Since the recent discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at former indigenous residential schools, many communities across Canada have decided to forego, scale down or significantly modify their Canada Day celebrations this year. Given the immense grief and pain felt by indigenous communities and among increasing numbers of non-indigenous Canadians as well, I think this is a wise decision to show respect and solidarity with our First Nations at this time.
Most non-indigenous Canadians have, of course, heard of the shameful history of residential schools, historically used for about 100 years to take indigenous children from their parents and communities to be schooled in residential institutions run by church and state so that they would be assimilated into Canadian society. But most Canadians were (and lots remain) in deep, deep denial about what that process really entailed for our First Nations and what it really meant about Canada and ourselves. That denial is finally starting to crack now among a larger segment of Canadians and a wave of appalled shame is replacing it.
By way of illustrating this denial, the first sentence in the preceding paragraph is the typical, carefully worded, relatively value-neutral way in which this topic is often presented in Canadian discussions. Here's a more graphically truthful version:
Most non-indigenous Canadians of settlor and other immigrant heritage have, of course, heard of the shameful racist and colonial history of residential schools prisons and concentration camps, historically used for about 100 years throughout much of the first century of our modern Canadian state since 1867 to take steal and kidnap using the services of the RCMP indigenous children from their parents and communities without any legal rights, process or recourse to be schooled forcibly stripped of their family ties, culture, language and identities run by church and state so that they would be assimilated into Canadian society subjected to years of physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and sexual abuse and then released into the wider unwelcoming, racist society.
We are at the start of what I'm sure will be an extremely lengthy Truth and Reconciliation Process which must address, in addition to residential schools, many other historical and current abuses and issues. It will be painful for all concerned, but must be done. Just as (to mention only a few examples) Germany must acknowledge, deal with and remedy to every extent possible its Nazi past and the Jewish Holocaust, the USA its long history of slavery and attempted extermination of its indigenous peoples, South Africa its oppressive apartheid past (modelled on Canada's original reservation system for First Nations, incidentally) and Australia/New Zealand their similar issues with their indigenous population.
Statues, other public art like murals, names of schools, buildings and streets honouring the creators of the residential school system are all starting to be taken down and changed so that our national shame will no longer have inappropriate "pride of place" in our communities. These are cosmetic changes only, of course. The real historical anachronism which must change in order to create a better Canada is our own ingrained racism, along with all its accompanying evils.
We had (in regards to the forced schooling/indoctrination etc) of Native Americans here starting in the late 1800's and continued well through 1960's/70's. Incredibly intolerant and racist (this word definitely applies here), it too shattered families, created chaos, and pretty much everything else you touched upon.
ReplyDeleteI think acknowledgment is a tiny step in the right direction, but your country, like ours, has a long way to go in order to make things even remotely right.
I'm curious, how strong are the Indigenous(?) Nations there in Canada? Are they on the same level as the Native American Nations here in the U.S.?
It is a sad fact that most countries around the world have an historical past that today we now know about and feel great shame for. The only retribution is to make sure that such terrible deeds never, ever, happen again.
ReplyDeleteMy father told me about this--how I missed it, I don't know--but the whole affair is sickening.
ReplyDeleteThe things we do to children ....
This is a good post. Canada must first acknowledge then try to make whatever restitution is possible. I support this as I support my country's needing to face and eradicate systemic racism.
ReplyDeleteIt's been absolutely horrifying to read about the concentration camps indigenous children were sent to be 're-educated'. Shameful and sadistic (well, the church was involved, so it was expected?.
ReplyDeleteThe nation needs to face the music and recognize its role in the torture and death of these children. As in America, the reckoning will be difficult (and will find opposition in the racist, bigoted people who still think it was necessary)but it needs to be done.
Shameful.
XOXO
Hello Debra, I guess this is going to be a reflective Canada Day, instead of a happy one. We have all been appalled by the reports about the schools. What's most galling is the way those dead children were simply ( and virtually literally) swept under the rug.
