cloosh wawa kopa nesika chee hyaschutch - a great speech from our new lt.governor

[terry glavin]

i have been dying to send this email for some time.

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.

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.

 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).

 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 the punchline of iona's speech, i.e. the point of this email,  was:

 konoway tillicums klatawa kunamokst klaska mamook okoke huloima chee illahie.

 which is to say, everyone was thrown together to make this strange new country.

 and if there is any awkwardness in the translation, the fault was initially mine and entirely mine.
  
 Here's an abbreviated version of the front page story in today's victoria times-colonist:
 
Lieutenant-governor aims to promote greater tolerance 
        
      Judith Lavoie  
      Times Colonist (Victoria) 


Wednesday, September 26, 2001
     
      Iona Campagnolo 
        
     
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. 

``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. 

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. 

``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.'' 

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. 

``I am here to personally thank her and to wish her well on behalf of the Nisga'a nation.'' 

``She has been an absolute keen supporter of the Nisga'a people,'' he said. 

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