Rideau Hall, Monday, November 17, 2008

I am delighted to welcome you to this ballroom, where our country’s highest honours are awarded, under the favourable auspices of the Thunderbird, of all living life forms and all Manitou spirits that inhabit the water, earth and sky.

This monumental work, born of the generosity and talent of one of our greatest artists, Norval Morrisseau, has initiated a dialogue with the place in which we have gathered today.

As though the civilizations that shaped our history were encountering one another, not in conflict this time but in harmony.

This painting brings new light to this official residence that has been home to every governor general since Confederation in 1867.

This striking work of art restores the memory, traditions and legends of the First peoples, not just in this institution, which is one of the oldest in Canada, but beyond, out into the public space.

In newspapers and on television following the swearing‑in of the new cabinet, there, as a backdrop, hung Morrisseau’s masterpiece.

This work, entitled Androgyny, made as many headlines as our elected officials.

It proclaimed the presence of the Aboriginal peoples, who are our deepest roots in the Americas but whose history has more often than not been seen through a partial lens, in every sense of the word.

History is the sum of human experience over time.

It has meaning that goes much deeper than a series of dates and facts: it is the meaning that we give to it and that each generation enriches with its own questioning, interpretations and unique contribution.

Such that those of you who teach history convey meaning to others.

I know that it is a role that you have taken on with passion, conviction and imagination.

A role that is all the more essential as our society becomes increasingly focussed on the now.

Things are moving ahead so quickly that the world in which we are raising our children already looks nothing like our own.

This makes it difficult for them to relate to a history that seems light years away from the realities they are facing today.

And those of you who must grab their attention every day know better than most how fierce the competition is: the Internet, competing with reality TV, instant chats, video games, with everything that is working to keep them fixed on the straight line of the present.

Of course, the other side of that coin is that our young people have never been as open to the world as they are today, thanks to new technologies, and as aware of the challenges the world is facing.

What you give them is an historical perspective to consider as they reflect, an historical perspective that allows them to better understand the place they hold in this world, to define the role they want to play, and to act with a view to making the world a better place.

In other words, your contribution is vital. It is essential.

Yes, the work you do is essential for our children and youth to find deep roots in the past. Roots that nourish their lives and that of generations to come.

“It is our Ojibwa tradition to recall our history or obtain our history in an oral manner,” Norval Morrisseau once said. “It is important for our children and others to benefit through the process of continuing to recall and make history.”

History, where all culture is imprinted, is the most striking record of the women and men who have come before. It is precious and must be relentlessly preserved, enriching humanity itself.

And it is thanks to you that it remains alive and is passed on to become a collective strength and a kind of compass guiding us toward the future.

Again and again and again, thank you for giving our children and youth the desire and means to continue in their own way down the path of history.

My thanks also to Canada’s National History Society for recognizing the important role that our history teachers play.

Finally, I would like to congratulate you on your new armorial bearings, which convey your commitment to instilling in our youth and the general public a love of history, a history that is constantly changing, constantly evolving.

Thank you and congratulations to all of the award recipients! We are forever grateful.