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LETTER: Gifts can mean more than you think

Reader Albert Wierenga has a story to tell about a poppy received as a gift that had even more meaning than anticipated

BradfordToday received the following letter from reader Albert Wierenga on what gifts can truly mean.

Sept 7 was International Inuit Day.

At the 2006 Inuit Circumpolar Council General Assembly in Barrow, Alaska, Nov. 7 was proclaimed as Inuit Day to honour the birth date of ICC visionary, Eben Hopson, Sr. (Eben Nanauq Hopson was an American politician in the state of Alaska. An Iñupiaq, he was born and raised in Utqiaġvik, Alaska and served in the Alaskan Senate).

When the CBC broadcast a news flash about this event my eyes lit upon the beaded poppy that Governor General, Mary Wilson, was wearing. It resembled something that I received this year in October. That similarity proved to be only partially correct.

Sometimes in life when you receive a gift you give a polite thanks but fail to recognize, in the first instance, what the gift really is, what it means and what emotions made the giver so inclined.

At an October event, we commemorated/celebrated our elderly, recently deceased friend. The event started with an Indigenous smudging ceremony held in a circle and flowed into a tree planting ceremony followed by social get-together. As we arrived for this event, two of us were given a colourful, Northern Cree beadwork poppy in recognition of the bonds that had existed between Charles and us, as well as the time/events/emotions we shared, especially during the rapid decline in his final three months.

The gift of this poppy was pleasing to the eye; however, I did not realize what the gift really meant.

When wearing it on my coat during Remembrance Day, Nov. 11, it elicited many admiring comments. There also were queries where people could obtain such a poppy and what the poppy stood for. That questioning allowed me to point out Canada’s remiss in honouring our Indigenous veterans in the past, e.g.: An Aboriginal veteran was not allowed to share a “toast” in honour of lost comrades with fellow veterans in a Royal Canadian Legion until 1951, and then only if the province, where the Legion was located, allowed it. This restriction even applied on Remembrance Day. It wasn’t until the mid‑1990s that Indigenous veterans and families were authorized to lay wreaths or have their own formed guards at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Remembrance Day.

To give you an appreciation of what this poppy represents, consider the work it took to make: The preparation time needed to cure the moosehide backing, the gathering/sorting of the porcupine quills and the stitching of the beads. The stitching alone takes anywhere from four to six hours depending on the skill of the bead worker and/or the size of the beads. Beadwork is iconic in Native American art, clothing, and objects. The familiar use of glass beads dates to early European contact, building on a much longer tradition of beadwork and quillwork appliqué using materials indigenous to North America. Quillwork is a form of textile embellishment traditionally practiced by Indigenous peoples of North America that employs the quills of porcupines as an aesthetic element. Quills from bird feathers were also occasionally used in quillwork.

The poppy gift turns out to be a valuable piece of Art for its association with my deceased friend and his adopted, Indigenous family and is especially representative of the generosity of those who gave it.

And life continues to teach.

Albert Wierenga