tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/indian-residential-schools-49213/articlesIndian Residential Schools – The Conversation2023-11-07T18:02:45Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2161382023-11-07T18:02:45Z2023-11-07T18:02:45ZSeeing histories of forced First Nations labour: the ‘Nii Ndahlohke / I Work’ art exhibition<p>How do we learn and teach about First Nations labour in ways that connect to local economies and Canadian history education? </p>
<p>In a new exhibition, <a href="https://artwindsoressex.ca/exhibitions/nii-ndahlohke-i-work/"><em>Nii Ndahlohke / I Work</em></a>, at Art Windsor Essex, labour is the central theme for understanding the history and legacies of <a href="https://collections.irshdc.ubc.ca/index.php/Detail/entities/65">Mount Elgin Industrial School</a>, an Indian Residential School in southwestern Ontario. </p>
<p>The exhibition brings together artists from the communities whose children attended this institution, and it runs until June 24, 2024. It emerged from the Munsee Delaware Language and History Group, a community-based language and history learning project.</p>
<p>The group has worked together for many years to study and teach Munsee language and history, and supports research and teaching about Munsee people, communities, languages and territories.</p>
<h2>Manual labour demands</h2>
<p>Mount Elgin was located at Chippewas of the Thames First Nation in southwestern Ontario. Like <a href="https://uofmpress.ca/books/detail/a-national-crime">other Industrial Schools of its era</a>, Mount Elgin was an underfunded religious federal boarding school and a model farm that was expected to generate income to pay for itself. </p>
<p>Students at the school were expected to work at the institute as much as they were expected to attend class. </p>
<p>Their labour was invisible within the school budget. However, the Indian department was aware that Mount Elgin students were not given progressive training in skilled trades and that manual labour demands on students kept them out of the classroom and therefore compromised their education.</p>
<h2>Farm labour, domestic service</h2>
<p>Manual labour prepared students for limited work opportunities: farm labour for boys and men, and domestic service for girls and women. </p>
<p>These jobs supported the <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315772288-14/would-like-girls-home-mary-jane-logan-mccallum">surrounding rural and urban settler economies</a> at a time when First Nations were pressured to lease and even surrender reserve land to area farmers to round out meagre incomes. </p>
<p>Significantly, forced labour was a key issue in student resistance at Mount Elgin including running away, setting fires and attempting to ruin farm equipment. It was also a key issue in parents’ letters of complaints to the department and band attempts to intervene in federal schooling. </p>
<p>Hard labour also impacted the children’s health, and poor diet and stress compounded to accelerate the spread and deadliness of diseases like tuberculosis. </p>
<h2>Labour as central theme</h2>
<p><a href="https://artwindsoressex.ca/exhibitions/nii-ndahlohke-i-work/"><em>Nii Ndahloke / I Work</em></a>, addresses histories of student labour at Mount Elgin but also its larger impact on reserve and settler economies of southwestern Ontario in the era. </p>
<p>The show also addresses histories of gendered experiences of Indian education, racism, student illness, intergenerational collaboration and the preservation of different forms of labour and the stories and metaphors that accompany them. </p>
<p>The majority of artists are from First Nations communities in southern Ontario.
Artists featured in the exhibit are: Kaia’tanoron Dumoulin Bush, Jessica Rachel Cook, Nancy Deleary, Gig Fisher, Vanessa Dion Fletcher, Judy McCallum, Donna Noah, Mo Thunder and Meg Tucker. </p>
<p>Each of the artists were given three sources in common to inspire their work: a silent film about Mount Elgin entitled <em>The Church in Action in an Indian Residential School</em> (1943) produced by the United Church of Canada to promote its Home Missions work; a basic timeline of the school; and a physical and audio copy of the 2022 book <a href="https://www.niindahlohke.ca/"><em>Nii Ndahlohke: Boys’ and Girls’ Work at Mount Elgin Industrial School, 1890-1915</em></a>. This book is the result of a project developed by the Munsee Delaware Language and History Group. </p>
<h2>Artists’ own histories</h2>
<p>The artists’ resulting works range widely and meaningfully address the artist’s own histories. </p>
<p>The exhibit presents the film in a separate room, with hand-sketched images of student uniforms and replica student graffiti from the walls of the last remaining Mount Elgin building, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qpZj2UsDNE">the barn</a>.</p>
<p>As part of the exhibition design, a red line along the wall follows visitors around the exhibit. This line represents a story told to Julie, one of the authors of this story, by our relative Norma Richter, about sewing the red piping featured on the yoke of girls’ uniforms at the school she attended in the 1930s and 40s – one of the only half-interesting things she remembered doing in her years at the school.</p>
<p>It also commemorates Norma’s refusal of work, and the two times she ran away from the school. The representation of the red line grounds the exhibit in family and community history. </p>
<h2>Community-based approach</h2>
<p>The exhibition reflects a different approach to both history and curation. </p>
<p>As well as being a source for this exhibit, <em>Nii Ndahlohke / I Work</em> was created for an audience of local students and for use in the Ontario history curriculum, <a href="https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/social-studies-history-geography-2018.pdf">which, in Grade 8, covers the period 1890 to 1914</a>. </p>
<p>The book is split into two sections, one on boys’ work and one on girls’ work. It also features Munsee language and Munsee artwork highlighting certain sections or themes. </p>
<p>The exhibit amplifies and starkly interprets the history of student labour at Mount Elgin. </p>
<p>We hope people will leave with is a better understanding of the residential school system in Canada as a shared history.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216138/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Jane Logan McCallum receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and The Social Science Research Council of Canada, Heritage Canada, Ontario Arts Council. She is affiliated with the Munsee Delaware Language and History Group. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Rae Tucker receives funding from the Social Science Research Council of Canada and the Ontario Arts Council. She is affiliated with Art Windsor Essex and the Munsee Delaware History and Language group</span></em></p>Labour is the central theme for understanding history and legacies of Mount Elgin Industrial School, a former Indian Residential School, in a new exhibition at Art Windsor Essex.Mary Jane Logan McCallum, Professor of History, University of WinnipegJulie Rae Tucker, Head of Programs and Projects at Art Windsor Essex and Munsee Delaware History and Language group memberLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2134352023-10-17T18:01:05Z2023-10-17T18:01:05ZWe fact-checked residential school denialists and debunked their ‘mass grave hoax’ theory<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/we-fact-checked-residential-school-denialists-and-debunked-their-mass-grave-hoax-theory" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Recently a politician from a village in Prince Edward Island <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-murray-harbour-sign-1.6986901">displayed an offensive sign on his property in which he proclaimed there is a “mass grave hoax”</a> regarding the former Indian Residential Schools in Canada. Although <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/10007201/murray-harbour-councillor-calls-for-resignation-mass-graves-sign-pei/">many</a> have called for him to resign, he is just one of many people who subscribe to this false theory.</p>
<p>A hoax is an <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hoax">act intended to trick people into believing</a> something that isn’t true. Commentary that a “hoax” exists began circulating in 2021 around the time of public announcements from First Nations across the country that — <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/chooutla-residential-school-gravesite-investigation-anomalies-1.6978801">through the use of ground penetrating radar and other means</a> — the remains of Indigenous children are suspected to be in unmarked graves at or near some former residential schools.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go6Fpp03Voc">Commentators circulating allegations of a “hoax”</a> contend journalists have misrepresented news of the potential unmarked graves, circulating sensational, attention-grabbing headlines and using the term “mass grave” to do so. They also contend some First Nations, activists or politicians used this language for political gain — to shock and guilt Canadians into caring about Indigenous Peoples and reconciliation.</p>
<p>Like the councillor in P.E.I., many people — <a href="https://www.rebelnews.com/tags/buried_truth">in Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egbXE18omy0">internationally</a>, fuelled partly by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKeagTWr7_M">misinformation from the far-right</a> — <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ5qHwxDM50">are accepting and promoting</a> the “mass grave hoax” narrative and casting doubt on the searches for missing children and unmarked burials being undertaken by First Nations across Canada.</p>
<h2>There is no media conspiracy</h2>
<p>As two settler academic researchers, we decided to investigate the claims of a media conspiracy and fact-check them against evidence. </p>
<p>What did Canadian news outlets actually report after the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation made <a href="https://tkemlups.ca/wp-content/uploads/05-May-27-2021-TteS-MEDIA-RELEASE.pdf">their public announcements</a> about their search for missing children? </p>
<p>To find out, we analyzed 386 news articles across five Canadian media outlets (CBC, <em>National Post</em>, the <em>Globe and Mail</em>, <em>Toronto Star</em> and <em>The Canadian Press</em>) released between May 27 and Oct. 15, 2021. </p>
<p><a href="https://chrr.info/other-resources/debunking-residential-school-denialism-in-canada">What we found, according to our evidence from 2021</a>, is that most mainstream media did not use the terminology “mass graves.” Therefore, we argue that the “mass grave hoax” needs to be understood as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/2201473X.2021.1935574">residential school denialism</a>. </p>
<h2>‘Preliminary findings’ of ‘unmarked burials’</h2>
<p>After some public confusion over the specific details of the May 2021 Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announcement, which named “preliminary findings” regarding “the remains of 215 children,” the First Nation <a href="https://tkemlups.ca/t%e1%b8%b1emlups-te-secwepemc-fully-supports-the-appointment-of-the-special-interlocutor/">clarified the findings</a> as the confirmation of “the likely presence of children, L’Estcwicwéý (the Missing) on the Kamloops Indian Residential School grounds” in “unmarked burials.” </p>
<p>The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation had already <a href="https://nctr.ca/residential-schools/british-columbia/kamloops-st-louis/">identified 51 student deaths</a> at the Kamloops school using church and state records. </p>
<p><a href="https://rsc-src.ca/en/voices/%E2%80%98every-child-matters%E2%80%99-one-year-after-unmarked-graves-215-indigenous-children-were-found-in">A National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation Memorial Register</a> has to date confirmed the <a href="https://nctr.ca/memorial/national-student-memorial/memorial-register/">deaths of more than 4,000 Indigenous children</a> associated with residential schools. </p>
<p>But the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) noted its register of missing children <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-names-of-2800-children-who-died-in-residential-schools-documented-in/">was incomplete</a>, partly due to a large volume of yet-to-be-examined and destroyed records. The TRC’s <a href="https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf">Calls to Action 71-76 refer to</a> missing children and burials.</p>
<p>The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation — responding to these calls — initiated further research to learn the full truth to facilitate community healing. </p>
<h2>Countering harmful misinformation</h2>
<p>In the two years since, a number of commentators, <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/archdiocese-apologizes-after-priest-accuses-residential-school-survivors-of-lying-1.5528472">priests</a> and <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/alberta/comments/y4f731/danielle_smith_the_premier_of_alberta_claims/">politicians,</a> including the P.E.I councillor with his sign, have downplayed the harms of residential schooling — or questioned the validity, gravity and significance of the the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation’s announcement.</p>
<p>One <em>National Post</em> commentator wrote that the account of a “mass grave” was reported “<a href="https://nationalpost.com/opinion/the-year-of-the-graves-how-the-worlds-media-got-it-wrong-on-residential-school-graves">almost universally</a>” adding that this narrative, and subsequent “discoveries” preceded a descent into “shame, guilt and rage …”</p>
<p>Despite the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation’s announcement never mentioning a “mass grave,” and Chief Rosanne Casimir saying in a news conference, <a href="https://www.squamishchief.com/bc-news/casimir-says-tkemlups-find-is-series-of-unmarked-graves-not-a-mass-burial-3848382">“this is not a mass grave, but rather unmarked burial sites that are, to our knowledge, also undocumented,”</a> some have even wrongly suggested the First Nation “<a href="https://nypost.com/2022/05/27/kamloops-mass-grave-debunked-biggest-fake-news-in-canada">announced the discovery of a mass grave</a>” and this was a “fake news story.” </p>
<p>In response, the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-justice/news/2022/06/independent-special-interlocutor-to-work-with-indigenous-communities-on-protection-of-unmarked-graves-and-burial-sites-near-former-residential-schools.html">independent special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked graves and burial sites associated with Indian Residential Schools</a> has amplified <a href="https://osi-bis.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/OSI_InterimReport_June-2023_WEB.pdf">calls for</a> Canadians to take responsibility for countering such harmful misinformation. </p>
<p>We hope that our research can contribute to this work and that <a href="https://chrr.info/other-resources/debunking-residential-school-denialism-in-canada/">our report</a> helps to debunk the “mass grave hoax” narrative specifically. </p>
<h2>Cherry-picked ‘evidence’</h2>
<p>Our report reveals that most Canadian news outlets did not use the language, “mass grave.” The idea that a “mass grave hoax” exists is a myth.</p>
<p>Myths, however, <a href="https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/N/National-Dreams">are not pure fiction</a>; they often contain a kernel of truth that is <a href="https://arpbooks.org/product/storying-violence/">exaggerated or misrepresented</a>. </p>
<p>This selective representation of evidence is commonly referred to as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03086534.2023.2209947">cherry-picking</a>, and it’s easy to see how those spreading the “mass grave hoax” narrative rely on cherry-picked evidence.</p>
<p>Of the 386 articles reviewed in our study, the majority of the articles (65 per cent, or 251) accurately reported on stories related to the location of potential unmarked graves in Canada.</p>
<p>A minority (35 per cent or 135 articles), contained some inaccurate or misleading reporting; however, many of the detected inaccuracies are easily understood as mistakes and most were corrected over time as is common practice in breaking news within the journalism industry. </p>
<p>Of the 386 total articles, only 25 — just 6.5 per cent of total articles — referred to the findings as “mass graves,” with most of the articles appearing in a short window of time and some actually using the term correctly in the hypothetical sense (that mass graves may still be found). </p>
<p>That means that 93.5 per cent of the Canadian articles released in the spring, summer and fall of 2021 that we examined did not report the findings as being “mass graves.” </p>
<p>It appears that some journalists and commentators misunderstood a large number of potential or likely unmarked graves for mass graves in late May/June 2021. By September, denialists were misrepresenting the extent of media errors to push the conspiratorial <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go6Fpp03Voc">“mass grave hoax” narrative</a> online. </p>
<p>Our research shows that the “mass grave hoax” narrative hinges on a misrepresentation of how Canadian journalists reported on the identification of potential unmarked graves at former residential school sites in 2021.
