On a recent road trip we visited the Revelstoke Railway Museum. It is almost as good as the Cranbrook Railway Museum.
As we entered the gift shop, we were confronted with a very post-modern Canadian sign. It set forth the usual acknowledgement to a local Indian tribe and noted, the land was ‘unceded,’ still owned by them. As usual, the casual affirmation that the Indians still owned the land, was legally and practically meaningless.
But this sign added an ironic twist. After the condescending affirmation of land ownership, the sign went on to say that everyone else was ‘uninvited.’
What made this ironic was its location in the gift shop. Near the sign the gift shop staff had displayed a collection of CPR posters, including notably, posters inviting Europeans to immigrate to Canada. And beside the posters, was a stand displaying books, highlighting books about the Chinese labourers, invited to come to Canada to build the railroad. Ancestors of those immigrants can say in response to the sign, “Sorry, I was invited to come.”
On the other hand, an Indian reading the sign, might admit that they were not ‘invited.’ His ancestor either arrived when no one was there to invite them; or there was another tribe or community already there, in which case they conquered and displaced them. Either way, it may be the Indians who were ‘uninvited’ and the immigrants from China and Europe who were ‘invited.’
These acknowledgements are becoming embarrassing.