ReplyDelete--Jim
How did I not know you were Canadian until this blog post? I know I'm a more recent follower of yours, but this seemed like big news to me. :)
ReplyDeleteEarlier this year I read the book This Tender Land which features one of the "schools" indigenous children were sent to, which was the first I'd ever heard of any of it. It's a travesty, what happened to native peoples all over this continent. I certainly wasn't taught ANY of this in school, which is shameful in and of itself.
@ G.B. Miller -- There's great variation among the First Nations communities in Canada. A few which have independent sources of income (like oil & gas or other natural resources revenue, casinos, etc.) and good management create economically strong and vibrant communities for their people. At the opposite end of the spectrum, communities which are physically remote, isolated and have no such independent revenue but are reliant on the federal government, tend to be shockingly poor and deprived. Many First Nations communities are somewhere in the middle. Politically and culturally, there has been a real reawakening and resurgence among First Nations people since 1970 and they are increasingly making their voices heard in political matters, and quite rightly so. Canadian courts have also increasingly been willing to recognize indigenous rights, with some important rulings over the years.
ReplyDeleteMcDonald’s statue was finally removed in Charlottetown recently. Shocking it took so long. Not really though. We have been in denial for too long.
ReplyDeleteIt boggles the mind that anyone EVER anywhere thought this was justified. How terrible for the families. And yes, we did it in the US too. To our everlasting shame.
ReplyDeleteThings like this are coming out more and more everywhere, it's sickening. Lets hope the changes being made will go much further than the cosmetic.
ReplyDeleteThe reworded paragraph brought tears to my eyes. Words are powerful tools.
ReplyDeleteThese stories are just horrific. I knew that here in America we have our own dark history involving schools for indigenous people, but until yesterday I didn't know that Mormons were doing something similar well into the seventies. Starting in the mid-fifties the LDS church had a program in which Mormon families would foster Native American children, baptize them into the church, and essentially separate them from their families and strip them of their culture in order to "help" them to become Americans. This program wasn't officially shut down until 1996.
ReplyDeleteAs you can imagine, there are stories from some of the people who went through this about feeling "othered" their whole lives, and being treated as household help or even worse.
I had read about the children being found ~ thanks for more background.
ReplyDeleteTruly shameful, just like what happened here in the US. I'm glad to hear they are re-thinking Canada Day in light of the horrible find.
As you know the same happened in the US. It is sickening and heartbreaking. Thank you for the excellent post.
ReplyDeleteThese ugly truths will continue to be exposed and that's a good thing. We must acknowledge the horror of the settler/colonizer history and the ongoing effects of that barbarism.
ReplyDeleteI heard someone speaking on a radio program yesterday saying that there can't be 'reconciliation' since there was never 'conciliation'.
I'm pretty sure the terrible discoveries in Canada will result in the examination of the residential school grounds in the US. I'm certain the results will be the same. It's sickening.
"starting to be taken down" And I'm sure you have people complaining about this just like US confederate statues.
ReplyDeleteAmerica sadly was never in denial. They were proud of the evil
ReplyDelete@ Mike -- Yes, there are those who use the same bogus "cancel culture" arguments as in the USA, especially where statues of prominent Canadians are involved like our first Prime Minister John A. Macdonald. There's less of a hue and cry about government ministers and church officials at the time who helped create the residential school system. But at the moment, objectors are in the distinct minority and I hope it remains that way.
ReplyDeleteHere in Saskatchewan, where the majority of Residential Schools were located, the discovery of unmarked graves has re-opened old wounds that may never heal. Hopefully, the federal and provincial governments in Canada can pressure the Catholic Church to pay the millions of dollars owing for restitution. Sask First Nations and Metis communities have made great progress in the last 25 years reclaiming their culture and languages, yet the intergenerational damage done seems insurmountable. A Papal apology made on Canadian soil would be a good start, but only if it is followed up by a fully-funded reconciliation plan that is developed by the affected First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities.