And we hope our report sparks a national conversation about how important language is when covering this issue. </p>
<p>Media needs to be precise with language and also acknowledge its errors (and avoid future ones), or clarify details in a way that feeds truth, empathy and more accurate reporting — not denialism, hate and conspiracy.</p>
<h2>Challenging Residential School denialism</h2>
<p>The “mass grave hoax” narrative cannot be reasonably seen as just skepticism. Rather, it should be understood as an expression of residential school denialism. </p>
<p>According to Daniel Heath Justice and Sean Carleton (one of the authors of this story), <a href="https://theconversation.com/truth-before-reconciliation-8-ways-to-identify-and-confront-residential-school-denialism-164692">residential school denialism</a> is not the denial of the residential school system’s existence. Nor do denialists, for the most part, deny that abuses happened. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/truth-before-reconciliation-8-ways-to-identify-and-confront-residential-school-denialism-164692">Truth before reconciliation: 8 ways to identify and confront Residential School denialism</a>
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<p>Residential school denialism, like climate <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-thinking-error-that-makes-people-susceptible-to-climate-change-denial-204607">change denialism</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/science-denial-why-it-happens-and-5-things-you-can-do-about-it-161713">science denialism</a>, cherry-picks evidence to fit a conspiratorial counter-narrative. This distorts basic facts and the overall legacy of the Indian Residential School System (IRSS) to <a href="https://thewalrus.ca/residential-school-denialism/">alleviate settler guilt</a> and block important truth and reconciliation efforts.</p>
<h2>Truth before reconciliation</h2>
<p>Our research shows how detailed analysis can be an effective tool in confronting the growing threat of residential school denialism and other kinds of misinformation and disinformation, as called for recently by many <a href="https://osi-bis.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/OSI_InterimReport_June-2023_WEB.pdf">Indigenous communities</a>. </p>
<p>Instead of directing ridicule and outrage at denialists — which can give them a larger platform — what is needed is deep and reasoned analysis of their discourse to show why they are wrong or misleading. </p>
<p>This is the strategy of disempowering and discrediting residential school denialism advocated by former TRC Chair <a href="https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/residential-school-deniers-white-supremacists-biggest-barrier-to-reconciliation-says-murray-sinclair/">Murray Sinclair</a>. </p>
<p>We hope others will join us in this type of research to help Canadians learn how to identify and confront residential school denialism and support meaningful reconciliation. </p>
<p>Our full findings can be <a href="https://chrr.info/other-resources/debunking-residential-school-denialism-in-canada/">read in our new report</a> for the Centre for Human Rights Research at the University of Manitoba. </p>
<p>As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission said in its final report, without truth there can be no genuine reconciliation. </p>
<p><em>For those who may be experiencing trauma or seeking support, here are some resources:</em></p>
<p><em>— The Indian Residential School Survivors Society’s 24/7 Crisis Support line: 1-800-721-0066</em></p>
<p><em>— The 24-hour National Indian Residential School Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419</em> </p>
<p><em>The Conversation used the term “mass graves” in <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-longer-the-disappeared-mourning-the-215-children-found-in-graves-at-kamloops-indian-residential-school-161782">a story</a> published in the days following the announcement by the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation. The article has since been updated to use the term “unmarked graves.”</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213435/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sean Carleton receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Centre for Human Rights Research at the University of Manitoba.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Reid Gerbrandt receives funding from The Centre for Human Rights Research at the University of Manitoba. </span></em></p>Contrary to what some ‘denialists’ believe, research shows that Canadian media outlets did not help circulate a ‘mass grave hoax’ regarding unmarked graves at former Indian Residential Schools.Sean Carleton, Assistant Professor, Departments of History and Indigenous Studies, University of ManitobaReid Gerbrandt, MA Student, Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of ManitobaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2079802023-09-28T14:46:34Z2023-09-28T14:46:34ZResidential school deaths are significantly higher than previously reported<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550747/original/file-20230927-17-igok60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C30%2C1435%2C867&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ceremonial tipis sit in front of the former residential school, Blue Quills, now the home to Blue Quills university run by seven First Nations. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Terri Cardinal)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/residential-school-deaths-are-significantly-higher-than-previously-reported" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Over the past year I have worked at <a href="http://www.bluequills.ca/">University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills</a> (UnBQ) as the Indian Residential School Coordinator. There, I spent time speaking with survivors of Indian Residential Schools and I also helped conduct a search for grave sites of missing children.</p>
<p>Listening to the truths of residential school survivors was a stark reminder that we need to continue educating people about what happened at these schools, both for Indigenous and non-Indigenous folks. I also learned and reflected on the mortality at <a href="https://nctr.ca/education/teaching-resources/residential-school-history/">Indian Residential Schools</a> across Canada. </p>
<p>Over 150,000 First Nation, Métis and Inuit children attended Indian Residential Schools and although the official records are incomplete, it is estimated that thousands of <a href="https://nctr.ca/memorial/">children died</a> at those schools. </p>
<p>Between 1931 and 1996, there were <a href="https://rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100015606/1581724359507">139</a> Indian Residential Schools operating in Canada. In 2019, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation shared the names of <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/national-student-memorial-register-full-list-of-names-1.4618058">2,800 children</a> who had died in those schools. At that time, it was believed that there were still an <a href="https://news.umanitoba.ca/4037-indigenous-children-listed-in-memorial-register/">additional 1,600 unnamed children</a>.</p>
<p>As communities have continued to push for searches across the country, the numbers have kept growing. The most recent collective findings from community searches across the country (versus the official numbers of recorded deaths) suggest that the number of deaths may be much greater than those originally reported. </p>
<p>These new findings support the accounts residential school survivors have been sharing for decades and provides context into the severity of the genocide enacted on Indigenous Peoples in Canada. </p>
<p>In July 2022, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9778899/unmarked-graves-trespassing-residential-school-bc-report/">Pope Francis affirmed these accounts and called the Indian Residential Schools an act of genocide</a>.</p>
<p>However, in the midst of uncovering the truths through these searches, we are experiencing <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/denialists-tried-to-access-unmarked-gravesite-tkemlups-report-1.6879980">denialism</a>. Despite the irrefutable evidence, there are still those who deny or refuse to acknowledge the abuse and deaths of Indigenous children in residential schools.</p>
<h2>Survivor testimonies help lead the search</h2>
<p>Last summer, UnBQ collaborated with the University of Alberta Indigenous-led team, to conduct a <a href="http://www.bluequills.ca/Documents/IRL_Releases/2023_IRL_Phase1_Infographic.pdf">Phase 1</a> search of the former Blue Quills Indian Residential School near St. Paul, Alberta. Our <a href="https://www.bluequills.ca/Documents/IRL_Releases/Phase1_UnBQ_Summary.pdf">initial findings</a> released publicly on April 19 identified 19 “reflections of interest” on 1.29 acres of land. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="https://archives.nctr.ca/05b-c005501-d0001-001" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535655/original/file-20230704-19-9ocssx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=42%2C92%2C970%2C715&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535655/original/file-20230704-19-9ocssx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535655/original/file-20230704-19-9ocssx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535655/original/file-20230704-19-9ocssx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535655/original/file-20230704-19-9ocssx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535655/original/file-20230704-19-9ocssx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535655/original/file-20230704-19-9ocssx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A photo of the former Blue Quills Indian Residential School near St. Paul, Alta. The school operated from 1898 to 1990 and was run by the Catholic Church.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The term “reflections of interest” is used to describe traits that are similar in <a href="https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/how-ground-penetrating-radar-is-used-to-detect-possible-unmarked-graves-at-residential-schools">ground penetrating radar data (GPR)</a>. The reason this term was used at UnBQ was because prior to the release of the report they had not done GPR scans of nearby cemetery sites that would give them a more clear comparison. Once that process has been completed the terminology will likely change in the Phase 2 report.</p>
<p>Over the course of the year, survivors have also shared areas of interest that will need further investigating. This is only the start of the search process as UnBQ is located on 240 acres of land. </p>
<h2>Addressing residential school denialism</h2>
<p>In-depth measuring of the deaths of residential school students is critical to research and communities to help provide clearer understandings of the lives of these children across Canada. </p>
<p>It is also a potential way to address denialists who may question whether the number of deaths is excessive. </p>
<p>Denialists may argue that uncovering a certain number of graves is not indicative of problematic conditions in the schools. And that data, based on counts, is subject to distortion. </p>
<p>For example, it could be argued that mortality occurs in all populations and that schools with large populations in operation over long periods would encounter deaths and therefore, the occurrence of a number of deaths is not problematic.</p>
<p>However, there are quantitative methods that can help address these issues. </p>
<p>A good example is the <a href="https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/subjects-start/health/life_expectancy_and_deaths">standardized mortality ratio (SMR)</a>. This ratio involves calculating the number of expected deaths in residential schools based on reported death rates in the Canadian population during the same time period among children of the same ages based on <a href="http://www.bdlc.umontreal.ca/chmd/">historical data</a>. </p>
<p>Although we currently have no public data that details the full scope of mortality rates for Indigenous children in residential schools, calculations such as the standardized mortality ratio can help us fully document how many Indigenous children died.</p>
<p>Indigenous scholars, leaders and survivors have long known that the number of deaths of children in residential schools was substantial. Now, as new research and data is produced, we will continue to see the official numbers grow. </p>
<h2>Compassion as we mourn</h2>
<p>As the daughter of a residential school survivor and a relative to many who attended Blue Quills Indian Residential School, it’s horrible to have to address denialism during this time of mourning and healing in our communities. </p>
<p>Shortly after unmarked graves were uncovered at the <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/timeline-of-events-since-finding-of-unmarked-graves-in-kamloops-1.5908292">Kamloops residential school</a>, my father, Joe Cardinal, from <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/saddle-lake-cree-nation">Saddle Lake Cree Nation</a> shared with me his wish that we continue to educate people on the beauty of our culture. </p>
<p>My father survived so I can live and experience love. I honour his wish by learning, unlearning and educating in systems that were not made for me. Education is healing and it offers people an opportunity to understand, unlearn and relearn the truths of this country.</p>
<p>My father once told me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We are here to show the next generation what our ancestors were taught, the values of respecting one another, loving one another, helping one another. That’s what we need, we need to come back to that.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="https://www.acf.hhs.gov/blog/2021/11/healing-trauma-federal-residential-indian-boarding-schools#:%7E:text=By%20investigating%20the%20loss%20of%20life%20and%20the,to%20beginning%20the%20healing%20process%20and%20providing%20resources.">findings across this country</a> create opportunity for healing and addressing unresolved grief. The <a href="https://werepstem.com/2021/05/31/a-brief-and-horrific-history-of-systemic-harm-inflicted-on-canadas-indigenous-communities/">intergenerational trauma</a> of residential schools has interrupted and challenged our Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing. </p>
<p>In listening to the stories shared throughout this process, I have come to recognize that this work has created opportunities for healing in a trauma-informed and culturally appropriate way. </p>
<p>Indigenous communities hold the knowledge required to heal. We don’t need to be researched and rescued. We need to be more compassionate with one another, as people, but also as practitioners working with Indigenous families.</p>
<p>The stories that Indigenous Peoples tell are sacred. The accounts residential school survivors and their families share are sacred. Those who listen to them all carry responsibilities. Once you have been told, you know. Once you know, you are responsible. We are all responsible.</p>
<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/8425ab44-1a38-4281-aef2-01e6e9bd26c6?dark=true"></iframe>
<p><em>If you are experiencing trauma or feeling triggered, help is available 24/7 for survivors and their families through the Indian Residential School Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419. Mental health support is available through the Hope for Wellness chatline at 1-855-242-3310 or using the chat box at <a href="https://www.hopeforwellness.ca/">hopeforwellness.ca</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207980/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terri Cardinal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The author led a search for unmarked graves at the site of Blue Quills, a former residential school. She found more areas of interest (potential graves) than the official record shows.Terri Cardinal, Director, Indigenous Initiatives, MacEwan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2131372023-09-25T21:23:02Z2023-09-25T21:23:02ZNational Day for Truth and Reconciliation: Exhibit features stolen Kainai children’s stories of resilience on Treaty 7 lands<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/national-day-for-truth-and-reconciliation-exhibit-features-stolen-kainai-childrens-stories-of-resilience-on-treaty-7-lands" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>In Canada, when we talk about truth and reconciliation we have a tendency to focus on the Indian residential school system (IRS). </p>
<p>While engaging with knowledge about <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1450124405592/1529106060525">residential schools and their legacies is an important facet of truth and reconciliation</a>, there are other colonial school systems that we also need to acknowledge, consider and remember. </p>
<p>In addition to Survivors of the IRS, we have Survivors of other colonial school systems the Canadian government initiated and implemented for over a century and a half.</p>
<p>As a member of the Kainai (Blood Tribe) of the Blackfoot Confederacy <a href="https://www.treaty7.org/">in Treaty 7 territory</a> in Alberta, part of my research has analyzed the educational policies behind the IRS and other colonial schooling models, and how these policies have influenced my own Blood People. As my chapter in the collection <a href="https://www.diopress.com/product-page/brave-work-in-indigenous-education"><em>Brave Work in Indigenous Education</em></a> examines, multiple school models existed at the same time. </p>
<h2>Multiple colonial schooling models</h2>
<p>The Canadian government initiated and implemented multiple colonial schooling models for over a century and a half beyond the IRS, such as: </p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://data2.archives.ca/rcap/pdf/rcap-126.pdf">the industrial school system</a> and <a href="https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Volume_1_History_Part_1_English_Web.pdf">boarding schools</a>, the precursor for residential schools; </p></li>
<li><p>the residency system: some residential schools became places where students lived while bussed off-reserve to attend public school. For example, <a href="https://nctr.ca/residential-schools/alberta/st-pauls-blood/">St. Paul’s on the Blood Reserve</a> became a residency or hostel while Blood children were bussed to the nearest public school; </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/indian-day-schools-in-canada#">the day school system</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/reckoning-with-the-history-of-public-schooling-and-settler-colonialism-190386">the public school system</a>. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Where one system failed, the government designed a new school system based on the failure of the previous school model to try and assimilate Indigenous children.</p>
<h2>Survivors from many school models</h2>
<p>Murray Sinclair, former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) said, “<a href="https://macleans.ca/politics/for-the-record-justice-murray-sinclair-on-residential-schools/">The Survivors need to know before they leave this Earth that people understand what happened and what the schools did to them</a>.” </p>
<p>As a society, it is important that we remember Survivors from each school model and their many impacts on Survivors, their descendants and society as a whole. </p>
<p>As I have worked in this area, and spoken to Survivors across Canada, I have learned that educational policy was never explained to children and their families in these systems. Addressing this gap in knowledge is imperative for Survivors, their descendants and Canadians. People need to know and understand the truth about what happened to Survivors and why this happened to them in order to heal and walk the path of reconciliation.</p>
<h2>Addressing gaps in knowledge</h2>
<p>When the <a href="https://www.galtmuseum.com/">Galt Museum & Archives</a> in Lethbridge, Alta. (also known as Akaisamitohkanao’pa, or gathering place) approached me to be a guest curator and create a traveling museum exhibit based on my TRC research, I decided to use the opportunity to rectify the gap of knowledge so many of us have about educational policy. </p>
<p>The exhibit is called <a href="https://www.galtmuseum.com/events/b68m7o1etf098f1a0alhdvqs9zllhc"><em>Stolen Kainai Children: Stories of Survival</em></a>. It presents photographs and stories from Survivors, the Canadian government, the Christian religions and their missionaries, the Indian Agents and Indian school inspectors. </p>
<p>The exhibit shows the evolution of the colonial school system from mission schools to band-controlled education, and a timeline examining the difference between the school models, with photographs of each model and educational policy accompanying it. Most importantly, the exhibit is filled with stories from Survivors. </p>
<h2>Right to know the truth</h2>
<p>The exhibit is motivated by the TRC’s 2015 Calls to Action, <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf">specifically number 69, which called for museums and archives to</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“i.) fully adopt and implement the … United Nations Joinet-Orentlicher Principles, as related to Aboriginal peoples’ inalienable right to know the truth about what happened and why,” and “iii.) Commit more resources to its public education materials and programming on residential schools.” </p>
</blockquote>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pMIPaYpx1po?wmode=transparent&start=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Kainai Stolen Children Era: Lecture with author Tiffany Dionne Prete.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Multiple Christian churches</h2>
<p>The exhibit introduces the different Christian churches who created missions on the Blood Reserve, and shows Survivor experiences of missions’ different characteristics. For example, as Survivor Jim Young Pine shares about attending <a href="https://nctr.ca/residential-schools/alberta/st-marys-blood/">St. Mary’s School</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The nuns at the school were French and always spoke French. As a result, I didn’t learn English very well. The St. Paul’s Anglican Residential School students spoke better English than we did. Their teachers and supervisors spoke only English all the time. It was while working outside Kainaisskahoyi that I learned English from non-Natives.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Young Pine’s account is from a collection of 1995 interviews from my community documented in the collection, <a href="https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Kitomahkitapiiminnooniksi/D4fRtwAACAAJ?hl=en"><em>Stories from our Elders</em></a>. </p>
<p>Churches opened several of the different schools the Canadian government devised to try and assimilate Indigenous children. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-donors-from-canada-and-europe-helped-fund-indian-residential-schools-164028">How donors from Canada and Europe helped fund Indian Residential Schools</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Stories from Survivors of institutions</h2>
<p>The stories allow viewers to glimpse what it was like to attend these schools. The stories are also a testament to the survival of the Blood People. </p>
<p>Despite all of the acts, legislation and educational policy that was created with the intention to assimilate us into a Eurocentric way of life, we are still here. We are still Indigenous. We continue to retain our identities as Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot People). </p>
<p>We have <a href="https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/ari/index.php/ari/article/view/29419/21591">resisted the governments’ call to assimilate us. We have persevered and fought back to retain our identities</a>. We continue today to practice and live our ways of knowing, being and doing as Siksikaitsitapi. </p>
<p>The exhibit concludes on a note of hope by highlighting the resiliency of the Kainai People. </p>
<h2>Maintaining our identities as Siksikaitsitapi</h2>
<p>In 1988, the Blood Tribe took control of tribal education. Today, the Blood Tribe runs its own education programs from early childhood education to post-secondary education. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.kainaied.ca/">Kainai Board of Education</a> operates five schools (Saipoyi Community School, Aahsaopi Elementary School, Tatsikiisaapo’p Middle School, Kainai High School and Kainai Alternate Academy). </p>
<p><a href="https://www.redcrowcollege.com/">Mi’kai’sto (Red Crow Community College)</a> has been operating since 1986 and has a satellite campus in Lethbridge, Alta. Originally, Mi’kai’sto opened in the St. Mary’s IRS that burned down in 2015. <a href="https://entro.com/project/mikaisto-red-crow-community-college/">Mi’kai’sto was rebuilt in Standoff</a>, Alta., and opened in 2022. </p>
<p>The Blood Reserve has worked hard to create education that works towards maintaining our identities as Siksikaitsitapi. Kainai values are taught and Elders and knowledge holders are a regular part of a student’s learning journey. </p>
<h2>Education as ‘new buffalo’</h2>
<p>To many Indigenous Peoples across plains regions in Canada, <a href="https://uofmpress.ca/books/detail/the-new-buffalo">education has become the “new buffalo</a>.” This means just as the buffalo once sustained us for our needs, Indigenous Peoples are adapting education to meet our needs today. </p>
<p>To observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and all year,
let us be reminded of Survivors’ voices from the past century and a half, and as Sinclair said, re-commit our reconciliation efforts to “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-4-mmiwg-ottawa-public-forum-1.4053431/how-senator-murray-sinclair-responds-to-why-don-t-residential-school-survivors-just-get-over-it-1.4053522">act to ensure the repair of damages done</a>.”
