CRA~Canada - MEMBERS

I WOULD LIKE TO TELL YOU ABOUT THREE THINGS:

1) WHAT WERE THE SCOTTISH HIGHLAND CLEARANCES OF 1785-1850
2) WHY THIS EVENT SHOULD BE IN ANY HUMAN RIGHTS MUSEUM
3) WHY IT IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT FOR A CANADIAN HUMAN RIGHTS MUSEUM LOCATED IN WINNIPEG

FIRST, A LITTLE SOCIAL BACKGROUND:

. . . SCOTLAND IS TWO DISTINCT AREAS:

[A.] LOWLANDS IN THE SOUTH

ROLLING HILLS AND GENTLE VALLEYS (like around Brandon)
EASILY SUPPORTS FARMING AND COMMERCE
[B.] HIGHLANDS & ISLANDS IN THE NORTH AND NORTHWEST:
MOUNTAINOUS, WITH NARROW ROUGH VALLEYS
ISOLATED - ROADS NOT STARTED UNTIL THE 18TH CENT. IT WAS THE LAST AREA IN EUROPE TO BE EXPLORED AND MAPPED.
THE PEOPLE WERE HUNTER-GATHERERS OR FISHERS … GATHERED TOGETHER INTO RIVAL WARRIOR CLANS.
THEY SPOKE A SEPARATE LANGUAGE – THE GAELIC.
THE EARLY HIGHLANDERS DIDN’T RECOGNIZE SCOTLAND AS THEIR COUNTRY, NOR ITS LOWLAND-BASED KING. THEY ONLY RECOGNIZED THEIR CLAN TERRITORIES, WHERE LAND WAS COMMON PROPERTY.
THE CLAN CHIEF ALLOTTED LAND USE ON BEHALF OF ALL CLAN MEMBERS, LIKE A FATHER TO HIS EXTENDED FAMILY.
IN RETURN, CLANSMEN SERVED AS WARRIORS, WHEN NOT TENDING THEIR HERDS OR SMALL SUBSISTANCE FARMS.
IN MANY WAYS, THE CLANS RESEMBLED OUR FIRST NATIONS TRIBES.

NOW FOR A LITTLE BACKGROUND HISTORY:

1707 ACT OF UNION JOINED ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND TOGETHER AS GREAT BRITAIN … WITH A SINGLE PARLIAMENT AND JOINT MONARCHY IN LONDON.
1714 QUEEN ANNE DIED WITHOUT HEIR. THE LONDON PARLIAMENT IMPORTED A KING FROM GERMANY, GEORGE I. MANY SCOTS, ESPECIALLY THE INDEPENDENT HIGHLANDERS, FELT THEY HAD THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE THEIR OWN KING, DEFINITELY NOT A FOREIGNER.
1715 - JAMES STUART, DESCENDANT OF THE DEPOSED SCOTTISH STUART MONARCHY, LED AN UNSUCCESSFUL REBELLION TO REGAIN THE SCOTTISH CROWN.
1745 – JAMES’ SON, CHARLES EDWARD (“Bonnie Prince Charlie”) RETURNED FROM EXILE AND AGAIN RAISED THE HIGHLAND CLANS. - AT FIRST, VICTORY. THEY MARCHED DEEP INTO ENGLAND BUT WERE, INEVITABLY, DRIVEN BACK.
1746 – THE KILTED HIGHLANDERS MADE A LAST STAND AT CULLODEN WITH MEDIEVAL BROADSWORD AND SHIELD, AND WERE BLOWN AWAY BY THE GOVERNMENT’S MUSKET AND CANNON. - THE ENGLISH COMMANDER, NICK-NAMED “BUTCHER” CUMBERLAND, PURSUED THE FLEEING HIGHLANDERS AND MURDERED MOST OF THEM, INCLUDING THE SICK OR WOUNDED.
1747 – THE CLAN CHIEFS’ GOVERNING AUTHORITY WAS REMOVED. TARTAN, KILT AND WEAPONS, INCLUDING BAGPIPES, WERE OUTLAWED. - THE HIGHLAND CLAN SYSTEM WAS BROKEN FOR ALL TIME.

THIS LED TO THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES OF APPROX. 1785-1850

