Cultural evolution a must for survival

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Social evolution is inevitable in any group of people. We adapt to the changes around us without being consciously aware of the adaptations. The social evolution that has occurred in the last 500 years was not necessarily by choice for our Native people. We have been forced to adapt to foreign standards that have been detrimental to the cultural base that was in existence. That doesn't mean that as individuals we must adopt the "white" mind style.

In response to Michael Kanenta's letter to the editor, I say, it is my opinion that

as Native individuals we maintain freedom of choice, lifestyle, mind style and the right to choose our mates from any cultural denomination. Perhaps we should encourage Natives to marry Natives, but marriage is a matter of chemistry, not color.

Much has changed over the generations and many of these changes were beyond our control. In terms of "culture", there have been modifications that were necessary to survive in the new environment created by the newcomers. Although modified, much of that culture is reborn in this seventh generation.

In general, the revolutions that Canada has faced manifested alternate lifestyles that affected the entire population, whether they be Native or otherwise. The agricultural revolution brought advancements to feeding the people, the industrial revolution produced machinery and manufactured items that eased everyday life, the technological revolution gave us technology. I suspect there aren't too many farmers that are willing to sell the tractor and use the horse-drawn plough, or too many manufacturers that will go back to assembling with manual, time-consuming labor. And sorry, I'm not about to give up my computer for a typewriter.

Michael, times have changed and the population has adapted to the changes.

We cannot physically go back in time to change the wrongs done to us, so we endure

and better plan our futures. The alternations that our Native people are making in their lives to compensate for the past will take us through this generation for a more compatible relationship with the other people of Canada.

We can survive as Native people, as our Nativeness is inside and we can retain our culture as individuals and still live within Canadian society. It's a little unrealistic to think you could maintain a culture that existed hundreds of years ago; all cultures are subject to evolution. Idealistic situations and reality are rarely one.

The Elder's predicted that there would be a resurgence of culture with the seventh generation. We are that generation and we are making changes. The strength to make those changes has survived from the original inhabitants of Canada hundreds of years ago. We have been robbed, killed, raped and exploited but we have maintained an integrity that strengthens our resolve to preserve our culture and our right to live as we fell as individuals as a nation.