An legendary but controversial symbol of Canadian record and colonialism may well shortly be found as a gesture of reconciliation.
The Hudson’s Bay Basis and the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund have declared that from now on, 100 for each cent of the net proceeds from the sale of HBC’s famed striped wool blankets will supply support for Indigenous cultural, artistic and academic actions by a recently introduced initiative called Oshki Wupoowane — The Blanket Fund.
“We will hardly ever make earnings from this blanket yet again. All the income will go back to the Indigenous peoples,” Iain Nairn, president and CEO of the Bay, instructed CBC News this week.
“We’re heading to get some factors proper and some items erroneous. But I think if we have the correct eyesight, ambition and the appropriate local community engagement, then we are going to be thriving right here and continue on producing a real truth and reconciliation framework — not just for our company, but to guide company Canada in that journey.”
The Hudson’s Bay Foundation — the company’s registered charity, which will work to handle racial inequity in Canada — is supplying a $1-million contribution to kick off the formal launch.
All funds will be administered by the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund — a charity targeted on reconciliation among Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. It is really named for Chanie Wenjack, who died in 1966 at age 12 although trying to run away from a residential faculty, and Gord Downie, the late frontman of the band the Tragically Hip, who advised Chanie’s story in his multimedia project The Top secret Path.
Purposes will be recognized by way of two unique grant streams: one particular for corporations focused on capacity-making and one for men and women using their grants to encourage nearby initiatives in To start with Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.
Sarah Midanik, president and CEO of the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, says it is sizeable that HBC wants to make its point blankets (a reference to the point system, which suggests the measurement of the blanket) a symbol of reconciliation and relocating ahead jointly.
“Making use of these an iconic image of Canadian identity is really significant,” she stated.
Going forward, all people buying a blanket “will also understand how it really is being utilised to empower Indigenous communities, initiatives and corporations. Which is definitely powerful,” mentioned Midanik.
Acknowledging the earlier is vital, she stated, “but ultimately we need to have to appear in direction of the long run and making certain the strength and resilience and vibrancy of Indigenous peoples and communities for the upcoming seven generations.”
“We also need to have to start out performing the perform, and this is 1 way that we can go ahead jointly.”
A difficult image
The HBC point blanket has been a lot of matters in its history — a useful trade product, an emblem of Canada rumoured as a provider of disorder, and a symbol of colonialism, suggests Amelia Fay, curator of the Hudson’s Bay Business Museum assortment at the Manitoba Museum.
“The point blankets and the stripes on their own ended up starting to be a alternatively iconic symbol for the firm,” she claimed. Many Canadians associate the multicoloured stripes of the blankets “as synonymous with HBC and synonymous with … a incredibly romanticized background of the fur trade,” stated Fay.
Many embrace it as a symbol of Canadian id, she said, but “for other Canadians, it’s not a favourable image. So there is this sort of this clash.”
When there is oral record that the blankets ended up employed to purposefully unfold smallpox to Indigenous individuals, Fay claimed the outbreaks were being linked extra to quite a few persons gathering in near contact — much like the present-day COVID-19 pandemic.
When Europeans typically had immunity to the disease, Indigenous men and women did not, she reported.
“They would carry blankets and other trade products. They would be collecting in incredibly compact, badly ventilated rooms and when they go away, all of a sudden, the group would tumble ill with smallpox — many persons would die.
“And so the perception was that it was connected to the blankets on their own. But in simple fact, it’s not linked to the blankets.”
Fay claimed she was content to listen to about the launch of Oshki Wupoowane, stating it reveals HBC acknowledges its role in colonialism. It really is an significant gesture by a corporate leader, she mentioned.
“There will be critics and I imagine you will find nevertheless factors you can criticize the company, and a large amount of other institutions in Canada, for. There is certainly nonetheless so a great deal operate to do.… We are unable to just have on orange shirts on the 1 working day and go away it at that,” she explained.
But “techniques in the direction of recognizing the truth of what occurred in the earlier and the fact of how that carries ahead today … [are] still progress, and development is very good.”
The Downie & Wenjack Fund will commence accepting apps for Oshki Wupoowane — The Blanket Fund early up coming 12 months. The first spherical of grants are anticipated to be awarded in September 2023.
