The Fatherly Weekly Update
As we recognize National Indigenous Peoples Day, we acknowledge that we are conducting our business, living our lives and benefiting from the land in the territories of Canada’s diverse First Nations.
In Vancouver, where the mountains meet the sea – the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
On the Pacific shores of Vancouver Island – the Huu-ay-aht First Nations; and on the Salish Sea – the Snaw-naw-as (Nanoose) First Nation.
In Calgary and Canmore, located in Treaty 7 where the prairies meet the foothills and embrace the Rockies – the Stoney Nakoda (Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Wesley), Blackfoot Confederacy (Kainai, Piikani, and Siksika), and Tsuut’ina Nations as well as Métis Region 3.
In Edmonton, on the shores of the Saskatchewan River, the Treaty 6 territory – a traditional gathering place for diverse Indigenous peoples including the Cree, Blackfoot, Métis, Nakota Sioux, Iroquois, Dene, Ojibway/ Saulteaux/Anishinaabe and Inuit.
Our work takes us to many communities across Western Canada, whose histories, languages, and cultures continue to influence our ways of knowing.
Above all we thank them for having cared for this land for millennia, we share in their absolute respect for it. We endeavour, through our work, actions and attitude to start to make reparations for the years of abuse, oppression and belittlement that previous immigrants like ourselves have inflicted upon these proud Nations, and from which we have undoubtedly benefitted.
Father knows best.
Hmmm. Not something you hear said in my home very often. Mildly pejorative Dad stereotypes, deservingly disdained Dad jokes, factually bad Dad weekend fashion. Like so many things in our culture, the portrayal of fathers in media is varied and evolving. From loveable idiots (Homer Simpson, any man in a detergent commercial) to loving mentors (Ned Stark, any man in a Dove commercial).
Like our scrutiny of the evolving role of fathers, we are re-examining many facets of our culture and history like never before. The silence of COVID, when our lives became smaller and simpler, has been used to explain why this is occurring so strongly right now.
The vigorous debates over “cancel culture” is a vivid example. The phenomenon is not new (Freedom Fries, The Chicks) but the phrase exploded into our collective consciousness in 2019:
Usually pejorative, the concept continues to divide. Some believing in cancel culture, others wanting to cancel cancel culture. This excellent article by Insider outlines the complexities of the issue.
Looking for a psychological explanation of the phenomenon, there is no clear consensus. As behaviourists and humanists*, we are engrossed by the journey to deconstruct and decomplicate the phenomenon.
The father of modern humanism is Abraham Maslow whose Hierarchy of Needs is perhaps the most overused psychological model in early-career business presentations. There is a lesser known but better validated hierarchy of Father’s Day gifts:
While some Dads think the Costco catalogue is the bible, Costco has labelled the Bible as fiction:
A thought on cancel culture. The removal of the Sir John A. Macdonald statue in Kingston yesterday is generating celebration and anger. But Canada did not have one founding father of confederation, we had 26: 19 lawyers, 9 businessmen, 4 journalists, 2 doctors, 1 pharmacist and 1 military officer. Not only does this explain much of our political mess, but it gives us 25 more people to venerate as the founders of our country, perhaps someone like Sir Georges Étienne Cartier, Baronet. In addition to being the described as the kingpin of Confederation, he was educated at the same College as Louis Riel, sympathized with the Métis and played a key role in negotiating their acceptance of provincehood.
There were also important Mothers of Confederation who are frequently overlooked, including Anne Nelson Brown, Mercy Coles and Lady Agnes Macdonald.
Personally, I am a big fan of the Father of the instant (ramen) noodle – Momofuku Ando. Millions of university students have avoided starvation and fought off hangovers on the basis of his invention.
Relevant to a few of our projects today is the father of modern elk management – Olaus Murie. He’s got a great title on his business card.
And the “I can’t find a babysitter” father of the modern video game is Ralph Baer. Notably, the father of computer programs is a mother, Ada Lovelace. And the father of robotics is Al-Jazari who invented the first programmable humanoid robot in 1206!
Father’s Day and National Indigenous People’s Day is upon us. Before our year of silence is replaced by the bustle of “normal” life, let’s reflect humanistically on the underlying issues driving cancel culture and grow as human beings.
Stay safe, celebrate the Ned Stark’s in your lives (with a less gruesome ending, one hopes) and make sure the bbq has enough propane. You know you’ll be using it.
Philip
* Our Word of the Weekly Update (WOWU) is humanist. Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the potential and agency of human beings, individually and socially. It considers human beings as the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
Renaissance humanists sought to create a citizenry able to speak and write with eloquence and clarity and thus capable of engaging in the civic life of their communities and persuading others to virtuous and prudent actions. This was in opposition to the pedantic pursuit of academic knowledge.
I may or may not have been accused of being pedantic. And it may or may not have been articulated in a decidedly pejorative manner.