Village of Widows
Perhaps many of you are already aware of this story, but it was news to me. It certainly wasn't in my history of Canada textbook in high school.
"Village of Widows: The Dene of Great Bear Lake and the Atom Bomb
"In an ironic twist of history and fate, a small community of Dene from Great Bear Lake in Canada’s Northwest Territories unwittingly played a role in the creation of the first atomic bombs. The Dene were transporters of the uranium that was mined on their homeland and then sold to the U.S. where it was processed into the needed plutonium.
"By the 1990s over half of the Dene transporters had died of cancer. After requesting a health study they learned that the high incidence of disease was due to their close and unprotected contact with the radioactive ore. Simultaneously, the community
realized the role they played in the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent Japanese civilians..."
"The tragedy for the Dene community in the North is huge. Not only have they suffered from the ravages of cancer and other health problems but Great Bear Lake and the surrounding region, including the fish and wildlife, are contaminated by radioactive tailings or “radwaste.” In addition, the community has suffered tremendous guilt due to their role in the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki..."
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Do a search on Google for "Village of Widows" to get the full story. I came across this story as a very brief mention at the very bottom of a Globe and Mail story on plans to bury nuclear waste near Native communities, on Crown lands that are widely considered to be traditional lands of Canada's Aboriginal peoples.
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I think students need to be taught about the seamy underbelly of our history - deportation and internment of the Japanese on the West Coast, our continuing history of racism towards native peoples - the ongoing damage caused by the residential school system and the rampant decimation of native culture, history and land. Knowledge is the only way we can lose our moral superiority - we're so damn good and our hands are clean (unless you look under the covers).
Canada's history is packed full of terrible things that get glossed over in history classes all across the country. It's no wonder that we have little context for understanding Aboriginal issues - we aren't really taught the full extent of Canada's betrayal. We learn all about the evil misdeeds of certain other countries, but not those of our own. Our genocide doesn't count somehow because it was less obvious? That denial of our history is a double insult to those who have suffered.
S
"Village of Widows: The Dene of Great Bear Lake and the Atom Bomb
"In an ironic twist of history and fate, a small community of Dene from Great Bear Lake in Canada’s Northwest Territories unwittingly played a role in the creation of the first atomic bombs. The Dene were transporters of the uranium that was mined on their homeland and then sold to the U.S. where it was processed into the needed plutonium.
"By the 1990s over half of the Dene transporters had died of cancer. After requesting a health study they learned that the high incidence of disease was due to their close and unprotected contact with the radioactive ore. Simultaneously, the community
realized the role they played in the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent Japanese civilians..."
"The tragedy for the Dene community in the North is huge. Not only have they suffered from the ravages of cancer and other health problems but Great Bear Lake and the surrounding region, including the fish and wildlife, are contaminated by radioactive tailings or “radwaste.” In addition, the community has suffered tremendous guilt due to their role in the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki..."
- - - - -
Do a search on Google for "Village of Widows" to get the full story. I came across this story as a very brief mention at the very bottom of a Globe and Mail story on plans to bury nuclear waste near Native communities, on Crown lands that are widely considered to be traditional lands of Canada's Aboriginal peoples.
- - - - -
I think students need to be taught about the seamy underbelly of our history - deportation and internment of the Japanese on the West Coast, our continuing history of racism towards native peoples - the ongoing damage caused by the residential school system and the rampant decimation of native culture, history and land. Knowledge is the only way we can lose our moral superiority - we're so damn good and our hands are clean (unless you look under the covers).
Canada's history is packed full of terrible things that get glossed over in history classes all across the country. It's no wonder that we have little context for understanding Aboriginal issues - we aren't really taught the full extent of Canada's betrayal. We learn all about the evil misdeeds of certain other countries, but not those of our own. Our genocide doesn't count somehow because it was less obvious? That denial of our history is a double insult to those who have suffered.
S