As the former TRC chair also said, until people show they have learned from this, we will never forget.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213137/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tiffany Dionne Prete does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Survivors of multiple colonial school systems need their voices to be heard. An exhibit examines how colonial schooling policies over a century and a half influenced the Blood People.Tiffany Dionne Prete, Assistant Professor, Sociology Department, University of LethbridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2115662023-08-29T20:15:17Z2023-08-29T20:15:17ZMarching to Ottawa for neglected and murdered Indigenous men: One family’s fight for justice grows<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544478/original/file-20230824-27-q5wqwh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Amanda Snell (left) stands next to her car which has a photo of her deceased partner, Steven Dubois, taped to it. Richelle Dubois (right) stands next to a photo of her son, Haven Dubois.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Michelle Stewart)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/marching-to-ottawa-for-neglected-and-murdered-indigenous-men-one-familys-fight-for-justice-grows" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Summer in Canada means highways filled with tourists and travellers. For many summers now, some travellers move with a specific mission on those highways: to raise awareness about <a href="https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/ginoogaming-walkers-raise-awareness-of-indigenous-issues-991927">social issues facing Indigenous Peoples</a> and the ongoing harmful impacts of <a href="https://winnipeg.citynews.ca/2022/12/08/walk-to-nova-scotia/">Canada’s Indian Residential School program</a>.</p>
<p>This summer, the Dubois family from the Pasqua First Nation in Saskatchewan is taking that walk. As they march from Regina to Ottawa, their hope is to raise awareness about the vulnerabilities and systemic inequalities faced by Indigenous boys, men and Two-Spirit People.</p>
<p>Specifically, the Dubois family is hoping to get some care and raise attention about what happened to two of their deceased family members. They are <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/regina-ottawa-national-inquiry-missing-murdered-neglected-indigenous-men-boys-haven-dubois-1.6867586">also demanding a national inquiry into missing, murdered and neglected Indigenous boys, men and Two-Spirit People</a>. </p>
<p>My research focuses on racialized justice and settler colonialism. I first came to know the Dubois family in 2016 when Richelle was parked outside a Regina police station in <a href="https://regina.ctvnews.ca/mother-of-haven-dubois-stages-protest-in-front-of-regina-police-station-1.2743077">-40 C weather demanding accountability in the investigation of her son’s death</a>. We have since become friends and colleagues. I met up with the family as they began their walk.</p>
<h2>Stories from fellow travelers</h2>
<p>The cars leading the Dubois walk are covered with blue hand prints and photographs of deceased family members, Haven Dubois and Steven Dubois. The family’s march calls <a href="https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/family-marching-to-ottawa-for-missing-murdered-and-neglected-indigenous-men-boys-and-two-spirited-people-1.6472514">attention to the death of their loved ones, but also to all Indigenous people who face institutional neglect.</a> </p>
<p>Constance Dubois, 59, <a href="https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/family-marching-to-ottawa-for-missing-murdered-and-neglected-indigenous-men-boys-and-two-spirited-people-1.6472514">is marching for her brother Steven who she says was mistreated at their local hospital in Regina. She also walks for her grandson, Haven, who she believes was murdered</a>. </p>
<p>As they walk, the family has met many others on the road with similar stories.</p>
<p>Constance says the stories from fellow travellers have had a significant impact on her and her family: “The stories coming out while we are on the road makes us more determined to take their stories to Ottawa.” </p>
<p>Richelle Dubois, 42, is Haven’s mother. She says the stories have a common theme: “a lack of investigation and accountability.”</p>
<h2>Haven Dubois, searching for justice</h2>
<p>In 2015, Haven Dubois was 14 when he died. It was a school day and according to his school, he was on a school field trip. But instead he was found by his mother, unresponsive in a local shallow ravine in Regina.</p>
<p>According to his family, Haven was a strong swimmer.</p>
<p>The family believes Haven was murdered, and that his murder has not been investigated because it was prematurely deemed an accident. According to them, Haven had been subjected to gang recruitment and bullying prior to his death. </p>
<p>They see a flawed police investigation and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/3407846/regina-family-calls-for-coroners-inquest-into-14-year-olds-death/">modified coroner’s reports</a>. </p>
<h2>Intimidation and disrespectful care</h2>
<p>After they rushed their son to the hospital, they say police declared their son’s death an accident before they left that day. Following his death, the Dubois family say they faced community intimidation and disrespect from police. </p>
<p>In the eight years since Haven’s death, <a href="https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/ombudsman-to-look-into-teens-2015-death">the Dubois family has been fighting for a robust police investigation, exploring multiple mechanisms of police accountability.</a> The family has seen two coroner’s reports, but believe they have not seen justice. </p>
<p>Just before they left on their walk, the Dubois family finally <a href="https://regina.ctvnews.ca/regina-mom-calls-for-inquest-into-son-s-death-1.3386842">received a notice from the Saskatchewan coroner saying an inquest will be called in 2024 to investigate the circumstances of Haven’s death.</a> </p>
<p>The inquest will focus on the cause of death, but will not look at how the investigation was originally handled. </p>
<p>The Dubois family feels they have demonstrated connections <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/machiskinic-review-press-conference-1.4228796">between other flawed investigations into the deaths of Indigenous people during the same time period.</a></p>
<p>Canadian-based sociologists Jerry Flores and Andrea Román Alfaro note the role between police inaction and settler colonialism and argue it is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08912432231171171">“through their (in)actions — what they say, tell, and do or do not do — that police affirm the disposability of Indigenous bodies, constraining the survival of Indigenous communities and consolidating settler colonialism.”</a> </p>
<h2>Steven Dubois, ‘ignored to death’</h2>
<p>Steven Dubois, 47, was a partner and father of three when he died on Feb. 8, 2022. </p>
<p>His family believes Steven received substandard care at their local hospital. Steven had been previously diagnosed with a liver disease and the family says this diagnosis impacted his care. </p>
<p>Over the course of one week, they said Steven was taken by ambulance to the emergency room three times and was released back to his family despite being in medical distress. It was only when his family refused his return by ambulance and insisted that he receive medical care that he was admitted to the hospital. </p>
<p>Once there, the family says they received mixed messages about his care and how to manage his pain. Staff said Steven was alert and responsive, but it was clear to the family he was not — he was declining rapidly. Family members can only speculate had he been adequately cared for, he may have lived longer. </p>
<p>After his death, his partner, Amanda Snell, who had maintained diligent daily logs while Steven was in hospital, wrote to health care officials demanding information.</p>
<p>The correspondence she received indicate that Steven could have received medication as frequently as every 30 minutes to manage his pain, but he received it two to six times in a 24-hour cycle. </p>
<p>Amanda says the hospital confirmed hygiene protocols were not met. </p>
<p>His daughter, Avery Snell, said: “The very people who were meant to provide care and comfort made my dad endure excruciating pain…It is now our time to stand up and seek change for injustices that Indigenous families face every day in our society. Shame on our health systems.” </p>
<p>According to research, Steven’s story is one of many across Canada’s health-care system in which Indigenous people are subject to a “<a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/04/11/investigations/anti-indigenous-racism-health-care">pattern of harm, neglect and death in hospitals.”</a> Essentially, they are <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/IPeoples/EMRIP/Health/UniversityManitoba.pdf">“ignored to death,” </a> according to Manitoba law professor Brenda Gunn.</p>
<h2>Rising voices</h2>
<p>Critical theorist Sherene Razack writes that <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781442637375/dying-from-improvement/">“although Indigenous people repeatedly register the connection between colonial violence and accountability, their voices are seldom heard.”</a> </p>
<p>This summer, the Dubois family have added their voices to an increasingly large demand for further inquests by the Canadian government to continue to examine the impacts of colonial violence and racism on policing, justice and health-care practices.</p>
<p>The family’s next major town will be Sault St. Marie, Ont. They anticipate arriving in Ottawa by mid-September when they are hoping to meet with representatives from the Assembly of First Nations and the federal government. To find up-to-date details of their walk, visit <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/923040697777726/">their social media page.</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211566/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Stewart has held funding from multiple organizations and entities including from federal contracts (for example Public Safety Canada) as well as research grants that include Tri-Agency funding. Michelle knows the Dubois family and has written in Briarpatch Magazine with Richelle Dubois as well as co-taught a community class on racialized policing.</span></em></p>This summer, one family is marching from Regina to Ottawa, hoping to raise awareness about the vulnerabilities and systemic inequalities faced by Indigenous boys, men and Two-Spirit People.Michelle Stewart, Associate Professor of Gender, Religion and Critical Studies, University of ReginaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2040732023-04-27T20:38:07Z2023-04-27T20:38:07ZKing Charles’s coronation: How the place of Britain and the Crown has shifted in Canadian schooling<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523251/original/file-20230427-24-an3uyi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C3123%2C1610&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">King Charles, left, then Prince of Wales, talks with artist Wade Baker, of the Squamish Nation in Vancouver, B.C., in November 2009. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/king-charles-s-coronation--how-the-place-of-britain-and-the-crown-has-shifted-in-canadian-schooling" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>John Geiger, the chief executive officer of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, says the coronation of King Charles is “<a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ottawas-250000-to-celebrate-king-charless-coronation-with-stories-of">a unique opportunity to enhance Canadians’ knowledge and understanding of the Crown in Canada and our system of parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy</a>.” </p>
<p>I agree, but it is also important to set that opportunity in the context of the central and contested role the monarchy has played in Canadian education. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.versobooks.com/en-ca/products/1126-imagined-communities">Imagining and building nations</a> is central to school systems, and began in Canada shortly after Confederation in 1867. Before the Second World War in English Canada, this effort focused on creating <a href="http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/36/citizenship.shtml">“a homogeneous nation built on a common English language, a common culture, a common identification with the British Empire and an acceptance of British institutions and practices</a>.” </p>
<p>Following the Second World War in Canada, a push emerged to separate Canadian citizenship from belonging to the British Empire. Ironically perhaps, it may be the move toward reconciliation between Indigenous Peoples and settler Canadians that could revive the focus of the Crown in Canadian schooling. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523074/original/file-20230426-26-1vn6gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523074/original/file-20230426-26-1vn6gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523074/original/file-20230426-26-1vn6gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523074/original/file-20230426-26-1vn6gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523074/original/file-20230426-26-1vn6gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523074/original/file-20230426-26-1vn6gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523074/original/file-20230426-26-1vn6gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Governor General Michaëlle Jean cuts a cake commemorating the 80th birthday of Queen Elizabeth with students from Peter Pitseolak High School and Sam Pudlat Elementary School in Cape Dorset, Nunavut, in April 2006.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(CP PHOTO/ Mike Constantineau)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Agency for national unity’</h2>
<p>Following Confederation, Canada grew both by adding new provinces and territories and through immigration. This coincided with the push for universal public education which policymakers of the day saw as <a href="http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/36/citizenship.shtml">“an agency for national unity and social harmony</a>.” </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/egerton-ryerson-racist-philosophy-of-residential-schools-also-shaped-public-education-143039">Egerton Ryerson: Racist philosophy of residential schools also shaped public education</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>According to Canadian historian <a href="https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/3484zh28c">Desmond Morton</a>, that purpose was achieved in English Canadian schools by focusing on “the historical myths of British nationalism … What mere Canadian citizenship could compete with the claims of an empire that spanned the known universe?”</p>
<p>These myths, he notes, were conveyed by texts like <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1495424">adapted editions of the <em>Irish National Reader</em></a>, the first textbook used in Upper Canada.</p>
<h2>1897 Royal celebrations</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A brochure with the union jack flag on the front that says 'Empire Day'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522874/original/file-20230425-5745-paq5g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522874/original/file-20230425-5745-paq5g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522874/original/file-20230425-5745-paq5g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522874/original/file-20230425-5745-paq5g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522874/original/file-20230425-5745-paq5g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522874/original/file-20230425-5745-paq5g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522874/original/file-20230425-5745-paq5g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ontario Department of Education 1928 Empire Day guide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Ontario Department of Education/Wikipedia)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The impetus for this focus on empire <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/queen-victorias-diamond-jubilee">flourished during Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 1897</a>. </p>
<p>These celebrations inspired an outpouring of patriotic sentiment, and a push to foster patriotism in English Canada’s schools.</p>
<p>In 1898, in promoting the idea of Empire Day as a public celebration of all things British in schools, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/jcs.8.3.32">George Ross</a>, minister of education <a href="http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/ross_george_william_14E.html">and later premier of Ontario</a>. said: “The proudest sentiment which the old Roman could express was ‘Civis Romanus sum.’ The greatest sentiment, as well as the most stirring which we could put into the hearts and minds of our children, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442693487-005">in my opinion, is ‘Civis Britannicus sum</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A man seen in a suit at a microphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523086/original/file-20230426-1510-j3yfbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523086/original/file-20230426-1510-j3yfbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523086/original/file-20230426-1510-j3yfbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523086/original/file-20230426-1510-j3yfbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523086/original/file-20230426-1510-j3yfbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523086/original/file-20230426-1510-j3yfbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523086/original/file-20230426-1510-j3yfbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">King George VI delivers a broadcast from Winnipeg on Empire Day, May 24, 1939.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CP PHOTO 1999/National Archives of Canada/PA-122957)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1898, the Dominion Education Association unanimously adopted a resolution declaring that the school day before the holiday for Queen Victoria’s birthday on May 24 would be celebrated as <a href="https://wordpress.oise.utoronto.ca/librarynews/2017/05/17/empire-day-and-commonwealth-day-in-ontario-schools/">Empire Day</a>. </p>
<p>The first Empire Day was celebrated in 1899 and coincided with Queen Victoria’s 80th birthday, adding fervour to the event. Empire Day continued to be a central <a href="https://historicalstudiesineducation.ca/index.php/edu_hse-rhe/article/view/1319">act of commemoration in schools</a> until well into the 1930s. </p>
<h2>1940s and beyond</h2>
<p>Toward the end of the 1930s and into the 1940s there was a shift away from this focus on what some <a href="http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/36/citizenship.shtml">called “Anglo conformity” in Canadian schools</a> and society more generally. This happened for several reasons.</p>
<p>Firstly, it simply wasn’t working. As historian <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781487524760/canada-at-war/">Jack Granatstein</a> pointed out, despite the best efforts of schools, many of the non-British newcomers to Canada did not identify with the Empire and clung to their ethnic communities and loyalty to distant homelands. </p>
<p>Granatstein noted “the singing of ‘God Save the King,’ … ‘The Maple Leaf Forever,’ and the reciting of patriotic poetry could do little in and of themselves to teach the values of the wider Canadian community,” despite their regular inclusion in public schools.</p>
<p>Second, many educators and others began to see assimilationist approaches to schooling as morally wrong. They were beginning to recognize the injustice of <a href="https://mikmawarchives.ca/authors/marie-battiste">what Mi'kmaw scholar</a> Marie Battiste <a href="https://education.usask.ca/documents/profiles/battiste/diversity.pdf">later called</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442672963-005">“cognitive imperialism”</a> to extinguish alternative conceptions of society and nation. </p>
<p>That is not to say there was a quick move away from colonialist and assimilationist approaches to education: the last Indian Residential School did not close <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools">until 1996</a> and we have only <a href="https://theconversation.com/reckoning-with-the-history-of-public-schooling-and-settler-colonialism-190386">begun to reckon with the relationship of schooling to settler colonialism</a> and racism. </p>
<h2>1947 Canadian Citizenship Act</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522880/original/file-20230425-24-trpqfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A line of newspapers showing headlines on a baby boy born to Queen Elizabeth" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522880/original/file-20230425-24-trpqfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522880/original/file-20230425-24-trpqfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522880/original/file-20230425-24-trpqfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522880/original/file-20230425-24-trpqfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522880/original/file-20230425-24-trpqfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=982&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522880/original/file-20230425-24-trpqfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=982&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522880/original/file-20230425-24-trpqfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=982&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">King Charles was born in 1948, the year after the Canadian Citizenship Act was proclaimed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo, File)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://pure.york.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/from-britishness-to-nothingness-and-back-again">Beginning in the 1940s</a>, provincial departments of education, in collaboration with the federal government, joined most of the democratic world <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-23342-006">in slowly moving toward greater acceptance of and respect for</a> <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-18.7/page-1.html">cultural diversity</a>. </p>
<p>A growing sense that Canadians needed to imagine themselves as an independent people was fostered by Canada’s participation as an independent and important part of the war effort <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Axis-Powers">against the axis powers</a>. It found expression in the <a href="https://pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/canadian-citizenship-act-1947">Canadian Citizenship Act in 1947</a>. </p>
<h2>Assumptions of citizenship</h2>
<p>In later decades, the assumptions of citizen education began to shift from a focus on conformity to <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED431705">broader ideas of cultural pluralism</a> including affirming forms of gender, sexuality <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/games-institute/blog/post/digital-oral-histories-reconciliation-dohr-launches-pilot">or racialized identity</a> as goals for education.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dismantling-anti-black-racism-in-our-schools-accountability-measures-are-key-169592">Dismantling anti-Black racism in our schools: Accountability measures are key</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="The Canadian flag seen with the Union Jack" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523073/original/file-20230426-1005-4ds3at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523073/original/file-20230426-1005-4ds3at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=703&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523073/original/file-20230426-1005-4ds3at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=703&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523073/original/file-20230426-1005-4ds3at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=703&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523073/original/file-20230426-1005-4ds3at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=883&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523073/original/file-20230426-1005-4ds3at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=883&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523073/original/file-20230426-1005-4ds3at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=883&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canadian and Union Jack flags are seen at Queen Elizabeth’s unveiling of a statue of jazz legend Oscar Peterson in Ottawa in 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Pawel Dwulit</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Today, while there is little focus on British history or institutions in contemporary Canadian curricula, colonialism and its assimilationist agendas <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-51513-3_6">persist in structures of schools and schooling</a>. These include unexamined patriotic <a href="https://canadiancoursereadings.ca/product/there-is-nothing-more-inclusive-than-o-canada">and commemorative practices</a>, ceremonies and spaces that exist in almost any school. </p>
<p>An example is the iconic painting “The Fathers of Confederation,” copies of which have adorned some textbooks or hung in schools. The painting presents a Eurocentric version of Canadian Confederation, often unchallenged. </p>
<p>Cree artist Kent Monkman’s painting <em>The Daddies</em> presents a striking alternative consistent with this artist’s mission <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/articles/2019/12/kent-monkman-mistikosiwak-wooden-boat-people-colonial-gaze">“to challenge art history’s colonial narratives</a>.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1008333805042782208"}"></div></p>
<h2>Royal Proclamation of 1763</h2>
<p>Of significance for thinking about the role of the Crown in Canada is that <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1379594359150/1607905375821">The Constitution Act of 1982</a> grounds treaty and other Indigenous rights in Canada in the Royal Proclamation of 1763. </p>
