Ottawa to Ottawa, ON
Traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinabek, Huron-Wendat and Algonquin
20 km
Cloudy, pouring rain most of the day, glimpses of the sun
There was a sunrise ceremony at 5 AM in the morning and I meant to be there but Ottawa hasn’t given me the physical rest I’d hoped for, which meant prioritizing sleeping in a little.
I got there around 8 AM before both the security points were flooded. I was in line in front of a Polish couple, both of whom had lived in Montreal during Expo 67. They declined to be interviewed on the recorder or camera but we had a very meaningful conversation regardless.
I met Tarek of Gongfu.
Jorge Barrera of of APTN at work.
Old friend and photojournalist Justin Tang.
Resistance 150 by the Peace Tower.
Elder Alan holding up the pipe, one of the people in the background: Commander Chris Hadfield.
A few of the #Resistance150 crowd staged a die-in when the anthem was being played.
My aunt, Jay Pitter, wrote it best in a way I had been finding difficult to articulate:
“It’s entirely possible to be sentimental about your grandmother’s migration story, awed by the beautiful landscape, + appreciative of the opportunities you’ve received here while also being fiercely critical of the colonial project. In fact, critique + truth-telling are important expressions of love. So, if you truly love this country, you may want to consider listening to Indigenous peoples and working for change. Also, it’s still early in the day so if you’ve written a status that lacks compassion + respect for Indigenous peoples (+ an awareness of complex challenges we face here), there’s still time to edit.”
Canada has a lot of faces (and fingers).
People moving to Washington to be military liasons.
Tea shop owners.
If we do not demand better as citizens, we’ll get what we deserve, i.e. something better than what we are capable of being. History isn’t the dead, as the quote goes, it isn’t even past.
