^True, Inuit is used in it's place now.

Chrétien supposedly grabbed an Inuit carving he had in the Prime Minister's residence as a weapon, but the intruder had already been captured.>> ^bcglorf:

>> ^Fusionaut:
Jean didn't need body gaurds

If I recall his wife also fought off an armed burglar that got into the Prime Minister's residence.

That's an extremely morbid use of the catsanddogs tag -- I like it!

In reply to this comment by Throbbin:
*canada *nature *eco *catsanddogs

Yeah, try making a sled from the ribcage of a cat. Dogs 1, Cats 0.

Also, most Inuit did not see the British as Gods. Instead, white folks were (and still are) referred to as 'kablunaaks' - Kabluqs = eyebrows (because they found the white folks had big, bushy eyebrows), and Naak = Stomach (because they had big stomachs). Inuit on Baffin island were amazed at the technology the Europeans brought with them, but Inuit on eastern Baffin island had also heard stories from Greenland Inuit who had clashed with and run-out-of-town the Vikings sometime before, and were well aware of the existence and mortality of Europeans.

*canada *nature *eco *catsanddogs

Yeah, try making a sled from the ribcage of a cat. Dogs 1, Cats 0.

Also, most Inuit did not see the British as Gods. Instead, white folks were (and still are) referred to as 'kablunaaks' - Kabluqs = eyebrows (because they found the white folks had big, bushy eyebrows), and Naak = Stomach (because they had big stomachs). Inuit on Baffin island were amazed at the technology the Europeans brought with them, but Inuit on eastern Baffin island had also heard stories from Greenland Inuit who had clashed with and run-out-of-town the Vikings sometime before, and were well aware of the existence and mortality of Europeans.

What part of Inuit did you not understand...

>> ^billpayer:

What White people do for fun. Especially like the fact they are doing it in front of kids. Good one.

Inuit? I can't believe these people invented Turbotax.

@blankfist - Yeah, Canada is pretty racist. The cities not so much - alot of diversity in the bigger cities (although I've noticed many Chinese-Canadians are terrified of aboriginal folk too), but rural communities can be pretty bad.

I don't like to give those folks the benefit of the doubt - if they're going to paint us all with the same brush they don't deserve my considerations.

Good discussion. Hope your gf's nephews are doing ok. I've got several First Nations siblings that my mom adopted (and continues to adopt) because she couldn't stand the conditions they were living in, and Inuit children often face the same circumstances. My gf and I are planning on adopting a few just to give them a better shot at a future.

@blankfist

I would agree that Denmark is not a melting pot - but neither is Canada, and I like it up here. Multiculturalism can be tricky, but it is ultimately a rewarding atmosphere (IMHO). I'm not sure what you mean by closing of borders - most countries I listed do allow for immigration. If you mean open borders as in 'come on in, all of you', I would oppose that. I think immigration is great, and I think more is better - but I do think it has to be controlled in a manner. I don't want Rwandan genocidal collaborators or 'reformed' warlords getting into Canada (although some have been found here). I'm opposed to some of the controls in place now (such as a minimum bank account balance or priority for educated refugees - a part of me thinks the countries African Medical Doctors are emigrating from may need them more than we do). Ultimately, I don't think immigrants should have to beg to immigrate into the west if they are not criminals or misfits - but we do have to control for criminals and misfits.

Regarding Native Americans and conditions on reserves - I see the same thing up here (with both First Nations - thats what we call Native Canadians - and Inuit alike). I do not see a causal relationship, but combined with historical injustices, oscillations between Government heavy-handed interventions and neglect, financial mismanagement by 'leadership', corruption, and the viciously reinforcing poverty cycle I'd say you're right. I've got friends I grew up with who see no need to put the pipe down and get off their asses to make a living if the government is providing social housing and social assistance checks. In Canada (I dunno about down there) there is also an entire 'Aboriginal Industry' of 'well-meaning' white folks who makes loads of money fighting for the Indians while buddying up to corrupt leadership and enriching themselves, thereby prolonging the problems we face.