<p>Many Indigenous and other legal scholars recognize the proclamation <a href="https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/royal_proclamation_1763/">“as an important first step toward the recognition of existing Aboriginal rights and title</a>.” The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) notes the proclamation set an approach to treaty making <a href="https://www.afn.ca/royal-proclamation">based on mutual respect</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523085/original/file-20230426-20-7us9nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman and man seen talking in front of an easel." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523085/original/file-20230426-20-7us9nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523085/original/file-20230426-20-7us9nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523085/original/file-20230426-20-7us9nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523085/original/file-20230426-20-7us9nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523085/original/file-20230426-20-7us9nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=731&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523085/original/file-20230426-20-7us9nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=731&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523085/original/file-20230426-20-7us9nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=731&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dahti Tetso speaks with Prince Charles, now King Charles, about the Indigenous Leadership Initiative in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, May 19, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Braden</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>King Charles has expressed <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/king-charles-colonialism-sorrow-empty-without-apology-reparations-south-africa-state-visit-1761674">“profound sorrow” for the legacies</a> of colonialism and a willingness to engage in discussion about those — but the Royal Family has also been called upon <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/royal-visit-queen-reconciliation-apology-reparations-1.6454190">to issue apologies</a> or reparations.</p>
<p>The <em>Globe and Mail</em> reports former AFN National Chief <a href="https://twitter.com/perrybellegarde">Perry Bellegarde</a> has had a part <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ottawas-250000-to-celebrate-king-charless-coronation-with-stories-of">producing educational materials</a> with <a href="https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/chief-perry-bellegarde-named-honorary-president-of-the-royal-canadian-geographical-society/">the Royal Canadian Geographical Society</a> related to the King’s links to First Nations. </p>
<p>Initiatives like this could help explore the <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/principles-principes.html">meaning of nation-to-nation</a> relationships.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204073/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Sears receives funding from The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Ironically perhaps, it may be the move toward reconciliation between Indigenous Peoples and settler Canadians that revives the focus of the Crown in Canadian schooling.Alan Sears, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Education, University of New BrunswickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1984912023-01-26T22:42:40Z2023-01-26T22:42:40ZCanada’s $2.8 billion settlement with Indigenous Day Scholars is a long time coming<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506258/original/file-20230125-26-5bbipe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C68%2C6461%2C4106&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Former Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Chief Shane Gottfriedson, left, speaks as hiwus (Chief) Warren Paull, of the shíshálh Nation, listens during a news conference, in Vancouver, on Jan. 21, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Eleven years. That’s how long it took the federal government to agree with 325 First Nations over the collective loss of language and culture <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/residential-school-band-class-action-settlement-1.6722014">suffered by Day Scholars in the Residential School system in Canada that existed between the mid 1800s until 1996</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.irsss.ca/faqs/what-are-day-scholars">Day scholars</a> <a href="https://www.justicefordayscholars.com/schools-lists/">attended a Residential School during the day</a> but didn’t sleep there overnight. </p>
<p>While Day Scholars settled an individual <a href="https://www.justicefordayscholars.com">compensation package for just $10,000 each earlier in 2022</a>, this new agreement is specifically aimed at rectifying the systematic and forced removal of language and culture through these institutions. </p>
<h2>Left out of original agreement</h2>
<p>In 2012, members of the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/residential-school-band-class-action-settlement-1.6722014">Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc and shíshálh Nation led by Shane Gottfriedson and Garry Feschuk</a> launched a national class-action lawsuit for Day Scholars who were left out of the original <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100015576/1571581687074">Indian Residential School (IRS) Settlement Agreement (2006)</a>.</p>
<p>The Truth and Reconciliation Commission had already determined that abuse was suffered by students who were forced to attend Residential Schools at night, but nearby public schools during the day. </p>
<p>In “The Survivors Speak” section of the report, Emily Kematch who attended the Residential School in Dauphin, Man., which operated under this Day Scholars model at the time explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It wasn’t a good experience. ‘Cause this was my first time too, going to the white system with the white kids and we weren’t treated very well there. We got called down quite a bit. They use to call us squ-ws and neechies, and dirty Indian, you know. They’d drive by in their cars and say awful things to us. Even the girls
didn’t associate with us, the white girls, they didn’t associate with us.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This institution was also where, the “<a href="https://nctr.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Volume_1_History_Part_2_English_Web.pdf">one recorded prosecution for the abuse</a> of Residential School students in Manitoba” occurred. <a href="https://nctr.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Volume_1_History_Part_2_English_Web.pdf">The TRC noted</a>: “In 2005, Ernest Constant who had attended the Dauphin school in the early 1960s and worked there in the late 1960 as a supervisor was convicted of indecently assaulting seven Dauphin students.” Day Scholars experienced similar types of abuse as people whose experiences were included under earlier agreements, but it has taken over 16 years to receive some form of justice. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People carrying feathers take part in an Indigenous dance." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506260/original/file-20230125-18-102fb3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506260/original/file-20230125-18-102fb3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506260/original/file-20230125-18-102fb3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506260/original/file-20230125-18-102fb3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506260/original/file-20230125-18-102fb3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506260/original/file-20230125-18-102fb3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506260/original/file-20230125-18-102fb3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People dance during a ceremony to mark the one-year anniversary of the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc announcement of the detection of the remains of 215 children at an unmarked burial site at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, in Kamloops, B.C., on May 23, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Decade-long court battles</h2>
<p>Each one of the subsequent class-action settlement agreements has taken roughly a decade to unfold through the legal process:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100015576/1571581687074#sect1">Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement</a> (1990s ca.-2006);</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://indiandayschools.com/en/">Indian Day School Settlement Agreement</a> (2009-2019); </p></li>
<li><p>and now the <a href="https://www.justicefordayscholars.com/">Indian Residential School Day Scholars Agreement</a> (2012-2023). </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Together these agreements represent the largest reparations paid to Indigenous people as a direct result of colonialism. However, each agreement has been earned through the dedication of survivors to fight these battles through court, not the generosity of the Canadian state. </p>
<h2>325 First Nations</h2>
<p>Unlike the previous two agreements, this agreement finally allows for all 325 First Nations to decide themselves how the funding will revitalize their language and culture independently of the government. </p>
<p>Direct ownership of the funding will not funnel through law firms, or government bodies, but rather through the First Nations themselves. If officially settled at the end of February, communities will be provided an initial $200,000 followed by sustained payments over the course of the next two decades to support this revitalization through the hiring of staff, creation of learning centres or in any other way they see fit. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-reckoning-with-colonialism-and-education-must-include-indian-day-schools-185464">Canada’s reckoning with colonialism and education must include Indian Day Schools</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While this provides an opportunity to protect critically endangered languages, it only provides a small one-time compensation payment of $10,000 for eligible members. </p>
<p>Last January, these one-time-payments were opened, but the Gottfriedson class-action continued to fight for a separate band of funding for language revitalization efforts which was announced last week. </p>
<h2>Defining moment</h2>
<p>On one hand, this prevents the re-victimization of students who suffered through the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cjls.27.1.129">Indian Residential School Settlement Independent Assessment Process</a>. But on the other, it does not provide greater compensation to those who suffered the most. </p>
<p>This agreement also signals a defining moment for the Trudeau government to settle all outstanding claims against the Canadian state. The agreement’s wording suggests that the government will be <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/residential-school-band-class-action-settlement-1.6722014">“Fully, finally and forever”</a> released from collective harms suffered in Residential Schools. </p>
<p>It is not immediately clear if that same condition also falls on the churches in Canada who operated the schools and perpetuated the loss of culture and language along with other horrendous abuses. Last summer, <em>The Canadian Press</em> reported details <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-deal-catholic-church-fundraising-1.6557533">of a 2015 agreement in which Canada agreed to “forever discharge” Catholic entities</a> from their promise to raise $25 million for Residential School survivors. The discharge happened after Catholic entities raised less than $4 million.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/catholic-bishops-30-million-1.6191677">September 2021</a>, in the wake of criticism, Canadian bishops <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8997434/canada-bishops-fundraiser-residential-schools/">pledged to raise $30 million</a> by January 2027. In Nov. 2022, APTN <a href="https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/catholic-church-says-it-will-take-4-more-years-to-raise-30m-for-survivors">reported $5.5 million has been raised to date</a> and that the Canadian Catholic Church spent $18.6 million on the papal visit. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reparations-to-indigenous-peoples-are-critical-after-popes-apology-for-residential-schools-187823">Reparations to Indigenous Peoples are critical after Pope's apology for residential schools</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The back of a figure slightly out of focus seen next to two seated people listening." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506262/original/file-20230125-12-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506262/original/file-20230125-12-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506262/original/file-20230125-12-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506262/original/file-20230125-12-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506262/original/file-20230125-12-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506262/original/file-20230125-12-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506262/original/file-20230125-12-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Phil Fontaine, then Assembly of First Nations chief (left), and Beverly Jacobs, then president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (right), listen as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologizes for Residential Schools in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, June 11, 2008.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tom Hanson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Apologize for all colonial schooling</h2>
<p>Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100015644/1571589171655">apology for Residential Schools in 2008</a> came before two of the three settlements against Canada. </p>
<p>With this settlement’s ending of all outstanding agreements clause, it is crucial for the federal government to also apologize for all these types of schooling that damaged Indigenous languages.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, with this announcement there will also be a wave of <a href="https://theconversation.com/truth-before-reconciliation-8-ways-to-identify-and-confront-residential-school-denialism-164692">Residential School denialism</a> and criticism over the amount of money spent on this settlement. </p>
<p>For some perspective, Canada has <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-announces-military-aid-ukraine-1.6650616">committed over $3 billion for the war in Ukraine</a> which has so far lasted 11 months. It will be paying slightly less for the over 150 years of targeted colonization that devastated Indigenous communities and has <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8604620/bc-researchers-revitalizing-indigenous-language/">left 75 per cent of Indigenous languages endangered in this country</a>.</p>
<p><em>This is a corrected version of a story published Jan. 26, 2023. The earlier story said Day Scholars lived in Residential Schools but attended school during the day in white communities.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198491/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jackson Pind received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>This new agreement finally allows First Nations to decide for themselves how the funding will revitalize their language and culture independently of the government.Jackson Pind, Assistant Professor, Indigenous Methodologies, Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1967742023-01-11T20:27:11Z2023-01-11T20:27:11ZResidential school system recognized as genocide in Canada’s House of Commons: A harbinger of change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503879/original/file-20230110-11-l4i24f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C10%2C538%2C390&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A rare photo from an Indian Residential School in Fort Resolution, N.W.T. These systems have been labeled a form of genocide by the Canadian House of Commons. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Department of Mines and Technical Surveys/Library and Archives Canada)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/residential-school-system-recognized-as-genocide-in-canada-s-house-of-commons--a-harbinger-of-change" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>In a historic move, Canada’s House of Commons <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/house-motion-recognize-genocide-1.6632450">unanimously recognized</a> the Indian Residential School System (IRS) as genocide on Oct. 27, 2022. </p>
<p>The resolution builds on the 2015 contribution of the <a href="https://nctr.ca/">Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada</a>. The commission was <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/five-reasons-the-trc-chose-cultural-genocide/article25311423/">barred</a> from using the term genocide for legal reasons and instead called the practice cultural genocide. </p>
<p>The recent motion was introduced by member of Parliament Leah Gazan. The move follows <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/pope-address-maskwacis-alberta-1.6531231">Pope Francis’s acknowledgement</a> during his visit to Canada of the ongoing trauma and damage done by residential schools to Indigenous communities. </p>
<p>It’s possible that <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/pope-francis-residential-schools-genocide-1.6537203">the Pope’s reference to the Indian Residential Schools as genocide</a> swayed some members of Parliament to agree to this new resolution because this was the second time the concept was introduced to the House. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-survived-the-60s-scoop-heres-why-the-popes-apology-isnt-an-apology-at-all-187681">I survived the ’60s Scoop. Here's why the Pope's apology isn't an apology at all</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Profile of MP Gazan in front of Canadian flag." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503317/original/file-20230105-14-hc5tkw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=289%2C22%2C4657%2C3255&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503317/original/file-20230105-14-hc5tkw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503317/original/file-20230105-14-hc5tkw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503317/original/file-20230105-14-hc5tkw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503317/original/file-20230105-14-hc5tkw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503317/original/file-20230105-14-hc5tkw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503317/original/file-20230105-14-hc5tkw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">MP Leah Gazan introduced the motion in the House of Commons.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Gazan’s motion says that in the opinion of the House of Commons, Canada’s residential school system violated Article 2 of <a href="https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Prevention%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf">the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide</a>. Article 2 explains that for something to be considered genocide, an “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group…” must be evident.</p>
<p>Although Canada’s resolution is non-legally binding, the motion helps Canadians reconceptualize the Indian Residential School system. </p>
<p>Now, genocide can be used to describe the residential schools without the qualifying adjective or disclaimer that it is “only” cultural. This change is beyond a mere alteration of words. For both Canada and the world, it is a significant and consequential change. </p>
<h2>International debates: the Genocide Convention</h2>
<p>The scope of genocide is an <a href="https://doi.org/10.7202/1038713ar">ongoing debate</a> in international law. The current international definition has been reproduced in numerous international statutes, including the <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/RS-Eng.pdf">Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court</a>.</p>
<p>The word genocide was created following the Second World War by the legal scholar, <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/ceu/9486-lemkin-raphael.html">Raphael Lemkin</a>, to describe the destruction of a nation or ethnic group through various means. </p>
<p>The Convention defines genocide as acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group by five acts: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>a) Killing members of the group,<br>
b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group,<br>
c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,<br>
d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, and<br>
e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Typically, during debates on the Genocide Convention, items (a) to (c) of the definition are designated elements of physical genocide, while (d) and (e) are identified as biological genocide. This excludes cultural elements and restricts its scope to physical and biological genocide. </p>
<p>These debates on the scope of the Genocide Convention highlight differing views regarding <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/611058?ln=en">physical, biological and cultural actions</a> intended to terminate a group. Physical genocide is killing or serious injury to a targeted group. Biological genocide is destroying a group’s reproductive capacity. Cultural genocide is destroying a group’s specific characteristics. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503319/original/file-20230105-20-vwir44.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503319/original/file-20230105-20-vwir44.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503319/original/file-20230105-20-vwir44.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503319/original/file-20230105-20-vwir44.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503319/original/file-20230105-20-vwir44.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503319/original/file-20230105-20-vwir44.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503319/original/file-20230105-20-vwir44.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pope Francis acknowledged the trauma of the IRS during his papal visit to Canada. Here, he watches a dance in Iqaluit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chy025">critical look</a> at the Genocide Convention reveals an element of cultural genocide. </p>
<p>Recognizing cultural genocide within the scope of the Genocide Convention acknowledges that cultural, physical and biological genocide all lead to groups’ <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3811037">social death</a> — what the Genocide Convention attempts to prevent. </p>
<h2>The Genocide Convention and Canada</h2>
<p>The House of Commons’ acceptance of the term genocide supports arguments that what is dominantly conceived as cultural genocide falls within the scope of the Genocide Convention. This now raises new questions about how that interpretation may be applied to Canadian cases. </p>
<p>The House of Commons resolution also indicates new perceptions of old colonial beliefs and emphasizes harms caused by residential schools. </p>
<p>In 1948, at the time of passing the Genocide Convention, the colonial practice to culturally destroy and “civilize natives” was not publicly discouraged. And <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canada-threatened-to-abandon-1948-accord-if-un-didnt-remove-cultural-genocide-ban-records-reveal">Canada successfully campaigned against the use of the term “cultural genocide”</a> during discussions on the Convention. </p>
<p>This type of challenge, led by MP Gazan, to these old colonial beliefs and systems is one of many steps that can help lead to massive changes. Old colonial practices and beliefs still abound in <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/book/26823">literature</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01436590600780011">international law</a>. There is much work to be done. For example, in Canada, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/what-is-a-hate-crime-1.1011612">section 318</a> of Canada’s <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-42.html#h-121176">Criminal Code</a> on hate crime restricts genocide to physical and biological destruction. </p>
<h2>Impact of resolution</h2>
<p>The House of Commons’ recognition of the residential school system as “genocide” within the scope of the Genocide Convention supports viewing cultural genocide as genocide. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-hypocrisy-recognizing-genocide-except-its-own-against-indigenous-peoples-162128">Canada's hypocrisy: Recognizing genocide except its own against Indigenous peoples</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>By doing away with “culture” in describing the IRS, the Canadian House of Commons has now recognized cultural destruction as a possible means of genocide. </p>
<p>Following the path of the House of Commons, individuals may now legitimately refer to the residential school system as genocide. The resolution would also likely <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/boarding-homes-class-action-settlement-1.6702587">impact future negotiations and cases</a> to compensate victims of the IRS.</p>
<p>This resolution may not have any current implication legally in an international court of law. But it represents a shift in the way we think about our history and may affect future international jurisprudence.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504104/original/file-20230111-46330-9gl7i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504104/original/file-20230111-46330-9gl7i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504104/original/file-20230111-46330-9gl7i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504104/original/file-20230111-46330-9gl7i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504104/original/file-20230111-46330-9gl7i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504104/original/file-20230111-46330-9gl7i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504104/original/file-20230111-46330-9gl7i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.meetview.ca/sshrc20230120/">Click here to register for In Conversation With Cindy Blackstock</a></span>
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</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196774/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Temitayo Olarewaju is a recipient of the Law Foundation of British Columbia Graduate Fellowship and a Graduate Fellow at the W Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics.
