Text size

E-mail this column

Show respect for food we eat

Antoine Mountain
Guest columnist
Monday, July 7, 2008

Previous columns 

Friends, I was very startled and personally offended to see an image of one of the teachers of Inuvik's Samuel Hearne Secondary School 'posing' on the front page no less, of the Inuvik Drum, all covered in pie, with one of the students.

To me this points to the kind of culturally insensitive values we pass on to our youth, often without even thinking about it.

As a First Nations person I take the teachings of my ancestors, grandparents, parents and relatives very seriously, and this especially so with food.

We are taught, for good reason, to always be thankful for any kind of food we have and to treat it with an all-abiding respect. Now I do realize that some of these events that involved the teacher getting a pie in the face are generally seen as harmless fun by the dominant mola culture, but I would think that these educators would follow along some recent positive ways of understanding and tolerance for our Dene, Metis and Inuit cultural ways.

Young people are especially impressionable and more than likely take after the views they are presented with on a daily basis, and from images like this one in that town's paper. I would think the typical young person would continue to think it is OK to go ahead and throw food at someone, and generally show very little respect for what they eat.

Many years ago, at the annual Great Northern Arts Festival in this same Delta community I had to point out to another artist who made some kind of disparaging remark about the food on her plate. I said "that's the same mouth you eat with when you say words like that."

Of course, as in many of the columns I write for this newspaper many people take offense, thinking that I am somehow picking on them, or just being a sour Gus'n-such.

But as my father always told me, people tend to get angry at first, but it is more important to say something to clear up the situation. And besides, this is the only way you are going to change anything.

As with the lady whom I had to remind to be thankful for her meal, she did thank me for pointing it out to her later and now she has taken it upon herself to look at things in a different light.

So, I for one, am hoping that we can take the time to rethink some of our cultural ways that we want to pass along to our impressionable youth. Et bon appétit! Mahsi cho.

- Antoine Mountain is a Dene artist and writer originally from Radilih Koe'/Fort Good Hope. He can be reached at www.amountainarts.com