These problems are multi-faceted and complex, and I do think self-reliance is a necessity. However, yanking out the welfare platform many rely on is not the solution. Ultimately I'd rather that people come to appreciate the dignity and virtue of a hard days work without dropping them all in the gutter to see who climbs out because the truth is many won't make it. We want the same thing - healthy, vibrant, independent people with broadened horizons, but I think it would be cold comfort to withdraw the safety net on principle when so many folks, old and young, only know the lifestyle they've been surrounded by their whole lives.

@NetRunner - ^Read that. What Blankfist says rings true in my experience. I wouldn't say the welfare state caused the problems, but in a manner they are prolonging and intensifying problems that already existed. However, this does not render general arguments in favour of a semi-socialist state or a welfare system moot any more than the experiences of marginalized Americans renders arguments in favour of Democracy moot. They are but examples of a broader systems, and as such I remain a pinko-feminazi-communist.

The difference is, apparently, that the Canadian hunters don't have to abide by the laws of the land regarding the hunt. That is what the observer is pointing out.

This really is unnecessary. While I don't begrudge the Inuit hunt, I've read that they do not participate in the commercial hunt and that their take amounts to three percent of the total kill. Here, reportedly, is a letter from an Inuit named Arnaituk M. Tarkirk, of Quebec:

We have been hearing all about the European vote to ban the importation of seal products from the so-called seal hunt.

I am an Inuk and I would like to say what I think about this.

Peter Ittinuur, Northwest Territory MP, has been saying that this vote will put a lot of Inuit on welfare. This is stupid. The money from the hunt goes to Norway mostly and has nothing to do with the Inuit.

We are skillful hunters who hunt adult animals for food, That is not the same as bashing a pup, which can’t move, over the head.

In fact, if the seal hunt stopped, we would benefit the most. There would be 180,000 more seals left for us to eat when they are a few years older, and also people would not have such an aversion to sealskin products as they have after seeing the way they kill the pups, so craft work made with adult seals would be more popular.

The Hudson Bay Company and the government are just using the Inuit to further their own purposes. I am surprised Peter Ittinuur, whom I know, could allow himself to be used like that. I know people who are against the seal hunt, and they are not against the Inuit.

I am an Inuk, and I oppose the seal hunt.

And, let's do talk about seals and cod: http://www.fisherycrisis.com/index.html

To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The seals aren't the problem. Man has unbalanced the ecosystem.

I saw them perform live at the Ottawa BluesFest that summer and they were absolutely amazing. I was told that their show in Iqaluit was pretty incredible as well. It's pretty neat to see them with Inuit elders. Hopefully more bands like them will make it up north more often.

I saw at least 6 scenes featuring Nunavut and/or Inuit. Rock on!

Great find Eric. I spent part of my childhood in Arctic Bay, which is one of the areas that he talks about and have made the trip to and from Iglulik in the spring by snowmobile before. I can attest to the fact that Inuit are indeed among the most ingenuous people in the world. Over the course of the trip from Arctic Bay to Iglulik, which usually takes 2 days, every snow-machine in our party broke down and the frame of my father's cousin's snowmobile actually broke in half while crossing a large crack in the ice.

Most other people would have simply given up on the machine and would have abandoned it on the ice, but instead, without hesitation he turned the machine on it's side and began repairing it using rope, bolts and strips of hard plastic from one of the jerry cans. This quick fix was strong enough that the machine made it to Iglulik and back to Arctic Bay! After he got back home, he sold a couple of his carvings and bought a new machine.

This example pales in comparison to what the older generations did, of course.

No, a bunch of executives did. A bunch of executives do not represent a company, the shareholders do. Unless you have evidence that a majority of the shareholders endorsed the commercial then you can assume any more than what I stated.

You also have no evidence they used a racial stereotype intentionally. I had never heard of this stereotype until I came across it on VideoSift.