</span></em></p>Canada’s recent resolution to label the Indian Residential School system as genocide (and not cultural genocide) is not a mere alteration of words, it is a significant and consequential change.Temitayo Olarewaju, PhD Candidate, Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1924672022-11-23T16:04:44Z2022-11-23T16:04:44ZHow to decolonize journalism — Podcast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497076/original/file-20221123-24-8zq33s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C57%2C1902%2C1020&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Duncan McCue, left, walks with Rocky James, a podcast guest on CBC's 'Kuper Island.'
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Evan Aagaard/CBC Podcasts)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/e7d12b26-7189-4da9-a83b-09e54f131b65?dark=true"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-572" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/572/661898416fdc21fc4fdef6a5379efd7cac19d9d5/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Despite the jokes about our egos, many of us journalists got into the business because we felt a need to call out powerful institutions. </p>
<p>But journalism itself is one of those powerful institutions, and it has failed time and again to address criticisms around who gets to tell the news and whose perspectives get left out. </p>
<p>Some researchers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190067076.001.0001">have called this a crisis of journalism, a “digital reckoning.”</a> And they are not talking about economics — with local newsrooms and news budgets on the decline — though that is part of it. </p>
<p>When it comes to reporting and covering Indigenous Peoples, journalism’s institutions have failed. For example, a good part of the reason so many <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2022/06/20/how-familiar-are-canadians-with-the-history-of-indigenous-residential-schools.html">Canadians are not familiar with the history of the Indian Residential Schools</a> is because Canadian media failed to tell those stories. We failed to address the ongoing colonialism and that has meant that urgent Indigenous issues have been ignored or sensationalized.</p>
<p>And journalism schools only recently began teaching their students how to think critically while covering stories like these. </p>
<p>Our guest <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/decolonizing-journalism">on this episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a> has been working on correcting these issues both in the newsroom and in the classroom. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492213/original/file-20221027-40102-xuwshh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492213/original/file-20221027-40102-xuwshh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492213/original/file-20221027-40102-xuwshh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=907&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492213/original/file-20221027-40102-xuwshh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=907&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492213/original/file-20221027-40102-xuwshh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=907&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492213/original/file-20221027-40102-xuwshh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492213/original/file-20221027-40102-xuwshh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492213/original/file-20221027-40102-xuwshh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Duncan McCue has published Decolonizing Journalism, a new book to help journalists contend with the bias in news media.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Duncan McCue is an award-winning Anishinaabe journalist. </p>
<p>He has worked at the CBC for over 20 years reporting for <em>The National</em> and as the host of <em>Cross Country Checkup</em>. </p>
<p>Duncan was part of a CBC investigation into missing and murdered Indigenous women that <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/cbc-mmiw-investigations-hillman-prize-1.3501398">won the Hillman Award for Investigative Journalism</a>. Most recently, he has produced and hosted <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/1062-kuper-island"><em>Kuper Island</em></a>, an eight-episode podcast that focuses on four students of a residential school in B.C. — three who survived and one who didn’t. </p>
<p>As an educator, Duncan has taught journalism at the University of British Columbia and Toronto Metropolitan University. And he just published a new book, <a href="https://www.oupcanada.com/catalog/9780190164263.html"><em>Decolonizing Journalism</em></a>.</p>
<h2>Follow and Listen</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. <a href="mailto:theculturedesk@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<h2>Also in The Conversation</h2>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/four-corners-how-many-more-reveals-the-nations-crisis-of-indigenous-women-missing-and-murdered-193216">Four Corners' 'How many more?' reveals the nation's crisis of Indigenous women missing and murdered</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-toronto-star-is-making-the-right-move-by-renaming-the-lou-marsh-trophy-191831">The Toronto Star is making the right move by renaming the Lou Marsh trophy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-shameful-history-of-sterilizing-indigenous-women-107876">Canada's shameful history of sterilizing Indigenous women</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/thunder-bay-local-news-is-important-for-conversations-on-reconciliation-114875">Thunder Bay: Local news is important for conversations on reconciliation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/stanley-trial-highlights-colonialism-of-canadian-media-91375">Stanley trial highlights colonialism of Canadian media</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/media-portrays-indigenous-and-muslim-youth-as-savages-and-barbarians-79153">Media portrays Indigenous and Muslim youth as 'savages' and 'barbarians'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Sources</h2>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/decolonizing-journalism-9780190164263?cc=ca&lang=en&"><em>Decolonizing Journalism</em></a> by Duncan McCue</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://uofmpress.ca/books/detail/seeing-red"><em>Seeing Red</em></a> by Mark Cronlund Anderson and Carmen L. Robertson </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/2953-our-history-is-the-future"><em>Our History is the Future</em></a> by Nick Estes</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190067076.001.0001"><em>Reckoning: Journalism’s Limits and Possibilities</em></a> by Candis Callison and Mary Lynn Young. </p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492346/original/file-20221028-13-w3hbdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492346/original/file-20221028-13-w3hbdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492346/original/file-20221028-13-w3hbdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492346/original/file-20221028-13-w3hbdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492346/original/file-20221028-13-w3hbdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492346/original/file-20221028-13-w3hbdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492346/original/file-20221028-13-w3hbdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492346/original/file-20221028-13-w3hbdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">From the left: Seeing Red by Mark Cronlund Anderson and Carmen L. Robertson,
Our History is Our Future by Nick Estes and Reckoning by Candis Callison and Mary Lynn Young.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Transcript</h2>
<p>The unedited version of the transcript is available <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/decolonizing-journalism/transcript">here</a>.</p>
<p><em>Don’t Call Me Resilient is produced in partnership with the Journalism Innovation Lab at the University of British Columbia and with a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192467/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Canadian journalist institutions have failed to address their ongoing colonialism and that has meant that urgent Indigenous issues have been ignored or sensationalized.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1903862022-09-26T19:00:36Z2022-09-26T19:00:36ZReckoning with the history of public schooling and settler colonialism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485759/original/file-20220921-22-vgtple.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=100%2C19%2C769%2C480&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Alex Bird (second from the left) and his siblings from the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation were among the first students to attend this public school, near Prince George, B.C., in the early 1910s.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Royal B.C. Museum, Image B-00342, British Columbia Archives) </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In light of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), many Canadians are coming to terms with Canada’s history of schooling and settler colonialism.</p>
<p>The TRC’s findings, along with <a href="https://theconversation.com/every-child-matters-one-year-after-the-unmarked-graves-of-215-indigenous-children-were-found-in-kamloops-183778">revelations about locating unmarked graves</a> at many former residential school sites and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/day-schools-settlement-deadline-1.6519829">the recent conclusion of</a> <a href="https://www.indiandayschools.org/">the Indian Day Schools</a> settlement claim deadline, have challenged Canadians to confront a hard truth: their government, in partnership with various churches, devised, deployed and defended genocidal school systems for Indigenous Peoples for more than a century. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ignore-debaters-and-denialists-canadas-treatment-of-indigenous-peoples-fits-the-definition-of-genocide-170242">Ignore debaters and denialists, Canada's treatment of Indigenous Peoples fits the definition of genocide</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Indian Residential Schools and Indian Day Schools, however, have not been the only kinds of schooling complicit in colonialism.</p>
<p>The TRC stressed that we must have truth before reconciliation. Part of the “<a href="https://nctr.ca/records/reports/#trc-reports">complex truth</a>” is understanding that public schooling has also played an important role in settler colonialism in Canada.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man seen bending placing an item down in front of a carving on a wooden box." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486311/original/file-20220923-475-dia4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486311/original/file-20220923-475-dia4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486311/original/file-20220923-475-dia4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486311/original/file-20220923-475-dia4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486311/original/file-20220923-475-dia4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486311/original/file-20220923-475-dia4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486311/original/file-20220923-475-dia4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The TRC stressed that we must have truth before reconciliation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Building a capitalist settler society</h2>
<p>In my new book, <em><a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/lessons-in-legitimacy">Lessons in Legitimacy: Colonialism, Capitalism, and the Rise of State Schooling in British Columbia</a></em>, I examine how various kinds of schooling (day and residential schools, yes, but also public schools) supported the creation of a capitalist settler society in Canada’s westernmost province between 1849 and 1930. </p>
<p>I show how separate, though sometimes overlapping, kinds of schooling for Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous communities imparted similar “lessons in legitimacy” — the formal and informal teachings that justified colonialism and normalized the unequal social relations of settler capitalism.</p>
<p>Schools served as laboratories for learning colonial legitimacy and training students to contribute to the capitalist economy in British Columbia, <a href="https://uofmpress.ca/books/detail/a-national-crime">throughout Canada</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00467600802106206">across the British Empire</a>.</p>
<p>There are a number of ways in which public schooling, in addition to day and residential schooling, was implicated.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo of children seen in rows in front of a school photo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486290/original/file-20220923-8038-ib8zuo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486290/original/file-20220923-8038-ib8zuo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486290/original/file-20220923-8038-ib8zuo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486290/original/file-20220923-8038-ib8zuo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486290/original/file-20220923-8038-ib8zuo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486290/original/file-20220923-8038-ib8zuo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486290/original/file-20220923-8038-ib8zuo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students at the Capilano public school in North Vancouver, circa 1920s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Archives of North Vancouver, Image 6490)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Land and taxes</h2>
<p>In British Columbia, public schooling was largely paid for by dispossessing Indigenous Peoples of their land. </p>
<p>In the 1850s, Britain simply asserted sovereignty over what became the colony of British Columbia. Then, the province of British Columbia <a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/making-native-space">refused to sign treaties</a> with Indigenous Nations. </p>
<p>As a result, much of British Columbia’s land base was — and remains — <a href="https://btlbooks.com/book/unsettling-canada-second-edition">stolen, unceded land</a>. During the early <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/contesting-rural-space-products-9780773528598.php">period of colonial settlement</a>, and in an effort to attract and retain colonists and their families, state officials often reserved “free” plots of land to be used for the construction of schools. </p>
<p>Property <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/tax--order--and-good-government-products-9780773549623.php">taxes were then introduced</a> to help pay for increasing schooling costs.</p>
<p>Thus, stolen Indigenous land underwrote the expansion and maintenance of the public school system in British Columbia, as elsewhere.</p>
<h2>Overlapping officials</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Black and white photo of a man seen in a military uniform." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486294/original/file-20220923-5293-3m15vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486294/original/file-20220923-5293-3m15vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=869&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486294/original/file-20220923-5293-3m15vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=869&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486294/original/file-20220923-5293-3m15vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=869&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486294/original/file-20220923-5293-3m15vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1092&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486294/original/file-20220923-5293-3m15vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1092&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486294/original/file-20220923-5293-3m15vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1092&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Israel Wood Powell, first Superintendent of Indian Affairs for British Columbia, lobbied the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA) to create new Indian Day Schools and Indian Residential Schools in the province.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(The Royal BC Museum, Image F-03704, British Columbia Archives)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many school officials in British Columbia moved between different educational spheres. Residential school principals sat on public school boards and their students became teachers in day and residential schools. Public school graduates also taught in day and residential schools. </p>
<p>Israel Wood Powell, a doctor and early public school advocate in 1860s Victoria, served as the first Superintendent of Indian Affairs for British Columbia in the 1870s and 1880s. Powell used his position to lobby the <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1338907166262/1607904846325">Department of Indian Affairs</a> (DIA) to create new Indian Day Schools and Indian Residential Schools in the province. </p>
<p>Later, in the early 1900s, R.H. Cairns served as a public school teacher, principal of the <a href="https://collections.irshdc.ubc.ca/index.php/Detail/entities/44">Coqualeetza Indian Residential School</a>, and then as the DIA’s school inspector for British Columbia.</p>
<h2>Similar education materials</h2>
<p>Though day, residential, and public schools were supposed to be separate forms of education, they mostly shared the same educational materials. </p>
<p>In the 1890s, the DIA instructed day and residential schools to adopt and follow the local provincial public school curriculum. This included assigning <a href="https://doi.org/10.14288/bcs.v0i169.422">history and social studies textbooks</a> that disparaged Indigenous Peoples and people of colour through racist representations — and it normalized colonialism and racism as “commonsense.”</p>
<p>Many students in residential schools, however, only received academic instruction for half the day, with the other half being reserved for performing manual labour for the school. </p>
<p>As a result, by the 1920s the vast majority of Indigenous students <a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/lessons-in-legitimacy">never advanced higher than Grade 1 or 2</a>. This is why some <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/de46ee0201e1a3e94487a96b71733627/1">historians</a>, building on <a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/what-we-learned">Survivor testimony and Indigenous knowledge</a>, have argued that full assimilation into mainstream settler society was never the goal of policy makers. </p>
<p>Instead, Indigenous students in British Columbia, as elsewhere, were educated for inequality.</p>
<h2>Indigenous students in public schools</h2>
<p>Finally, many Indigenous children and youth attended public schools in British Columbia from the 1840s through to the 1940s and 1950s when integration became an official policy. </p>
<p>My research shows that Indigenous students, like those (in the lead image) at the South Fort George School in 1911, near Prince George, B.C., consistently attended public schools in greater numbers than <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/de46ee0201e1a3e94487a96b71733627/1">previously thought</a>. </p>
<p>Many Indigenous parents advocated for their children to have the right to attend public schools (instead of day or residential schools). Some settler parents and provincial and federal government officials approved and at times even defended this practice for various reasons, including to keep certain schools open throughout the province. </p>
<p>The links between public schooling and settler colonialism thus need more critical attention. </p>
<p>The Indian Residential School and Indian Day School systems have now ended. But public schooling continues to support settler colonialism and nation building, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7607422/school-history-education-60s-scoop-indigenious/">as some educators have pointed out</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People in orange shirts are seen attending a gathering." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486303/original/file-20220923-19-90yr9y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486303/original/file-20220923-19-90yr9y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486303/original/file-20220923-19-90yr9y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486303/original/file-20220923-19-90yr9y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486303/original/file-20220923-19-90yr9y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486303/original/file-20220923-19-90yr9y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486303/original/file-20220923-19-90yr9y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People attend a ceremony wearing orange shirts at Centennial Square in Victoria, B.C., Sept. 30, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Decolonizing education today</h2>
<p>Indeed, the core objective of state schooling — to educate children and youth in ways that will prepare them to contribute to and thus sustain an ever-evolving capitalist settler society — remains little changed from the mid-to-late 1800s. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reckoning-with-the-truths-of-unmarked-graves-of-indigenous-children-education-systems-must-take-action-166151">Reckoning with the truths of unmarked graves of Indigenous children, education systems must take action</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It is true that some teachers today are working hard to Indigenize and decolonize their classrooms to confront the racism embedded <a href="https://theconversation.com/reckoning-with-the-truths-of-unmarked-graves-of-indigenous-children-education-systems-must-take-action-166151">in educational structures and practices — or want to — though more policy support is critical</a>. In B.C., some <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-first-nations-full-control-education-1.6311022">Indigenous Nations are taking over control of local schools</a>, but much work remains. </p>
