Today is the anniversary of my arrival in Canada. I am very aware that many, many people were here before me, and that many people were here long long before the colonial settlers.
The earliest carbon-dated Mi’kmaw artefacts date back to 12,700 BCE . Indigenous settlements have been present what will become Nova Scotia since 9,000 BCE. There were many confederations before the one we will be celebrating as “Canada 150” tomorrow.
As early as the year 796 CE, the Three Fires Confederacy is formed by the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi nations. The Iroquois Confederacy was formed in 1142, followed but the Wabanaki Confederacy in 1606. And finally, the Dominion of Canada is formed in 1867 – which brings us to Canada 150.
I am an immigrant to Canada, this is my country of choice. Not because I had to leave the country I was living in, like so many who have made Canada their home. Rather, I ended up here simply because the wind kind of blew me this way, and I stayed (I wrote about it here). I have raised my daughters here, acquired my degree in jewellery design, and have built a career and a life. I live here.
Of course I have mixed feelings about many aspects of my new country of choice. But I also have love for it. It’s like family – it’s not all pretty. I arrived on June 30th 1989, precisely 28 year ago today, thinking I was going to stay for 6 months. And then I stayed another six months, and another, and so forth.
I took a long time before finally actually becoming Canadian (over 20 years as a landed immigrant), but when I finally did, I created a series of rings to celebrate: the MapleLeaf Series. And in celebration of my 28th anniversary of arriving at these very shores, as well as Canada’s 150th ‘birthday’, I have decided to lower the prices of my sterling silver MapleLeaf and MapleWrap rings for the next six months. Happy Canada 150 y’all!
Speaking of wedding bands ….
