When Jamie McGean recently visited Dollarama, he wasn’t surprised the store was already stocked for Canada’s 150th birthday. But as he walked past the flags, buttons and bobble-head moose, his heart suddenly sank to see rows of dream catchers among the Canada Day trinkets. For McGean, a member of the Kanien’keha First Nation, it was akin to a Catholic seeing communion bread and wine being sold as a juice and cracker snack pack in the food aisle.“Dream catchers are created in sacred ceremonies,” McGean explained. “They’re a gift given by the creator and those gifts aren’t for personal gain or profit.”But even more than disrespect of a sacred object, the Dollarama dream catchers are a political affront because of their placement among Canada Day paraphernalia, McGean says.“It’s bad enough that you’re appropriating the culture and selling the dream catchers, but it’s a slap in the face that they’re part of the 150th celebration items.”Like many indigenous people in Canada, McGean does not see the country’s birthday as something to celebrate. Instead, it’s a reminder of years of oppression and cultural genocide. His great-grandmother was one of an estimated 150,000 First Nation, Inuit and Métis children sent to residential schools. Separated from her family and punished if found speaking her language, she grew up unable to pass on her ancestors’ knowledge to the next generation.The effects of that continue to this day with McGean feeling that parts of himself are incomplete. He knows his great-grandmother and great-grandfather (also separated from his family) were born in Kahnawake, Que., but they never made it back to the reserve after residential school.“The culture, the ceremonies, the traditions, the language — my family has lost it all,” the 26-year-old grassroots activist said.Dream catchers, made of a hooped w ...
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