Dog slaughters should be taught in history books

It is not hard to believe what Asunaa Kilabuk had to go through. (Sept. 27).

In fact, I believe everything that he says. If I were to live the life that many Inuit had to go through in this period of residential schools, dogs being slaughtered, the Inuit questioning their own way of life, having to relocate for the sake of not having to go to jail, it is hard to believe that this was going on only 50 years ago in Canada.

I hope that Canada has this in the history books as they have Europeans, explorers, whalers, missionaries, and so on, as part of the whole idea that Canada is a great country with great people.

I would believe and support my own people because I know that it has happened. There is evidence to prove that all of these areas of the lives of many Inuit is not just being said because we want to blame the federal government for us being where we are today with many difficult social problems.

I believe what Kilabuk said because why would an 11-year-old in the 1950s make up a story that his dogs, their only means of transportation, be killed?

I just do not understand that if you preferred to live in a small settlement and not in a bigger community like Iqaluit in the 1950s, your dogs would be killed. It is just so frustrating to think that my people had to go through so much because of colonization.

Are these stories of the lives of the indigenous people of Canada in the Canadian history books? Are some of these things even taught in the education system of Nunavut? Or are these things considered inappropriate for us Inuit to know about? What I believe is inappropriate is trying to forget all of this.

I did not even learn much about my ancestors when I was in school. Sure we learned the basics that our people migrated through the Bering Strait from Asia, but the rest of the studies was from other countries in the world. It should be taught in schools, our history should be taught in schools. Our children deserve to know.

It may be hard for many people to have to hear and see in the paper the things that they had to go through, but at least we would be hearing the truth. It’s not something to be ashamed of, because it’s not our fault. It’s something we should use to help our people get stronger.

Maybe because we’re focusing on wrong areas or starting from wrong areas that our way of trying to help other people is not working as it should be. Maybe if we start from the root of the problem, it would help other people to really open up their eyes and minds.

This is not an easy task, but what is? Life is not an easy task because it’s life, it’s just life. It’s not meant to be all sunny days and blue skies. It’s like a teenager who grew up without a family. For most of his life, he will try and understand why his life is the way it is and feels like he will always have a gap in his life.

Probably most of Nunavut is wondering why they feel they have a huge hole in their lives. For the most part, it’s because we feel like we have not been told the truth about all that has happened to our people.

I don’t think that Canada is a bad country by any means, in fact, I think that Canada is a great country, but it would be all that more wonderful if it didn’t keep the truth from it’s people.

Rita Anilniliak
Iqaluit