Two things are true for me in singing songs and being a part of Silver Lake for over 30 years: my white supremacy has been reinforced; and my white supremacy has been broken down. Sometimes with the same song.

At the core of this experience is the songs of Black and African-American people, the songs of protest, spirituals and hymns. The context of being a settler on Indigenous land, mis-appropriating culture and reinforcing stereotypes has also been a reality.

We have been part of a camping industry rife with indigenous tropes that continue to this day. Just a look at some camp names that still exist makes this very clear. Until 2001, Silver Lake had cabins named after indigenous peoples: Oneida, Seneca, Cayuga, Huron and Chippewa. Romantic notions of “playing Indian” showed up in songs like Land of the Silver Birch. This was harmful to our indigenous neighbours.

Through participating in the process of identifying these as harmful and inappropriate, I learned much more about settler colonialism and the land the camp sits on. But the key is context and education.

In regards to Black and African-American songs, there have clearly been racist songs that were modified to be more palatable (e.g. “We’re from Nairobi” changing ‘cannibals’ to ‘camels’) when they really should have just been stopped. With other songs education was shared, but it would be naive of me to say that I understand the nuances and historical context of many (most?) of our songs. The musical genres of North America (rock, folk, country, etc.) are all indebted to African-American contributions, many of which have been written out of history by white people. Our songs have history and legacy we don’t know or recognize.

I use “our” intentionally. Songs have a life of their own and change subtly or dramatically within the communities that sing them. Their contexts change. A great example is “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” (the tune for “Glory, glory how peculiar” or “Little Peter Rabbit”) which has been used to stoke white nationalism AND in Black social justice protest (read this article for more on that). These songs “belong” to the Silver Lake community, warts and all. 

But context matters and usage matters. I’ve tried my best to contextualize songs when singing them, where I do know context, as much as possible. I have appreciated that this has been part of the culture at Silver Lake and it’s how I learned more about slavery, the underground railroad, and apartheid. These are important stories to tell. 

That said, protest songs and spirituals have also unconsciously contributed to messages like “slavery only happened in the US” or “apartheid is only happening in South Africa” and “we are great white people for caring!” without acknowledging slavery in Canada or the Indigenous apartheid happening all around us. Singing the songs has been an act of absolution for my white guilt. So, it’s important to look at how a song is used and what it can lead to.

Now, it would be a debilitating and endless exercise to contextualize and unpack every song before singing it. I don’t advocate for that. But, I do think, as a community, we can question, examine, and learn from our musical heritage and present. I plan to do that and hope this site can help.

The consequence of doing this is a richer musical future leading to a more equitable, just, and peaceful community.

Keep singing! I’ll sing with you.