THE LARGER CLAN CHIEFS HAD BECOME NOBLES IN THEIR CASTLES, OR IN THE LOWLAND CITIES, AWAY FROM THEIR PEOPLE. IN SOME CASES TITLES WERE HELD BY ENGLISH LIVING IN LONDON.
NO LONGER STEWARDS OF COMMON CLAN LANDS, THEY WERE ABSENTEE LANDLORDS.
CLANSPEOPLE WERE MERELY TENANTS … NOT ALLOWED TO OWN THE LAND THEY WORKED OR THEIR SMALL COTTAGES (called crofts).
WITH DEVELOPMENT OF LARGE CLOTH WEAVING FACTORY LOOMS AND THE GREAT CHEVIOT BREED OF SHEEP, WHICH COULD WITHSTAND THE HIGHLAND CLIMATE, THE CHIEFS FOUND THEY COULD MAKE MORE MONEY FROM WOOL THAN RENTS FROM THEIR TENANTS.
THEY STARTED TO SYSTEMATICALLY EVICT THE CROFTERS AND CLEAR THE LAND FOR SHEEP RUNS … THROUGHOUT THE NORTHERN SHIRES AND WESTERN ISLANDS. THE WORST WAS IN THE VAST LANDS OF THE DUKE OF SUTHERLAND.
THE METHOD WAS SIMPLE. IF EVICTION NOTICES DIDN’T IMMEDIATELY DRIVE THE PEOPLE TO THE EMIGRANT SHIPS WAITING ON THE COAST, OR TO THE LOWLAND CITY SLUMS, CLUB-WIELDING BAILIFFS SOON FOLLOWED. VICIOUS BEATINGS DROVE FAMILIES FROM THEIR CROFTS. THE THATCHED ROOFS WERE SET AFIRE, DESTROYING HOME AND BELONGINGS. ELDERLY AND INFIRM WERE BURNED ALIVE.
IT WAS SYSTEMATIC CULTURAL GENOCIDE.
TO SURVIVE, THOUSANDS OF THESE PEOPLE EMIGRATED TO THE USA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND TO CANADA.
I HAVE WALKED THROUGH THESE STILL-DESERTED HIGHLAND GLENS AND THE REMAINS OF A BURNT-OUT MACKAY VILLAGE.
FOR FURTHER DETAIL, I RECOMMEND JOHN PREBBLE’S BOOK THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES.

SO WHY SHOULD THIS MASS DISPLACEMENT OF PEOPLE BE COMMEMORATED IN A HUMAN RIGHTS MUSEUM?

MUCH EMIGRATION FROM EUROPE HAD NOTHING SPECIFICALLY TO DO WITH VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS ... BUT RESULTED FROM INEVITABLE HUMAN PROGRESS OR QUIRKS OF NATURE.
FOR EXAMPLE, THOUSANDS OF POOR IRISH EMIGRATED IN THE 19TH CENTURY TO ESCAPE THE POTATO FAMINE.
AND THIS WAS THE ERA OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION … WHEN COTTAGE LABORERS WERE REPLACED BY FACTORIES, AND FARM LABORERS REPLACED BY MECHANIZED AGRICULTURE. THOUSANDS THROUGHOUT EUROPE WENT TO CROWDED UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE CITY SLUMS AND THEN … TO AVOID STARVATION … TOOK SHIPS TO THE NEW WORLD.
BUT THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES WERE DIFFERENT. A WHOLE CLASS OF PEOPLE, THE HIGHLAND CROFTERS, HAD THEIR CLAN SOCIAL ORDER REMOVED BY LAW… AND WERE PURPOSELY AND FORCEFULLY DEPRIVED OF THEIR LIVELIHOOD AND THE ROOF OVER THEIR HEADS BY OTHER PEOPLE… IN FAVOR OF PROFITS FROM SHEEP.

AND WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT FOR A CANADIAN HUMAN RIGHTS MUSEUM, ESPECIALLY ONE LOCATED IN WINNIPEG?

THE SCOTTISH IMMIGRANTS OF THE 18th AND 19th CENTURIES EFFECTIVELY FORMED THE COUNTRY OF CANADA. ARRIVING FIRST IN THE MARITIMES AND UPPER CANADA (now Ontario) THEY DEVELOPED OUR MILITARY, COMMERCE, BANKING, TRANSPORTATION, UNIVERSITIES AND POLITICS.
THE BEST EXAMPLE IS THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILROAD …WHICH MADE CANADA A DOMINION FROM SEA TO SEA. IT WAS SURVEYED BY SCOTS, ENGINEERED BY SCOTS, FINANCED BY SCOTS AND DRIVEN BY THE POLITICAL WILL OF A SCOT NAMED JOHN A. MACDONALD.
HERE IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY, OUR FIRST PERMANENT SETTLERS WERE SCOTS FROM THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES, BROUGHT BY LORD SELKIRK STARTING IN 1812. OUR COMMUNITIES OF EAST, WEST AND NORTH KILDONAN ARE NAMED AFTER THE STRATH (valley) OF KILDONAN IN SUTHERLANDSHIRE, THE HOME MANY OF THEM LEFT BEHIND.
ALONG WITH FRENCH FUR-TRADERS, METIS BUFFALO HUNTERS AND FIRST NATIONS, THEY CREATED WHAT IS NOW MANITOBA.
ON YOUR WAY HOME TONIGHT, DRIVE NORTH ON WATERFRONT DRIVE BETWEEN THE RIVER AND THE BALL PARK. AT THE FIRST ROUNDABOUT YOU’LL SEE A NEW STATUE OF A HIGHLAND FAMILY FLEEING THE CLEARANCES. THE ORIGINAL IS IN SUTHERLANDSHIRE. THERE WILL BE ONLY 10 OTHERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD … IN MAJOR CENTRES TO WHICH THESE PEOPLE FLED. WINNIPEG IS ONE.