<p>As Canada marks a second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, I hope that a better understanding of the relationship between public schooling and settler colonialism can help spark new questions about how to decolonize and transform education today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190386/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sean Carleton receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>In B.C., residential school principals sat on public school boards, and some Indigenous children even attended public schools. Understanding such links matters for truth and reconciliation.Sean Carleton, Assistant Professor, Departments of History and Indigenous Studies, University of ManitobaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1911412022-09-22T19:22:14Z2022-09-22T19:22:14ZAbout the Queen and the Crown’s crimes (or how to talk about the unmourned) — Podcast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485973/original/file-20220921-24-oq5uau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C79%2C1871%2C1601&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">After the death of Queen Elizabeth, questions arise about whose life gets mourned and who does not. Here is the Queen with the Guards of Honour in Nigeria, Dec. 3, 2003, for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ben Curtis)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="480px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/fb609e39-d729-4a54-860a-8a411be157ae?dark=false&show=true"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-572" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/572/661898416fdc21fc4fdef6a5379efd7cac19d9d5/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>At <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/"><em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a>, we’ve been busy planning season 4 of the podcast, which starts to roll out in November. We’re even starting to think about season 5. But we decided to stop production to talk about something we felt we couldn’t ignore.</p>
<p>We’ve watched this incredible spectacle around the Queen’s death and public outpouring of support and love for the British monarchy. </p>
<p>Here in Canada, Queen Elizabeth was the official head of state and her funeral this week was made a federal holiday. In Ontario, the Minister of Education directed schools to conduct a moment of silence “to recognize the profound impact of Queen Elizabeth II’s lifelong and unwavering devotion to public service.”</p>
<p>And yet next week, those same children will be exploring the history of Indian Residential Schools and the immense ongoing damage of that system — started and long supported by the Crown.</p>
<p>In the middle of this outpouring of love and grief for the Queen — and the monarchy she represented — not everyone is feeling it. Not everyone wants to mourn or honour her or what she represents. </p>
<p>And there are a lot of reasons why. </p>
<p>For example, the head of the Assembly of First Nations, RoseAnne Archibald <a href="https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/i-can-t-feel-mournful-indigenous-leaders-reflect-on-colonialism-after-death-of-queen-elizabeth-ii-1.6062822">told CTV News</a> that the Royal Family should apologize for the failures of the Crown …“particularly for the destructiveness of colonization on First Nations people.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this July 3, 1973 photo, Chief Frank Pelletier sits with Queen Elizabeth II in Thunder Bay, Ontario, as they view a display of Appaloosa horses and dancing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another example came from Uju Anya, professor at Carnegie Mellon University, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/09/world/africa/queen-africa-british-empire.html">who posted a tweet</a> in which she identified the Queen as overseeing a “thieving raping genocidal empire.”</p>
<p>To explore these ideas further, we reached out to two scholars who are regular contributors to <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em>. Both say that the Queen’s death could be a uniting moment of dissent for people from current and former colonies.</p>
<p>Veldon Coburn is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Indigenous Research and Studies at the University of Ottawa where he teaches a class called Colonialism, Territory & Treaties. He is Anishinaabe, Algonquin from Pikwàkanagàn First Nation and the co-editor of <em>Capitalism and Dispossession</em>.</p>
<p>Cheryl Thompson is Assistant Professor of media and culture at the School of Performance and the Director of the Laboratory for Black Creativity at Toronto Metropolitan University. She is the author of <em>Uncle: Race, Nostalgia, and the Politics of Loyalty</em>.</p>
<h2>Listen and Follow</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. <a href="mailto:theculturedesk@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<h2>In the Conversation</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/queen-elizabeth-ii-the-politics-of-national-mourning-left-no-space-for-dissenting-voices-190591">Queen Elizabeth II: the politics of national mourning left no space for dissenting voices</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/decolonize-the-queens-funeral-why-it-shouldnt-be-a-national-holiday-in-canada-190727">Decolonize the Queen’s funeral: Why it shouldn’t be a national holiday in Canada
</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/colonialism-was-a-disaster-and-the-facts-prove-it-84496">Colonialism was a disaster and the facts prove it
</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/cutting-ties-to-the-monarchy-could-loom-on-the-horizon-in-canada-190894">Cutting ties to the monarchy could loom on the horizon in Canada
</a></p>
<h2>Additional Sources</h2>
<p>“<a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2022/09/14/no-i-do-not-mourn-the-queen.html?rf">No, I do not mourn the Queen,</a>” <em>Toronto Star</em> by Shree Paradkar</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Will Prince Charles apologize for the wrongs of the Crown? Here he stands with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, second from right, looking at a display of traditional hunting tools in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, during the Royal Tour of Canada, May 19, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>The series is produced and hosted by me, Vinita Srivastava. Our senior producer is: Lygia Navarro and Jennifer Moroz is consulting producer. Shout out to our newest staff members: Dannielle Piper is a producer. Rukhsar Ali is an assistant producer. Rehmatullah Sheikh is our sound mixer. Ateqah Khaki is helping out with marketing and visual innovation. And Scott White is the CEO of The Conversation Canada.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191141/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In the middle of the tremendous outpouring of love and grief for the Queen and the monarchy she represented, not everyone wants to take a moment of silence. And there are a lot of reasons why.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1878232022-08-04T16:04:58Z2022-08-04T16:04:58ZReparations to Indigenous Peoples are critical after Pope’s apology for residential schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476773/original/file-20220730-18-gla12u.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C717%2C6130%2C3589&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A protestor holds a sign saying 'Reparation for Reconciliation' as Pope Francis arrives for a public event in Iqaluit, Nunavut on July 29, 2022, during his papal visit across Canada. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many people are contemplating Pope Francis’s recent apology for residential schools in Canada during his visit <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/read-the-full-text-of-pope-francis-speech-and-apology-1.6001384">to Alberta</a>, as well as his statements <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-pope-francis-renews-his-apology-in-quebec/">from Québec City</a> <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/pope-francis-iqaluit-nunavut-visit-1.6535224">and Iqaluit</a>. In the aftermath of historical atrocities, apologies can offer a sense of justice and acknowledgement for people who were the targets of institutional violence. </p>
<p>People are looking for two things: </p>
<ol>
<li>Authenticity — Are the Pope’s statements a genuine reflection of the church’s “penance” and commitments to change?</li>
<li>Responsibility — Do the Pope’s statements demonstrate willingness and resolve for the church to address systemic causes and effects of specific harms?</li>
</ol>
<p>Many are waiting to see <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/pope-francis-residential-schools-genocide-1.6537203">if the Roman Catholic Church</a> will take institutional responsibility <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14623528.2015.1096580">for genocide</a>, sexualized abuse, <a href="https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/st-anne-residential-school-opp-documents">torture</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/world/canada/mass-graves-residential-schools.html#">and the deaths of thousands of Indigenous children</a>. </p>
<p>A more fulsome apology would acknowledge the church’s wrongdoing, and complicity with the Canadian settler-colonial state, to <a href="https://www.insightexchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Language-and-Violence-Resource-Kit.pdf">suppress Indigenous resistance</a> in order to access land. The links between extracting resources and taking children from Indigenous communities, and attacks on communities throughout this process, have been obscured — and reparations have a role addressing this. </p>
<h2>Violence prevention</h2>
<p>As a Métis scholar, with Cree and Gwichin ancestry, I have been committed to improving the conditions and well-being of Indigenous people in Canada.</p>
<p>I was recently lead researcher on a project at Concordia University called “<a href="https://www.concordia.ca/cuevents/artsci/2021/10/22/indigenous-healing-knowledges.html">Indigenous Healing Knowledges</a>.” One insight shared by many survivors at a related conference where Elders, Knowledge keepers and Indigenous youth offered teachings about their experiences and approaches to healing, is that people are more likely to recover — and promptly — when
<a href="https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs101201918804">the violence against them has been acknowledged</a> and not minimized.</p>
<p>Recovery is more likely when they have been made safe, received care and have been treated with dignity. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Elders seen in a crowd listening." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477246/original/file-20220802-14394-9jeb3g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477246/original/file-20220802-14394-9jeb3g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477246/original/file-20220802-14394-9jeb3g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477246/original/file-20220802-14394-9jeb3g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477246/original/file-20220802-14394-9jeb3g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477246/original/file-20220802-14394-9jeb3g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477246/original/file-20220802-14394-9jeb3g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indigenous Elders listen as Pope Francis gives an apology during a public event in Iqaluit, Nunavut on July 29, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Accurate language use, in reference to violence, serves as a positive and just social response, which is important for restoring well-being. <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1450124405592/1529106060525">Reconciliation</a> must be preceded by truth-telling. The absence of historic truth leads to uncomfortable distortions for targeted groups. </p>
<h2>Ineffective apologies</h2>
<p>Apology analyst Andy Molinsky, a professor of international management and organizational behaviour at Brandeis University in the United States, describes <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/11/the-4-types-of-ineffective-apologies">four types of ineffective apologies</a>. </p>
<p>Two apology-types described by Molinsky are visible in the Pope’s statements: the “excessive apology” (or “I’m so sorry, I feel so bad”) that draws attention to one’s own feelings rather than what was done. The “incomplete apology” takes the tone of “I’m sorry that this happened, I’m sorry that you feel this way” and uses passive language. </p>
<p>For example, in drawing attention to his own feelings of sorrow, Pope Francis neglected to acknowledge the rampant sexualized violence that destroyed many lives in residential schools. In his July 28 remarks, he references the “evil” of sexual abuse, but did not <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9023430/pope-denounces-evil-sexual-abuse">say specifically that sexual abuse happened in the residential schools</a>. </p>
<p>He said the church in Canada is on a new path after being devastated by “the evil perpetrated by some of its sons and daughters.”</p>
<h2>Pathologizing of survivors</h2>
<p>I would add a fifth aspect to Molinsky’s list of ineffective apologies: the pathologizing of victims/survivors. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pope-franciss-visit-to-canada-was-full-of-tensions-both-from-what-was-said-and-what-wasnt-186886">Pope Francis's visit to Canada was full of tensions — both from what was said and what wasn’t</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in white clerical robes and a skullcap is seen seated and speaking." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477247/original/file-20220802-12076-fgij7y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477247/original/file-20220802-12076-fgij7y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477247/original/file-20220802-12076-fgij7y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477247/original/file-20220802-12076-fgij7y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477247/original/file-20220802-12076-fgij7y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477247/original/file-20220802-12076-fgij7y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477247/original/file-20220802-12076-fgij7y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pope Francis speaks during a public event in Iqaluit, Nunavut on July 29, 2022, during his papal visit across Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Shifting the topic away from violence to the trauma of others conceals violence, disappears perpetrators and <a href="https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs101201918804">may result in blaming victims</a>. This shift conceals the preceding acts of deliberation, planning and entrapment. Focusing on the mind of the victim is a strategy used by perpetrators, and their associates, to discredit victims and their claims.</p>
<h2>Taking children, lands</h2>
<p>Linda Coates and Allan Wade, two researchers <a href="https://www.responsebasedpractice.com/members">based in British Columbia</a> who examine violence and language, documented <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-00724-002">how representations of perpetrator violence in various media involve four linguistic operations</a>: they conceal violence, obscure perpetrator responsibility, conceal victim resistance and blame and pathologize victims. </p>
<p>The problem of violence is inextricably linked to the problem of representation. As such, <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/this-school-is-a-jail-house-documents-reveal-the-horrors-of-indian-residential-schools">child prison camps are presented as “residential schools;”</a> violence as “trauma;” resistance as “resilience;” and “reconciliation” replaces “reparations.”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/listen-to-dont-call-me-resilient-our-podcast-about-race-149692">Listen to 'Don't Call Me Resilient': Our podcast about race</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Finally, there is a difference between an apology and forgiveness. Apologies can be coercive if they merely transfer responsibility for “reconciliation” or “getting over it” to the victims/survivors. </p>
<h2>Repairing harms</h2>
<p>In order for history to be aligned with the realities of state abuse, <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canada-s-bishops-want-catholic-church-to-issue-new-statement-on-doctrine-of-discovery-1.6004557">a plan of action must follow</a> an apology. </p>
<p>In terms of reparations, the Pope’s recent apologies were accompanied by Indigenous calls for action, including <a href="https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2022/07/26/Post-Apology-To-Do-List/">by Cindy Blackstock</a>, <a href="https://www.therecord.com/ts/news/canada/2022/07/26/pope-franciss-apology-fails-to-meet-truth-and-reconciliation-call-to-action-sinclair.html">Murray Sinclair</a>, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2022/07/26/pope-francis-we-dont-accept-your-hollow-apology-heres-why.html?fbclid=IwAR0A8i3lDk35ceh4lPc2MWXdQy7xX29wo4hofuqD9Q2jvirtVJzxqeFCLis">Pamela Palmater</a> and other Indigenous leaders. </p>
<p>Despite the obscuring language in the Pope’s apologies, his visit could mark a new way forward — if the Catholic Church supports and initiates actions laid out in the Truth and Reconciliation’s 94 calls to action. Both the church and our legal, educational and governance structures across Canada have much farther to go. </p>
<p>At a recent conference <a href="https://ialmh.org/general-information">on Law and Mental Health</a>, in Lyon, France, legal panelists indicated that a fuller implementation of UNDRIP would address many of Indigenous Peoples’ oustanding concerns. Much of Canada’s wealth has come from what was taken from Indigenous people.</p>
<p>Correcting this wrong will assist Indigenous nations in their self-governance process. </p>
<p>Another important role of the Roman Catholic church is to return some of the land stolen from Indigenous Peoples. The church must also look to its own formidable existing assets to swiftly <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8997434/canada-bishops-fundraiser-residential-schools">honour the compensation package Catholic entities agreed to pay under the 2006 settlement</a>. Church leaders now say they need five years to raise the current target of $30 million.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Men in black clerical robes are seen walking past a seated man in a white clerical robe." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477245/original/file-20220802-15-5h8giu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477245/original/file-20220802-15-5h8giu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477245/original/file-20220802-15-5h8giu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477245/original/file-20220802-15-5h8giu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477245/original/file-20220802-15-5h8giu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477245/original/file-20220802-15-5h8giu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477245/original/file-20220802-15-5h8giu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cardinals walk by Pope Francis during the final public event of his papal visit across Canada as he prepares to leave Iqaluit, Nunavut on July 29, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A different country</h2>
<p>In Canada, Indigenous communities continue to face encroachment by the settler society, particularly by extractive industries as land defenders are arrested. Children are still <a href="https://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2087&context=all_fac">removed from their homes</a> when supports could be offered instead.</p>
<p>Church leaders cannot look the other way and pretend the church has no relationship to these legacies of harm.</p>
<p>The church’s values are said to include <a href="https://www.caritas.org.nz/catholic-social-teaching/human-dignity#">respect for and promotion of human dignity</a>, spiritual devotion to <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2016/04/08/top-10-takeaways-amoris-laetitia">the family and community</a>, charity and <a href="https://www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/ignatian-spirituality/introduction-to-ignatian-spirituality/social-justice-catholic-social-teaching/">social justice</a>. </p>
<p>If extended to Indigenous Peoples and nations, Canada would be a very different country.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187823/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Richardson is affiliated with The Centre for Response-Based Practice trying to address violence. I am the Quebec Indigenous critic for the Green Party and a member of the Green party but I don't mention that here. I have received SSHRC research grants, including for the Indigenous Healing Practices grant. In some of the writings for this grant, I explain context but it is not directly related to the Pope's visit.</span></em></p>The Pope’s apology could mark a new way forward if the Catholic Church makes genuine reparations for the evils it perpetrated.Catherine Richardson, Director, First Peoples Studies Program, Associate Professor, School of Community and Public Affairs, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1868862022-08-02T19:08:42Z2022-08-02T19:08:42ZPope Francis’s visit to Canada was full of tensions — both from what was said and what wasn’t<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477180/original/file-20220802-9575-pkmu0n.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C4%2C3000%2C2339&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Francis waves to the crowd, making his way to the Plains of Abraham during his Papal visit in Québec City on July 27, 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Reactions to Pope Francis’s apology in Canada for harm perpetrated by members of the Catholic Church on children at Indian Residential Schools were far from unanimous. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/07/28/1114207125/canada-pope-apology-indigenous">some have acknowledged the apology was genuine and deeply felt</a>, there was tension and a mix of welcome reception and protest.</p>
