An iconic but controversial symbol of Canadian history and colonialism may soon be seen as a gesture of reconciliation.
The Hudson’s Bay Foundation and the Gord┬аDownie & Chanie Wenjack Fund have announced that from┬аnow on, 100 per cent of the net proceeds from the sale of HBC’s┬аfamed striped wool blankets will provide support for Indigenous cultural, artistic and educational activities through a newly launched initiative called┬аOshki Wupoowane тАФ The Blanket Fund.
“We will never make profit from this blanket again. All the profits will go back to the Indigenous peoples,” Iain Nairn, president and CEO of the Bay, told CBC News this week.
“We’re going to get some things right and some things wrong. But I think if we have the right vision, ambition and the right community engagement, then we’ll be successful here and continue creating a truth and reconciliation framework тАФ not just for our company, but to lead corporate Canada in that journey.”
The Hudson’s Bay Foundation┬атАФ the company’s┬аregistered charity, which works to address racial inequity in Canada тАФ is providing a $1-million contribution to kick off the official launch.
All funds will be administered by the┬аGord┬аDownie & Chanie Wenjack Fund┬атАФ a charity focused on┬аreconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. It’s named for Chanie Wenjack, who died in 1966 at age 12 while trying to run away from a residential school, and Gord Downie, the late frontman of the band the Tragically Hip,┬аwho told Chanie’s┬аstory in his multimedia project┬аThe Secret Path.
Applications will be accepted through two different grant streams: one for organizations focused on capacity-building and one for individuals using their grants┬аto promote local initiatives in First Nations, Inuit and M├йtis communities.
Sarah Midanik, president and CEO of the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, says it’s significant that HBC wants to make its┬аpoint┬аblankets (a reference to the point┬аsystem, which indicates the size of the blanket)┬аa symbol of reconciliation and moving forward together.
“Using such an iconic symbol of Canadian identity is really meaningful,” she said.
Going forward, everyone purchasing a blanket “will also understand how it’s being used to empower Indigenous communities, initiatives and organizations. That’s really powerful,” said Midanik.
Acknowledging the past is important, she said, “but ultimately we need to look towards the future and ensuring the strength and resilience and vibrancy of Indigenous peoples and communities for the next seven generations.”
“We also need to start doing the work,┬аand this is one way that we can move forward together.”
A complicated symbol
The HBC point blanket has been many things in its history┬атАФ┬аa valuable trade item, an emblem of Canada┬аrumoured as a carrier of disease, and a symbol of colonialism, says Amelia Fay, curator of the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum collection at the Manitoba Museum.
“The point blankets and the stripes themselves ended up becoming a rather iconic symbol for the company,” she said. Many Canadians associate the multicoloured stripes of the blankets “as synonymous with HBC and synonymous with┬атАж a very romanticized history of the fur trade,” said Fay.
Many embrace it as a symbol of Canadian identity, she said, but┬а“for other Canadians, it’s┬аnot a positive symbol. So there is this sort of this clash.”
While there is oral history that the blankets were used to purposefully spread smallpox to Indigenous people, Fay said the outbreaks were connected more to many people gathering in close contact┬атАФ┬аmuch like the current COVID-19 pandemic.
While Europeans often had immunity to the disease, Indigenous people did not, she said.
“They would bring blankets and other trade goods. They would be gathering in very small, poorly ventilated rooms and when they leave, suddenly, the community would fall sick with smallpox┬атАФ┬аmany people would die.
“And so the perception was that it was linked to the blankets themselves. But in fact, it’s not linked to the blankets.”
Fay said she was happy to hear about the launch of Oshki Wupoowane, saying it shows HBC┬аacknowledges its┬аrole in colonialism. It’s an important gesture by a corporate leader, she said.
“There will be critics and I think there’s still things you can criticize the company, and a lot of other institutions in Canada, for. There’s still so much work to do.тАж We can’t just wear orange shirts on the one day and leave it at that,” she said.
But “steps towards recognizing the truth of what happened in the past and the truth of how that carries forward today┬атАж [are]┬аstill progress, and progress is good.”
The Downie &┬аWenjack Fund will begin accepting applications for Oshki Wupoowane тАФ The Blanket Fund early next year. The first round of grants are expected to be awarded in September 2023.