ReplyDeletePrayers for healing and learning and being better human beings😘😘😘
ReplyDeleteit's time for humans of all kinds to look at what we are as a species. it's not pretty.
ReplyDeleteSo glad things are being called about your history of past. I can recall if Indian would go into a store and usually someone would get on load speaker, and say something like "Indian In Aslie 7" in tone as floor need to be clean.
ReplyDeleteOur local Indain is part of Kootenai tribe...https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/jun/30/more-unmarked-graves-found-at-indian-boarding-scho/
I hope we can start learning from our past and have better future.
Coffee is on
I didn't know anything about this--at least where Canada is concerned. I know about my own country's shameful history regarding Native Americans, of course. And we haven't come entirely to terms with that.
ReplyDeleteThe USA did the same thing, and few learn about it. BIA still holds millions of acres of lands "in trust" meaning the true owners are deprived of true ownership - when BIA leases the lands for grazing, it sometimes takes decades for the families to be paid. We treat native Americans as less than full citizens, and few notice.
ReplyDeleteWe have a very long way to go I fear. Not a fraction as bad but still shameful was the attempt of the English to stop Welsh children speaking their native language. In school anyone caught speaking Welsh was made to wear a Welsh Not, a piece of wood. At the end of the day the child wearing it would receive corporal punishment. And they wonder why the Welsh aren't too fond of the English.
ReplyDeleteThere are many sad things in all of our histories and many things happening today that will be looked upon the same way in the future..We never seem to learn..
ReplyDeleteIt is so sad. Racism is disgusting. I recently watched Indian Horse and was surprised to learn of the segregation that was not too long ago. I was completely ignorant of the history with regards to the native people of Canada. Terrible!
ReplyDeleteA thoughtful and thought provoking post. It's absolutely right to acknowledge - more than that - to continue to tell the truth that probably all nations have done terrible things to others, and also had terrible things done to them at some past time. It doesn't compensate, but it might help to raise sensibilities and awareness to prevent at least some these things happening again.
ReplyDeleteTragic, shameful and infuriating at the same time. Our share of Apartheid really. I don't know what the solution is.
ReplyDeleteIt's all so sad! Thank you for making this post Debra!! Big Hugs!
ReplyDeleteIt's a shameful thing for our country. I don't read the news Debra, and honestly didn't know what this was all about until I read your blog post, so thanks for that. xx
ReplyDeleteVery informative post. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI actually didn't learn about residential schools until I was way into my 40s. Can you imagine? When I was in elementary school, and even high school, never was this mentioned. History was painted with such a happy brush. Well, this is blown wide open now and it's going to be really hard to ignore. This is our country's chance to get it right and walk the walk instead of going around "talking" about how compassionate and inclusive we are. We have a lot of work to do.
ReplyDeletePowerful post, Debra! I was thrust into the ugly truth of how Indigenous people were treated in Canada as a ten-year-old. The hour and shame have never left me. Thanks for posting this. I will be back to catch up on more of your posts.
ReplyDeleteNature is master mind of all and as we age we notice that it is more than impossible to hide truth or lie .we all are captive of the circle of Nature dear Debra and we cannot break it now and ever i think no matter how advance we become .
ReplyDeletei remember the film i saw once ,father goes through all wrongs to make thing nice and bright for his son but when his son is trapped what was sowed by his father he asked why ,father replied i did it all just for you and son said if was then with you i would have slapped you for this selfishness.
it is not just your countries but it happened everywhere where powerful crushed weak and enforced his self made laws to stay dominant .
still there is hope that people of this new era might think in a better way and learn to feel themselves in others shoes .
It is overwhelmingly sad and shameful what was done to the first settlers of all countries. Their history was rich and beautiful; why would anyone want to change them. Thank you for sharing this.
ReplyDeletewe didn't treat ours any better...it's disgusting how we all have treated the natives of our countries.
ReplyDelete