I'm not aware of your example but what you're describing is racist. If it was designed to entertain white people at the expense of mocking black people as a racial group then it was racist.
>> ^longde:
I think this is a valiant effort to rationalize something that is cut and dry. KFC did endorse this commercial (obviously, since it's their ad); and the aussie ad team did intentionally use a racist stereotype to sell chicken.
And I disagree that intent is at the core of what makes something racist. The sambo stories are offensive to blacks, but when they were produced, the intent was to entertain whites, not to offend blacks. They didn't care what black thought.
>> ^RedSky:
I think the notion of racism needs to be brought back to the core.
It's not racist unless it's purposely meant to be offensive to a particular racial background. It's clear that no company, least of all a fast food chicken company, would walk off a cliff willingly like this and put on an intentionally racist ad.
At worst it was produced by a bunch of employees that want to play up on a racial stereotype but was in no way endorsed or acknowledged by KFC. At best, and to me most likely, the ad was produced by an Australian marketing team unaware of the stereotype. Cenk to me seems correct, they're not rowdy, they looked like they were generally having a good time at the game. As for the whole 'awkward situation' phrasing relating to being surrounded by a bunch of black people, well yes it's a fact that even now people from different racial backgrounds tend to have more trouble getting along. There's no harm is stating that evolution has made us innately mistrustful of those that look different to us, there's nothing offensive about admitting that.
Point is, regardless of which it is, it's overblown and diverts attention away from actual examples of racial hate.



It comes down to how you define it, and yes I agree that ignorance with no hateful or prejudiced intent can be harmful but I wouldn't think of it as racism. The point where you draw the line is definitely fine though. Being wilful ignorance as a form of denying your prejudiced views is not the same as simply being unintentionally offensive. Being culturally acceptable is also of course not a defence either. Jokes about Aborigines are common place around here unfortunately, although I can definitely say I've heard less of them since I left high school.

It also doesn't help that it's virtually impossible to separate the two. We will never really know if the people who made this ad were purely ignorant or racist. Looking from the point of view of a minority I can see that perhaps past experience would gravitate you towards assuming the latter but I think it's an important distinction to make.

>> ^Throbbin:
RedSky - racism doesn't have to be intentional to qualify as racism. Ignorant/inadvertent racism is just as harmful, maybe even more harmful than intentional (hateful) racism. At least with hateful racism it's easy to isolate, identify, and mock/ridicule the racists. When it's ignorant/unintended racism it's tacitly accepted by society, and thus harder to isolate and rectify.
I don't buy the 'Australia doesn't have the same stereotypes of black people that Americans do' line. Aussies consume just as much American media as Canadians do, and all of the stereotypes about black people I encountered came from American media. In general, I have heard that Australia is an exceptionally racist place - I heard this firsthand from Aborigines (and Maori from NZ). I have even even heard it from 'white Aussies' themselves. One Aussie was trying to congratulate me (us? as in Inuit) for having our shit together much more than the good for nothing Aborigines down under. I shit you not.

RedSky - racism doesn't have to be intentional to qualify as racism. Ignorant/inadvertent racism is just as harmful, maybe even more harmful than intentional (hateful) racism. At least with hateful racism it's easy to isolate, identify, and mock/ridicule the racists. When it's ignorant/unintended racism it's tacitly accepted by society, and thus harder to isolate and rectify.

I don't buy the 'Australia doesn't have the same stereotypes of black people that Americans do' line. Aussies consume just as much American media as Canadians do, and all of the stereotypes about black people I encountered came from American media. In general, I have heard that Australia is an exceptionally racist place - I heard this firsthand from Aborigines (and Maori from NZ). I have even even heard it from 'white Aussies' themselves. One Aussie was trying to congratulate me (us? as in Inuit) for having our shit together much more than the good for nothing Aborigines down under. I shit you not.

In a related aside, my family is in possession of a walrus baculum (penis bone) which is about 2 feet long and shaped like a miniature baseball bat. We like to hand it to non-Inuit guests and friends and have them guess what it is.