Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

12- 1:30pm Do we want others to think that landscapes by the Group of Seven are representing Canadian Art? Or is it Northwest coast totem poles by the native Gitxsan people? The Vancouver Olympic Committee certainly seemed to think the later and art by First Nation people truly represented Canadian identity, judging by the design of the opening ceremony at the 2010 Winter Olympic. The speaker will suggest that such was not always the case. In fact, during the early Twentieth Century, the Canadian government actively rejected that native people’s culture represented Canada. Canada was European, if not just British. The policy of the Canadian government regarding native people was assimilation. “Indians must become Europeans” was the dictum. Cultures, languages, and religions of First Nation people were made targets of eradication. Native art was totally rejected. In fact, some artistic forms of art such as dance were made illegal. However, Europeans found immense artistic value in Native art at a Paris