Monday, July 7, 2025

History Repeating in Canada and the US

 đź“ś Monday Morning Musings: History Repeating in Canada and the US

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

Over the weekend, Elizabeth May shared something that hit me hard — and deep. She reminded us of the hidden history behind the Calgary Stampede and how, in a strange twist of fate, a cowboy event became one of the few places where Indigenous culture could be safely practiced, if only for ten days.

Let that sink in.

In 1912, during a time when the Indian Act made it illegal for Indigenous people to leave reserves or practice traditional ceremonies, the Calgary Stampede’s founder — an American trick rider named Guy Weadick — stood up and pulled strings at the highest levels of power. He secured a kind of temporary sanctuary for Treaty 7 Nations to gather, camp, and celebrate. Without his efforts, those ceremonies could have been crushed by Indian Agents, just as they were across BC, where potlatches were raided and regalia stolen.

This isn’t ancient history. This is just over a century ago — and echoes of it ripple through everything happening now.

Elizabeth May’s words stirred something because I recently read about what happened in the US in the 1940s and ’50s — the mass deportation of Mexicans, many of whom were US-born citizens or had been invited north to work. Operation Wetback, as the shameful campaign was called, tore apart families and communities.

And now? We’re watching the same dangerous rhetoric creep back in.

We are on the verge of repeating history — in both Canada and the US — because too many people don’t know, don’t remember, or were never taught.

There’s so much we were never told. Stories buried, erased, forgotten — or worse, stolen.

That’s why it’s not enough to just scroll and move on. We need to hold these stories up to the light. The kids today — they don’t know what’s about to hit them. The world is changing fast, and the past is being recycled, sometimes with a darker twist.

So let’s not wait for another cycle of injustice to unfold before we speak up. Let’s remind people what really happened. Let’s teach the truth — before it’s too late.


📚 Full newsletter by Elizabeth May: Read here

đź’¬ What are your thoughts? Have you heard stories from your family, your community, that connect to these forgotten histories?

#StampedeHistory #IndigenousRights #OperationWetback #TruthAndReconciliation #HistoryRepeats #YouthDeserveTruth #ZipolitaSpeaks


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