My Cultural Identity
Growing up as a child whose parents have immigrated to Canada, my family have always had a significant and stable connection to the culture of our home country, and there have been certain aspects that we acknowledge. As she missed the traditional food that was served back in her home country, my mother is always cooking up popular Vietnamese & Laotian meals and desserts that I quite enjoy, such as pork stew, rice vermicelli, or papaya salad. Although my main language will always be English, my parents have spoken Vietnamese to me ever since I was a young child, to which I can fairly understand and recite the accent back to them. Having a satellite that also picks up foreign channels, my family have also enjoyed some of the entertainment from our home country, as they frequently watch Vietnamese news or Thai drama series. On occasion, we also listen to the music that we have in CDs or on the internet, whether it is Lao country music or Thai pop songs. And most importantly, although we are familiar with the Christian religion, my parents have always had Buddhist ceremonies and practices, whether it was worshipping Him by lighting incense and giving their prayers or celebrating the annual Chinese New Year with moon cake, feasts, and blessings. Even though my family resides in the country of Canada, we will always have a strong connection to our traditional religion, cuisine, and entertainment.

A Lost First Nations Cultural Identity
One of the most unfortunate things about the First Nations culture today is that it is not as acknowledged in present day society as much as it deserves to be, and if I was a person of First Nations descent, I would be extremely concerned. Culture remains a significant part of many peoples’ lives, and if it was it was slowly beginning to disappear, I would feel my sense of self fade away as well. With a part of me gone, I would have difficulty establishing an identity as who I really was, and it would be really important to my being as to establishing a stronger connection to the traditional First Nations culture. There are many ways I could go about to leaning more about the culture if I was lost, and that includes asking my family more about the traditions and spiritual religion and becoming more engaged with the First Nations culture. If they happened to be just as distant from the culture as I was, I would seek other alternatives such as visiting reserves and joining more Native pride clubs to become an active member in the Native American community. Although it is quite sad to see how uncommon Aboriginal culture is represented in Canadian society these years, there are many ways that the people are able to connect back to their culture again, as if I was a Native American person it would be an important part of who I am and where I stand.