<p>Evelyn Korkmaz, a survivor of St. Anne’s Indian Residential School in Ontario, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sNVBll7TOk">expressed the tension well</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I had my ups and downs, my hurrays, my disappointments… my wanting more and not getting it. I’ve waited 50 years for this apology and finally today I heard it… Part of me is rejoiced, part of me is sad, part of me is numb, but I am glad I lived long enough to have witnessed his apology. But like I said I want more, because 50 years is too long to wait for an apology.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Pope’s visit to Canada, despite being met with reception and protest, was significant. Visiting Indigenous people on their land was a step in the right direction, but the visit was full of tensions — both from what was said and what wasn’t.</p>
<h2>Meeting on Indigenous land</h2>
<p>In late March an Indigenous delegation from Canada <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/indigenous-delegations-set-to-meet-pope-francis-vatican-1.6394450">visited the Pope</a>. And last week, the Pope met with Indigenous people on their land, in their homes. </p>
<p>The Pope, representing the Catholic Church, coming to what we now call Canada was significant. He came, <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/angelus/2022/documents/20220717-angelus.html">as he said</a>, on a “penitential pilgrimage” to encounter, to listen, to apologize. </p>
<p>The Anishinaabe speak of this as <a href="https://www.dundurn.com/books_/t22117/a9781459748996-di-bayn-di-zi-win--to-own-ourselves-">entering one another’s lodge</a> — done in an effort to understand each other’s way of being and acting in the world.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in white robes wears a headdress" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477184/original/file-20220802-15-9f9vyo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477184/original/file-20220802-15-9f9vyo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477184/original/file-20220802-15-9f9vyo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477184/original/file-20220802-15-9f9vyo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477184/original/file-20220802-15-9f9vyo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477184/original/file-20220802-15-9f9vyo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477184/original/file-20220802-15-9f9vyo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pope Francis wears a headdress he was given after his apology to Indigenous people during a ceremony in Maskwacis, Alta. on July 25, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The encounter with Pope Francis was full of tensions, in part healing for survivors and their families and in part triggering <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1363461513503380">deep wounds from a traumatic past</a>. </p>
<p>These tensions were illustrated during Cree woman <a href="https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1902094/canada-chant-cri-reprimandes-pape-excuses-si-pih-ko-maskwacis">Si Phi Ko’s protest</a>. After former Truth and Reconciliation commissioner Chief Wilton Littlechild placed a headdress on the Pope’s head, Phi Ko could not be silent as she saw it as a sign of disrespect. But for Chief Littlechild, Pope Francis choosing to visit his territory was <a href="https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/chief-wilton-littlechild-talks-about-why-he-gave-pope-francis-a-headdress">an honour</a>. </p>
<p>This tension, poles of reception and protest was evoked not only from what was said by Pope Francis in his apology, but by what was omitted. </p>
<h2>What was omitted</h2>
<p>While recognizing the importance of the apology, former TRC commissioner Murray Sinclair saw <a href="https://cochranesaxberg.com/2022/07/26/statement-from-the-honourable-murray-sinclair-on-the-popes-apology/">a “deep hole”</a> in it.</p>
<p>Sinclair said the Catholic Church’s role in the cultural genocide of Indigenous Peoples was more than just the work of a few bad people, adding it was:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“A concerted institutional effort to remove children from their families and cultures, all in the name of Christian supremacy. While an apology has been made, that same doctrine is in place.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This doctrine Sinclair is referring to is <a href="https://united-church.ca/social-action/justice-initiatives/reconciliation-and-indigenous-justice/doctrine-discovery">the Doctrine of Discovery</a>. The Doctrine of Discovery is a legal framework that justified acts like the colonization of North America and its roots are in a series of papal statements. Over the course of the Pope’s visit, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9026698/papal-apology-renounce-doctrine-of-discovery/">many called for it to be rescinded</a>.</p>
<p>As Sinclair mentioned, the church played a role in the cultural genocide of Indigenous people, which is something the Pope failed to acknowledge <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/pope-francis-residential-schools-genocide-1.6537203">until he was on the plane home</a>. “I didn’t use the word genocide because it didn’t come to mind but I described genocide,” Francis said.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A sign reads 'recind the doctrine of discovery'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477185/original/file-20220802-12171-uiuh2c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477185/original/file-20220802-12171-uiuh2c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477185/original/file-20220802-12171-uiuh2c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477185/original/file-20220802-12171-uiuh2c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477185/original/file-20220802-12171-uiuh2c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477185/original/file-20220802-12171-uiuh2c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477185/original/file-20220802-12171-uiuh2c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A protester holds a sign as Pope Francis takes part in a public event in Iqaluit, Nunavut on July 29, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dustin Patar</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What was also omitted, in some instances, was the presence of survivors — from the procession to sitting in the front seats during <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eucharist">the eucharist</a>, both in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGe4C_Hg-zQ">Edmonton</a> and at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW1B6AfC6yM">Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré</a>. Indigenous symbols and ceremonies were also omitted from the altar and during the service.</p>
<p>While Pope Francis sincerely sought reconciliation, reconciliation did not seem to touch these forms of celebration and the clash of cultures was palatable. </p>
<h2>Tensions stretched wide</h2>
<p>There are also tensions within the Catholic Church itself that were reflected during the papal visit. The tension is between what philosopher <a href="https://iep.utm.edu/lonergan/">Bernard Lonergan</a> calls “<a href="https://www.pdcnet.org/lonerganreview/content/lonerganreview_2016_0007_0001_0084_0099">classism” and “historical mindedness</a>.”</p>
<p>The Catholic Church as an institution has not adopted a framework that can come to terms with its role in the spiritual, sexual, cultural, emotional and physical abuse suffered by Indigenous children at Indian Residential Schools. </p>
<p>This was clear through the lack of sensitivity to Indigenous cultures during the eucharist and the presence of cardinals, bishops and clergy in the first rows that, at times, obscured the fact that the visit was meant to be an encounter with Survivors and Indigenous communities. </p>
<p>As many said during the Pope’s visit, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/papal-apology-survivors-edmonton-1.6536793">healing must take place within both parties</a>. </p>
<p>Healing for Indigenous Survivors will constitute both an interior and exterior journey. Healing within the Catholic Church must constitute a reappropriation of truth and value in face of all evil it has been part of.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186886/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Jamieson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Visiting Indigenous people on their land was a step in the right direction, but the pope’s visit was full of tensions over both what was said and what wasn’t.Christine Jamieson, Associate Professor, Theological Studies, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1873392022-07-29T12:23:34Z2022-07-29T12:23:34ZChristianity was a major part of Indigenous boarding schools – a historian whose family survived them explains<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476185/original/file-20220727-22-gbef0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C0%2C1019%2C682&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gilda Soosay, president of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Parish Council in Maskwacis, Canada, where Pope Francis visited the site of a state school for Indigenous children.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/gilda-soosay-president-of-our-lady-of-seven-sorrows-parish-news-photo/1242004674?adppopup=true">Cole Burston/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During a weeklong trip to Canada, Pope Francis <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/pope-address-maskwacis-alberta-1.6531231">visited a former residential school</a> for Indigenous children in Maskwacis, Alberta, on July 25, 2022. <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8943436/pope-visit-alberta-emineskin-indian-residential-school-facts/">The Ermineskin Residential School</a> operated between 1895 and 1975 in Cree Country, the largest First Nations group in Canada.</p>
<p>As at many boarding schools set up to assimilate Indigenous children, students were punished for speaking their language and sometimes experienced abuse. According to the <a href="https://nctr.ca/">National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation</a> at the University of Manitoba, <a href="https://nctr.ca/residential-schools/alberta/ermineskin-hobbema/">15 children died</a> at this particular school over the years. Several of them succumbed to tuberculosis.</p>
<p>During his visit, the pope <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9013958/pope-francis-residential-school-apology-full-text/">said he was “deeply sorry</a>” for “the ways in which, regrettably, many Christians supported the colonizing mentality of the powers that oppressed the Indigenous peoples.”</p>
<p>Like many other Indigenous people of the U.S. and Canada – especially those, like me, whose family members attended the schools – I listened with interest as Pope Francis asked his audience for forgiveness “for the evil committed by so many Christians.” He apologized “for the ways in which many members of the church and of religious communities cooperated” in projects of forced assimilation while not acknowledging the role that the Catholic Church as an organization played in residential schools.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://cla.umn.edu/about/directory/profile/child011">a historian</a> who has written about <a href="https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9780803214804/">American Indian boarding schools in the United States</a>, and as the granddaughter of school survivors, I have often been troubled by the misinformation in regional and the national media about this complex history. </p>
<p>Religion was a pillar of the forceful campaigns to assimilate Indigenous peoples on both sides of the border but played out differently in the U.S. and Canada. Christianity’s central role is responsible for lingering resentment today, and many Indigenous people, me included, question whether the pope’s apology fell short in holding the church responsible.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A black and white photo shows rows of boys making simple cot beds." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476187/original/file-20220727-23-975m5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476187/original/file-20220727-23-975m5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476187/original/file-20220727-23-975m5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476187/original/file-20220727-23-975m5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476187/original/file-20220727-23-975m5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476187/original/file-20220727-23-975m5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476187/original/file-20220727-23-975m5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indigenous boys in their dormitory at a Canadian boarding school in 1950.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/north-american-indian-children-in-their-dormitory-at-a-news-photo/3268482?adppopup=true">Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Outsourcing assimilation</h2>
<p>Canada’s residential schools were different from those in the U.S. in two significant ways. First, the Canadian government <a href="https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/#:%7E:text=The%20early%20origins%20of%20residential,the%20pinnacle%20of%20human%20achievement.">farmed out</a> First Nations education to the Catholic and Anglican churches and other Protestant denominations.</p>
<p>The U.S. federal government, on the other hand, operated its own Indian school system both on and off the reservations. Twenty-five were off-reservation boarding schools, the first of which was established in 1879: the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, whose most famous student was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/15/sports/olympics/jim-thorpe-olympics-medal-restored.html">the Olympic gold medalist</a> Jim Thorpe. The boarding schools <a href="https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9780803214804/">dominated Indian education</a> in the U.S. for a half-century.</p>
<p>Significant political and educational reforms led to new Indian policies under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, backing away from the previous generation’s goal of assimilation. Many boarding schools closed during the 1930s as FDR’s bureaucrats started to integrate American Indians into public schools. Ironically, that same decade saw the highest enrollment at boarding schools – largely at the request of American Indian families who used them as <a href="https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9780803214804/">a form of poverty relief</a> during the Great Depression so their families could survive.</p>
<p>In Canada, however, residential schools continued to be the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/canada-residential-schools-unmarked-graves-indigenous-children-60-minutes-2022-02-06/">dominant form of Indigenous education</a> for another 50 years.</p>
<h2>‘Civilizing’ students</h2>
<p>U.S. government boarding schools and Canada’s residential schools did share features in common. Family separation, enforcing the English language – or French, in some areas of Canada – manual labor training and the imposition of Christianity were core characteristics.</p>
<p>Though churches did not operate the U.S. schools, most Americans and lawmakers in Washington, D.C., were committed to the idea that Indian people <a href="https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-2960-2.html">needed to be “uplifted” from an “uncivilized” life</a> through education and assimilation into American culture, and that included Christianity. <a href="https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9780803214804/">Native spirituality came under assault at boarding schools</a>, and students were given “Christian” names to replace their “pagan” and “unpronounceable” ones.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A black and white photo shows two rows of girls in black dresses with white collars." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476188/original/file-20220727-14-d3ewmp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476188/original/file-20220727-14-d3ewmp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476188/original/file-20220727-14-d3ewmp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476188/original/file-20220727-14-d3ewmp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476188/original/file-20220727-14-d3ewmp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476188/original/file-20220727-14-d3ewmp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476188/original/file-20220727-14-d3ewmp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Girls from the Omaha tribe at Carlisle School in Pennsylvania in 1876.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/native-american-girls-from-the-omaha-tribe-at-carlisle-news-photo/615314492?adppopup=true">Corbis Historical via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Christianity was also imposed on Indigenous people through the reservation system. I sometimes like to give the example of my own grandparents, Fred and Jeanette Auginash, who “married” before an Episcopal minister on the <a href="https://www.redlakenation.org/">Red Lake Ojibwe Reservation</a> in northern Minnesota in October 1928. </p>
<p>According to the Ojibwe community in which they resided, they were already married. As my mother had been told, her father asked my grandfather to marry his daughter, and he brought the family gifts of money, food, blankets, horses and other items. For an Ojibwe family, the ritual exchange of gifts is what made a marriage. </p>
<p>However, when my grandparents went to apply for a housing loan on the reservation, they needed a marriage certificate signed by the local Christian minister. In this way, Christianity and the federal government blended their authority in another form of <a href="https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780190221911/obo-9780190221911-0029.xml">settler colonialism</a>.</p>
<h2>Cultural survival</h2>
<p>Not surprisingly, Indigenous children and youths were often resistant to the boarding school regimen of family separation and enforced assimilation and Christianity. Young people frequently expressed themselves through <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-native-students-fought-back-against-abuse-and-assimilation-at-us-boarding-schools-165222">rebellions large and small</a>, most often through running away from school. They stowed away on trains and headed home to visit their families. </p>
<p>Parents and other relatives, meanwhile, demonstrated their commitment to their children by writing letters, staying in touch despite the distance and school terms that could last four years without visits home. Parents of boarding school children also wrote to school administrators, insisting that their children visit the doctor and <a href="https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9780803214804/">maintain their good health</a> in an era when there was no cure for diseases like tuberculosis and trachoma, an eye infection that can cause blindness.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The pope sits in a wheelchair, his hand to his face, while three men in headdresses stand nearby." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476189/original/file-20220727-17-7r1slz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476189/original/file-20220727-17-7r1slz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476189/original/file-20220727-17-7r1slz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476189/original/file-20220727-17-7r1slz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476189/original/file-20220727-17-7r1slz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476189/original/file-20220727-17-7r1slz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476189/original/file-20220727-17-7r1slz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pope Francis pauses in front of the site of the former Ermineskin Residential School, alongside the Maskwacis Chiefs, during his visit on July 25, 2022, in Maskwacis, Alberta.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pope-francis-pauses-in-front-of-the-site-of-the-former-news-photo/1242110454?adppopup=true">Cole Burston/Getty Images News via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Perhaps it is not surprising that Francis’ visit to Alberta was met with mixed emotions on the part of Indigenous Canadians. He also blessed a Native church known for blending Christian and Native traditions that is <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/pope-francis-canada-visit-alberta-1.6529304">being rebuilt in Edmonton after a fire</a>. In Maskwacis, site of the Ermineskin school, one Cree man gave him a headdress.</p>
<p>The act of generosity was widely <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/professor-indigenous-rights-activist-question-why-pope-was-gifted-a-headdress-1.6532030">criticized and mocked</a> on Native social media. Many Indigenous people felt Pope Francis did not deserve the honor, and that his apology did not acknowledge the Catholic Church’s role in family separation and the abuse of children in residential schools. </p>
<p>As many Indigenous people work to rebuild their language and spiritual traditions, Christian traditions no longer have the same influence over their lives and destinies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187339/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brenda J Child receives funding from The University of Minnesota, the Ford Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation. </span></em></p>A historian of the residential schools explains how religion played a key role in assimilationist systems for Indigenous children in Canada and the United States.Brenda J. Child, Professor of American Studies, University of MinnesotaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1876812022-07-26T17:34:39Z2022-07-26T17:34:39ZI survived the ’60s Scoop. Here’s why the Pope’s apology isn’t an apology at all<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476126/original/file-20220726-22290-5eq6vb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4149%2C2521&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Francis arrives to a hero's welcome at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton on July 26, 2022, to take part in a public mass. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/i-survived-the--60s-scoop--here-s-why-the-pope-s-apology-isn-t-an-apology-at-all" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Pope Francis came this week to Maskwasic in central Alberta — where many Indigenous people, including survivors of residential schools and their descendants, had gathered — to deliver an expected apology in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s <a href="https://www.indigenouswatchdog.org/cta/call-to-action-58/">Call to Action No. 58:</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>We call upon the Pope to issue an apology to Survivors, their families, and communities for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children in Catholic-run residential schools. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>I am the granddaughter of a Residential School survivor. I am the daughter of a First Nations woman who survived having each of her seven children stolen and relocated through the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/cbcdocspov/features/the-sixties-scoop-explained">’60s Scoop assimilation policy</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/forced-sterilizations-of-indigenous-women-one-more-act-of-genocide-109603">Forced sterilizations of Indigenous women: One more act of genocide</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>I spent more than 25 years searching for and locating not only my birth mother, but also all of my siblings who were spread across several provinces. I continue to fight to ensure that my nieces, nephews and young relatives know who they are — and that we are here because of the undeniable strength and perseverance of our ancestors.</p>
