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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>i have been dying to send this email for some
time.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>yesterday, british columbia's new
lieutenant-governor was sworn in a ceremony before the provincial legislature in
victoria. iona campagnolo is the first woman to occupy this office, and she
has more than a passing familiarity with chinook. and besides that, she's truly
one of our own.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>the reason i've been dying to send this for a while
is that some time ago she called to tell me to ask if she could
conclude her speech with a line from that poem i wrote in chinook, "rain
language." of course i was flattered by this, to the point of not
minding if it seems like i'm showing off just the tiniest bit right
now, which i suppose i am.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://www.gov.bc.ca/bcgov/popt/Spec_events_lt_gov3.htm"><IMG border=1
height=180
src="http://www.gov.bc.ca/bcgov/img/special_events_pictures/img_thm_Iona2.jpg"
width=116></A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> for boston tillicums: in canada, which
is technically a democratic constitutional monarchy, sovereignty is vested
in the "crown" rather than the "people"; governors-general are
appointed by the privy council - i.e. the prime minister and a bunch of other
guys - in consultation with the canada's queen (that would be elizabeth windsor,
who also happens to be england's queen), and lieutenants-governor are appointed
in much the same way, with little involvement by the provinces (which would
explain why we got a gem like iona rather than a wanker, which is almost
certainly what we would have got if the sitting provincial government had any
say in the matter. but i digress).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> <FONT face=Arial size=2>i can't find a copy
of her speech on the web just yet (from the lt.gov's web site you'd still
think that garde gardom was the queen's representative in b.c.) and it would be
bad form to send along the draft she sent me a few days
back, but </FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>the punchline of
iona's speech, i.e. the point of this email, was:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> <STRONG>konoway tillicums klatawa kunamokst
klaska mamook okoke huloima chee illahie.</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> which is to say, <EM>everyone was thrown
together to make this strange new country.</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> and if there is any awkwardness in the
translation, the fault was initially mine and entirely mine.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Here's an abbreviated version of the
front page story in today's victoria times-colonist:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<DIV class=storyheadline>Lieutenant-governor aims to promote greater tolerance
</DIV>
<TABLE border=0 width="100%">
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD> </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD><FONT class=storybyline>Judith Lavoie</FONT></TD>
<TD align=right rowSpan=2 vAlign=top></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD><FONT class=storypub>Times Colonist
(Victoria)</FONT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<DIV class=storydate><BR>Wednesday, September 26, 2001</DIV>
<DIV class=storytext>
<TABLE align=right border=0 width=5 vspace="0" hspace="10">
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD><IMG height=90
src="http://media.canada.com/scripts/locate.asp?id=80E0DCE5-09FD-4F6F-ABD2-A3B3237328E9"
width=120 valign="top"></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>
<DIV class=storycredit></DIV>
<DIV class=storycaption>Iona Campagnolo</DIV></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD> </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P>Looking the picture of elegance, Iona Campagnolo stood outside Government
House -- her new home -- for a brief moment Tuesday after her swearing-in
ceremony as B.C.'s first woman lieutenant-governor. </P>
<P>``Did you notice my guard today? There were many, many women in the military
and it shows how our country is building inclusiveness,'' said Campagnolo, who
is bringing strong views on women and aboriginal rights to the non-partisan
office. </P>
<P>Between ceremonial signing of oaths and 15-gun salutes at the legislature,
Campagnolo delivered a powerful speech emphasizing the historic roles of First
Nations and women in B.C. </P>
<P>``My playmates as a child were Japanese and aboriginal. My brother and I were
the only two who were not of that heritage,'' said Campagnolo in an interview
after the speech. ``I was a child when the Japanese were taken to internment
camps and the aboriginals were taken to residential schools. I have never
forgotten it and I have spent all my life trying to see those sorts of things
never happen again.'' </P>
<P>Campagnolo, who grew up by the Skeena River in northern B.C., ended her
speech with a phrase in the Chinook language -- to the delight of Nisga'a chief
Joe Gosnell, one of the guests at the elaborate ceremony and reception. </P>
<P>``I am here to personally thank her and to wish her well on behalf of the
Nisga'a nation.'' </P>
<P>``She has been an absolute keen supporter of the Nisga'a people,'' he
said. </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://www.gov.bc.ca/bcgov/popt/Spec_events_lt_gov3.htm"></A></FONT></P></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>