Some of the most fun at camp is had at the fire, but stories involving ‘Indian burial grounds’ are outdated tropes.Lijuan Guo/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Sending your kid to summer camp lets them learn valuable life skills, make new friends and appreciate the beauty and bounty of the land in Canada. But what other messages are they learning? Many backwoods camps are also in the backyards of indigenous territories. The people who run these camps, for better or worse, hold tradition near and dear to their hearts. But tradition is tricky business, which is especially true when the traditions in question depend on tired clichés, stereotypes and general degradation of native peoples.
Post-Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Canadians and our institutions are meant to be engaging in the process of implementing meaningful change from within. Summer camps shape our future leaders – so let's take a look at what you don't want to see when you drop your kid off at camp.
Camp names
Many of Canada's most beloved camps were established at a time when words such as Indian, squaw, savage, redskin, etc., were kicked around with ease. There are a great many camps in Canada with names that have these words in them which, of course, should be your first red flag. If the camp itself can carry such names, what will the sleeping cabins be called inside? Don't send your kid to, say, Indian Point Lodge, especially if it offers a week-long stay in the "Cree Castle." I know a lot of Crees and I've been to a lot of Cree communities, but I've never eaten in a Cree castle. Most Crees I know live in houses, just like yours.
Craft time
Be on the lookout for headdress cutouts, seagull-feathered talking sticks and dollar-store dreamcatcher materials. The headdress is certainly not a toy, and, at this point, you should know that it's the centre of important conversations on cultural appropriation. Talking sticks, generally, are a Hollywood invention, and your child should not be picking up bug-infested seagull feathers to decorate a fallen piece of birch. Our cultural items, whether sacred or not, are not fodder for rainy day activities.
Scary ghost stories
Some of the most fun at camp is had at the campfire, which automatically bring out the storyteller in all of us. But one tired campfire trope is that of the evil spirits that inhabit the area. In many cases, these stories are rooted in the so-called savage Indian history of local lore. If there is an evil spirit kicking around, it's likely they're just mad these camps are squatting on stolen land. Or, as with many Scooby Doo cartoons, the camp is actually on an Indian burial ground. In which case, can we agree the Spirit has a right to be a little angry?
Daily activities
These should be obvious: the game of Cowboys & Indians is out of bounds in 2016; morning meetings with camp participants shouldn't be referred to as "powwows"; the teen in charge is certainly not a "chief"; and it's highly unlikely that a "spirit animal" has blessed your child (unless your child has fasted for four days, sang the proper songs and followed the protocols handed down by indigenous peoples since time immemorial). These colloquialisms, as innocent as they might seem, hold deep and profound meaning in indigenous communities. The everyday use of these terms might be deeply ingrained in the fabric of pop culture, but it's time to cut it out.
Ryan McMahon is an Anishinaabe comedian based out of Treaty #1 territory (a.k.a. Winnipeg).