The Tribe — An International Week Address
The Tribe – by Jay Connolly
I have a confession to make. When Ms Ferris asked me to speak to you, I had trouble choosing a subject. I am not particularly international. Of the 196 countries in the world, I have visited only five, which makes me a great deal less international than many of you.
In fact, I’ve always been a little uncomfortable about International Week. My family has lived within the present geographical borders of Canada longer than Canada has existed as a nation. And the circumstances of my parents’ and grandparents’ early lives forced them always to look forward, never back. During my own childhood, I occasionally asked my parents, “So, what are we?” They always responded the same way: “You’re Canadian.” I am profoundly proud to be a Canadian, but even back then, “Canadian” sounded to me like an incomplete answer. With a name like Connolly, my Irish roots are certain, but there’s Scottish blood on both sides, and some English, too, and who knows what else.
When I was a kid kicking around the red-dust roads of my Northern BC town, I dreamt of being something far more definite and visible than Canadian. I had two First Nations friends, and to me they looked like royalty. I wanted to say that I was Cree or from the Blood Tribes, or a Cherokee. For a while in grade one, I wanted to be Mexican because a Mexican family came with their son Carlos to live in our small town, and I was fascinated by the music of their speech. . . .