positive society with their own culture, keeping away from the government and the cities that did not look positively at the Aboriginals. I believe that being tied to a culture such as the Indigenous would be beneficial as their ancestors were the ones who had founded Canada long ago, therefore they could grow up with the stories of their people and be a part of a culture that gave so many individuals land and freedom. In “Colonization Road” the government had flooded the land forcing the Indigenous to survive on an island, the Indigenous people worked together to use their own material building the “Freedom Road” bridge which will allow them to have access to their own water treatment plant. Being in the Indigenous culture was clearly beneficial as the government tried to force them out of the land they worked together as one to build a bridge so they could go back to their own land, which would have brought them all closer together as a culture and as individuals. Another benefit is that since the Indigenous people have fought so hard for their culture, the government has finally realized that they deserve to be treated with respect in Canada by naming roads after them, and letting them live in peace. To conclude I believe that being tied to a culture is helpful because there are so many experiences and traditions that should be continued from the first people of the culture to the current individuals as they can not let the environment that has been formed around them, die and be forgotten.

3 comments:

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  2. Hey Dakota, I think your post brought great perspective to the question you answered. And although I wrote my blog post on how being related to a culture can be detrimental to a person both our blog posts do focus on the wronging of first nations citizens through the government.

    You brought up some great points and examples in your blog post, such as when first nations citizens stuck together through an attempt to push them off their reserve via tear gas by the government. Also, points like how in our world today citizens have the ability to connect within culture, and the importance of keeping tradition alive, this was not something that was considered normal a short time ago. Finally one point you brought up that I thought was interesting is how you compared the bond of a family to the bond of tree culture, and you stated that both are true connections that are built over time.

    When I was reading your blog post some questions arose, like how could the situations or circumstances that you described within first nations relate to, or differ from, other cultures? Also, what is the great importance of keeping tradition alive? And it is a way of proving the government's actions in the past wrong?

    In conclusion, within your blog post you did not completely change my mind, but your post did open it. Once again I got great perspective on why you believe culture can be beneficial to an individual.

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  3. After reading your post, my views about the Oka Crisis are widened. You made good arguments about what you believed. I had viewed the crisis strictly as detrimental to the aboriginal culture, but as you stated, it held the Mohawk community together. I also agree with your statement about the Aboriginal people living in a positive community even when the government and the non-Aboriginal people around them do not support them. Although I do understand where your points about people wanting to accept and learn about cultures are coming from, there really are only few people who feel that way, which is why the Oka Crisis happened. In your blog, you wrote about how you believe that the crisis made the community come together more, which is true, however, what you wrote about it making the Aboriginal people express their culture more I do not agree with. I believe that the crisis made the Aboriginal people even more scared than they were before to express their culture. Reading your blog post did give me insight to how the situation can be viewed differently. You expressed solid arguments about how you believe the Oka Crisis affected the Aboriginal communities.

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