It makes me so sad each time I read “Moccasin Flats” in the Citizen and I ask that you please take a moment to reconsider.
The first few times I saw this phrase used to discuss and/or describe our local outdoor encampment, I thought it was a mistake that would be corrected very quickly. I had faith that in this day and age no one would find it appropriate or amusing.
I remember, in 2001, when Hedy Fry stood in Parliament and referenced the racism in Prince George and even mentioned burning crosses in her comments. The city lit up with outrage, accused the MP of many things and claimed that Prince George did not have any problems with racism.
Yet at every turn, when this city has an opportunity to prove their claims of inclusivity instead we see educated adults pretending not to be able to remember or pronounce Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park even though little children have been able to say it for hundreds of years. Who will be able to forget the more recent racist rampage that took place here when someone thought it would be nice to give the new high school up the Hart an Aboriginal name? How many schools in School District 57 have an Aboriginal name? The result is two main entrance doors, one for Non-Aboriginal (highlighting the Warner Bros. connection) and a second door for Aboriginals (Shas Ti).
Now to me, it seems that the Citizen is actively promoting the idea that the residents of Prince George’s outdoor encampment are all Aboriginal?
Is it true that homelessness, alcoholism, drug addiction, poverty, disability (mental and physical) and mental illness are endemic of only Aboriginal people and therefore it is reasonable for you to refer to the encampment as Moccasin Flats?
Morgan Jamieson
Prince George
Editor’s Note: We use the term Moccasin Flats in our reporting to describe the encampment on Lower Patricia because that is what the people who have lived there, regardless of their race or ancestry, have regularly called it when we have spoken to them for our reporting.
