one good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain. Brother Bob Marley sang those words. And god knows they mean so much to me right now. Heres why. Today, I listened to BC Premier Christy Clark ignore sound science, sensible economics, public opinion, and the Treaty and Aboriginal rights guaranteed to Canadas Indigenous Peoples and approve the Site C mega-dam on the Peace River. If built, this atrocity will drown the prettiest little valley in all of Canada. It will wipe out wildlife habitat, destroy fishing, hunting and sites sacred to local First Nations. It will bring chaos to the lives of working farm families. So how do I make sense of this assault on logic, against nature, and against the social justice principles that I hold so dear. I listen to music. Art Napoleon in fact and his heart-swelling version of a Neil Young classic. Sung in the beautiful Cree language. Music for the Peace River. Thank you Art. I fell in love with Neil Youngs ballad Pocahontas when I first heard it because of the moving melody and lyrics which paint lasting images. It also made me feel that the man who wrote it was truly an ally who identified with some of our struggles as First Nations to protect the lands and waters that we depend upon. I was trying to honor the song by singing it in my own Cree language. - artist and singer-song writer Art Napolean. Anna Johnston
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 02:32:24 +0000