No... after High Level we were transferred to Fort St John. Gorgeous little community, but, not quite the same friendliness. Everyone's really civil of course. But, the social dynamic is very different. I've never lived in a more racist environment. I find it very frustrating. The town I grew up in had a reservation on its outskirts, and there would be incidents and altercations all the time. But everyone seemed to realize it was a social problem, not a racial one. High Level was constantly having problems with the outlying reservations as well.... people would come in from Assumption, and live in the parks for a week or so until they could get a ride back to the reservation. You couldn't buy a bottle of hairspray without asking behind the counter for it, because the people living in the parks would steal and drink hairspray once they'd run out of money for alcohol. Certain areas of the park were used as toilets, others as garbage dumps for AquaVelva and hairspray bottles... and still, I heard virtually no comments about 'dirty indians'. it was viewed as an issue of homelessness, rather than race. Crime in High Level at the time was typicaclly natives breaking into houses, sheds, etc, when it was too cold to sleep outside anymore. For example, we had a camper broken into. The men at the shop were ready to call the police until they took a better look... everything valuable was left alone, a can of food was opened and eaten, the bed was slept in, and all of the coats we used for camping were stolen. The guys all just shrugged.... 'must have needed it' was all that was said after that. No freak outs, no racial fingerpointing, just a recognition that the homelessness issue was bad.
So moving here, having to deal with a town where the natives are rich and working, and therefor worse than scum in the eyes of jealous white folk who don't have as much money, has just killed me. I'm fed up with it. Locals will complain about the 'drunk indians' in the street, but never mention that there are usually only a few drunks, hanging out in front of the bar, and it's typically a mix of white and native. They also don't mention that half the white men in this town are meth addicts, snapping and beating the snot out of anyone who looks at them wrong. You don't see that problem in the other races here like you do in the white guys... I'd take drunk over that any day. In a town where there is virtually no problem compared to what I've seen in the past, people are even MORE bitter. I hear the term 'dirty indian' thrown around here constantly. I'll be happy to be gone. I'm so ready to move.
Sorry for the ramble.