<p>What many Canadians don’t understand is that the struggles within Indigenous communities today are not cultural traits — they are symptoms of a people still struggling from the intergenerational trauma and horrors experienced through the genocidal acts and abuses that took place through the Residential School assimilation policy.</p>
<h2>Is the papal apology genuine?</h2>
<p>Did the Pope’s apology truly address Call to Action No. 58?</p>
<p>The Truth and Reconciliation Commission called for the apology to take place on Turtle Island within one year of the release of the 2015 report. It also called for the apology to speak to the role of the Roman Catholic Church.</p>
<p>Seven years later, and only due to the consistent persistence of Indigenous Peoples, Pope Francis agreed to apologize. But what did he apologize for?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/popes-long-awaited-apology-for-indian-residential-schools-in-canada-is-a-first-step-187342">Pope’s long-awaited apology for Indian Residential Schools in Canada is a ‘first step’</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Much like he did when <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8730542/indigenous-people-made-history-rome-delegation/#:%7E:text=First%20Nations%2C%20M%C3%A9tis%20and%20Inuit,Francis%20related%20to%20residential%20schools.">an Indigenous delegation visited Rome</a> earlier this year, Pope Francis apologized for “the ways in which many members of the church and religious communities co-operated” in the Residential School system. </p>
<p>This was not the Catholic Church taking responsibility for acts of genocide and spiritual, emotional and physical abuses. Apologizing for individuals versus the establishment that upheld not only the assimilation policy, but also protected — and continues to protect — the people who committed the crimes is horrifying at worst and an insult at best.</p>
<p>The Catholic Church not only upheld the government’s Residential School system, it used it to further its own religious agenda. It continues to protect Catholic officials who perpetrated criminal acts upon the children. Some of them are still alive to this day. </p>
<p>Canada continues to investigate and hold accountable individuals who committed <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nazi-war-criminals-in-canada-1.1026670">war crimes during the Second World War</a>. Where is the accountability for those who have committed crimes against Indigenous children?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman holds a red banner with hundreds of names on it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476135/original/file-20220726-26-jh37cw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476135/original/file-20220726-26-jh37cw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476135/original/file-20220726-26-jh37cw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476135/original/file-20220726-26-jh37cw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476135/original/file-20220726-26-jh37cw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476135/original/file-20220726-26-jh37cw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476135/original/file-20220726-26-jh37cw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A person holds a banner with the names of children who died in Residential Schools at Pope Francis’s appearance in Maskwacis, Alta., on July 25, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Other areas where the church falls short</h2>
<p>After the discovery of unmarked graves of children who died while attending Residential Schools began receiving international coverage in 2021, the Catholic Church committed to providing $30 million to support reconciliation projects for survivors. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/every-child-matters-one-year-after-the-unmarked-graves-of-215-indigenous-children-were-found-in-kamloops-183778">'Every child matters': One year after the unmarked graves of 215 Indigenous children were found in Kamloops</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/catholic-dioceses-funding-residential-school-survivors-1.6524231">But its fundraising campaign fell short by nearly 90 per cent</a>. The church claims it’s still working on a detailed plan.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, in 2016 it managed to raise and invest $128 million to renovate <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/cccb-fundraiser-november-timeline-missed-1.6294008">St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica</a> in downtown Toronto. </p>
<p><a href="https://churchandstate.org.uk/2016/06/the-10-richest-religions-in-the-world/">The Catholic Church is among the wealthiest religious organizations in the world</a>. Money flows where priorities go, and the Catholic Church clearly prioritizes renovations over reconciliation.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Signs printed with the names of Residential School victims are tied to the iron gates surrounding a cathedral." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476119/original/file-20220726-15-m8fywp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476119/original/file-20220726-15-m8fywp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476119/original/file-20220726-15-m8fywp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476119/original/file-20220726-15-m8fywp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476119/original/file-20220726-15-m8fywp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476119/original/file-20220726-15-m8fywp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476119/original/file-20220726-15-m8fywp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Signs printed with the names of Residential School victims are tied to the gates outside St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica in Toronto in April 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Yader Guzman</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indigenous groups, including the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, have also been calling for the release of all Residential School records since the release of the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission report. But the <a href="http://nationnews.ca/community/indigenous-groups-push-catholic-church-to-release-residential-school-records/">Vatican still hasn’t complied</a>. </p>
<p>It holds records and requires Indigenous people to travel to Rome to access the documents. <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/missing-residential-school-records-vatican-won-t-release-documents-feds-destroyed-files-1.5455783">There are also suspicions some documents have been destroyed</a>.</p>
<h2>False absolution causes pain</h2>
<p>I would not be walking in my truth if I were not to acknowledge how the church has manipulated some Indigenous people.</p>
<p>It appears that the church feels its only responsibility was to listen to survivors share their stories of horror, and that in itself absolves it of any wrongdoings and releases it from any further accountability.</p>
<p>This is still being acted out today in ways that are extremely upsetting for me and many other Indigenous people. We saw it this week as the Pope was gifted sacred items from those who suffered abuses.</p>
<p>Sharing of gifts is a cultural norm for Indigenous Peoples. But to share sacred, ceremonial items that are intended to acknowledge people at the highest level for their contributions, wisdom and leadership is not only inappropriate, it’s deeply harmful for Indigenous culture and the future of our young people. Neither the Pope nor the church has earned these gifts.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in a white robe straightens and Indigenous headdress on his head." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476123/original/file-20220726-17-2sesuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476123/original/file-20220726-17-2sesuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476123/original/file-20220726-17-2sesuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476123/original/file-20220726-17-2sesuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476123/original/file-20220726-17-2sesuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476123/original/file-20220726-17-2sesuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476123/original/file-20220726-17-2sesuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pope Francis puts on an Indigenous headdress during a meeting with Indigenous communities in Maskwacis, near Edmonton, on July 25, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It suggests that we don’t deserve reparations, accountability or reciprocity.</p>
<p>Time and time again, Indigenous people who have been displaced through assimilation policies and other colonization tactics tell me they profoundly desire opportunities to learn more about who they are, where they come from and to understand our cultures.</p>
<p>I have wiped their tears while they cry when they see Indigenous political leaders give away headdresses, pipes and drums as symbolic, performative gestures to those who continue to harm us.</p>
<h2>Reconciliation requires people to act</h2>
<p>To my relatives still struggling as you are finding your way back into the circle, I extend my deepest sympathies for the hurt you endured as you watched this happen again during the Pope’s visit. These behaviours must end, full stop.</p>
<p>To the broader community of people in Canada, know that reconciliation is not solely the responsibility of the state or an institution. It also falls upon the individual. </p>
<p>Reconciliation is how you guide conversations with your family while having dinner. It’s how you acknowledge the Pope’s apology and how you deepen the discussion to talk about what wasn’t said. It’s those conversations that will contribute to a future where everyone in Canada can thrive, including Indigenous Peoples.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187681/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lori Campbell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Apologizing for people versus the establishment that upheld not only the Indian Residential Schools system but protected – and continues to protect — the people who committed the crimes is horrifying.Lori Campbell, Associate Vice President (Indigenous Engagement), University of ReginaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1873422022-07-26T01:23:38Z2022-07-26T01:23:38ZPope’s long-awaited apology for Indian Residential Schools in Canada is a ‘first step’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475924/original/file-20220725-15-yj20w6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C23%2C3641%2C2276&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Francis receives a traditional headdress after apologizing near the site of the former Ermineskin Residential School, in Maskwacis, Alta.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pope Francis fulfilled the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf">Call to Action No. 58</a> by <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2022/july/documents/20220725-popolazioniindigene-canada.pdf">offering an apology, in Canada</a>, to the survivors of Indian Residential Schools, their families and communities. He said, “I am sorry,” and asked forgiveness for the participation of church members in “projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation.”</p>
<p>This was on the first day of a <a href="https://www.papalvisit.ca/">five-day visit in Canada</a> — what the Pope has called a “<a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-pope-francis-canada-visit-edmonton">penitential pilgrimage</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475925/original/file-20220725-14-g1vzpj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A hand holds up a bundle of sage that is burning." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475925/original/file-20220725-14-g1vzpj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475925/original/file-20220725-14-g1vzpj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475925/original/file-20220725-14-g1vzpj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475925/original/file-20220725-14-g1vzpj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475925/original/file-20220725-14-g1vzpj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1046&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475925/original/file-20220725-14-g1vzpj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1046&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475925/original/file-20220725-14-g1vzpj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1046&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Indigenous person smudges before the gathering to see Pope Francis on his visit to Maskwacis, Alta., during his visit to Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Pope spoke at Maskwacis, near the site of <a href="https://collections.irshdc.ubc.ca/index.php/Detail/entities/1080">the former Ermineskin Residential School</a> in Alberta. However, the apology came seven years after the call was issued by the TRC — and did not definitively acknowledge the role of the church itself in the residential school system.</p>
<p>After the Pope had spoken, <a href="https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/pope-francis-apologizes-for-evil-committed-by-christians-against-indigenous-peoples">Chief Judy Wilson of Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs</a> called out for the Pope to <a href="https://twitter.com/Pam_Palmater/status/1551532404631797761">repeal the Doctrine of Discovery</a>. Such a response reveals one of many gaps in the Pope’s statement. The Doctrine of Discovery provided <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-pope-visit-doctrine-of-discovery/">theological and legal justification for the dispossession of Indigenous lands</a> by European colonizers and has been the basis for the Crown’s assertion of sovereignty.</p>
<h2>Meaning of an apology</h2>
<p>My reflection and analysis are rooted in my perspective as a white settler and a scholar of church apologies for historical wrongs. They also reflect very initial impressions. It is not for me to say what the apology means to survivors. In reality, the meaning of an apology is not fully determined by the words that are said but by the actions that follow. </p>
<p>Whether this apology has truly advanced the goal of healing may become evident only in years and decades to come. It is also possible that the Pope will make additional statements, with further nuance, throughout his visit.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The Pope, in a white skullcap and robes, is seen seated, flanked by two men in regalia including headdresses." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475931/original/file-20220725-19-meaybl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475931/original/file-20220725-19-meaybl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475931/original/file-20220725-19-meaybl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475931/original/file-20220725-19-meaybl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475931/original/file-20220725-19-meaybl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475931/original/file-20220725-19-meaybl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475931/original/file-20220725-19-meaybl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pope Francis delivers his apology to Indigenous people for the church’s role in residential schools during a ceremony in Maskwacis, Alta., as part of his papal visit across Canada on July 25, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Deplorable evil’</h2>
<p>Like Pope Francis’s <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2022/april/documents/20220401-popoli-indigeni-canada.html">statement in Rome on April 1</a>, this apology acknowledged the suffering experienced by those in Indian Residential Schools, including loss of culture, language and spirituality, and “physical, verbal, psychological and spiritual abuse.” Despite acknowledging that he had heard the painful testimony of survivors, the Pope did not <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/pope-address-maskwacis-alberta-1.6531231">name sexual abuse</a>, which was specified in Call to Action No. 58.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/catholic-church-response-to-sexual-abuse-must-centre-on-survivor-well-being-not-defensiveness-162417">Catholic Church response to sexual abuse must centre on survivor well-being, not defensiveness</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>“In the face of this deplorable evil, the church kneels before God and implores his forgiveness for the sins of her children,” he said. “I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous Peoples.” </p>
<h2>‘Create a culture’</h2>
<p>The Pope emphasized that his apology is only “a first step, the starting point,” and that any such words will always be deeply inadequate. He said the long path of healing will require many actions and must penetrate the hearts of Catholics. </p>
<p>The Pope expressed a commitment to a path that respects the identities and experiences of Indigenous people. When he spoke about the need to “create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening,” this appears to suggest that the church will need to change some of its own institutional cultures and practices.</p>
<p>Unlike his apology at the Vatican, the Pope was very much a guest in Indigenous space. He was welcomed by local chiefs, drummers and singers, and by those who spoke the very Indigenous languages that residential schools tried to extinguish. In these ways, the ceremony of the event can be a microcosm of a renewed and more respectful relationship. The presence of the Pope who has had to reduce his travel for health reasons may be received as a sign of his personal commitment. </p>
<h2>Project of dispossession</h2>
<p>The apology acknowledged the church’s destruction of Indigenous cultures, but this destruction was in service to Canada’s dispossession of Indigenous lands, <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-land-defenders-dont-call-me-resilient-ep-6-156632">and these cultures are inextricably tied to particular lands</a>. The Pope did not make these connections.</p>
<p>Nor did the Pope explicitly acknowledge the complicity and responsibility of the church as an institution running the schools. As he did in his April apology, the Pope maintained a distinction between what individual Catholics did — adding, this time, that individuals advanced the policy of assimilation underlying the schools — and what the church did. </p>
<p>Parts of the speech seemed to place the church and Indigenous people on the same side, as though they were all victims grieving the same evils. For example, speaking of “interiorizing our pain,” sounds as though Pope Francis wished to identify a common pain he experienced with survivors. Such a view could suggest inadequate recognition that memories of past traumas are very different for victims than for perpetrators.</p>
<p>As is the case <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/ca/ecclesial-repentance-9780567523686/">in most church apologies for historical wrongs</a>, the Pope was addressing two audiences.</p>
<p>The first audience comprises those harmed by the residential schools. The second audience consists of those in the church who, as settlers, are called to specific actions of healing and repair. Some may not believe they bear responsibility for this past.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/truth-before-reconciliation-8-ways-to-identify-and-confront-residential-school-denialism-164692">Truth before reconciliation: 8 ways to identify and confront Residential School denialism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some may not believe things were that bad in the schools. Will the Pope’s statement persuade them to engage more deeply with this history?</p>
<p>Pope Francis called for a “serious investigation into the facts of what took place and to assist the survivors of the residential schools to experience healing from the traumas they suffered.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People holding a red banner with filled with many names in small font." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475933/original/file-20220725-15-pwoxng.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475933/original/file-20220725-15-pwoxng.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475933/original/file-20220725-15-pwoxng.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475933/original/file-20220725-15-pwoxng.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475933/original/file-20220725-15-pwoxng.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475933/original/file-20220725-15-pwoxng.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475933/original/file-20220725-15-pwoxng.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A group holds a banner with names of children on it, after Pope Francis’s address in Maskwacis, Alta., on July 25, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While this remains vague, the Pope appears to suggest a process of reckoning within the church. Might this open up more church records? Might this lead to a recognition of the church’s institutional complicity? Might this lead to more specific actions called for by survivors, such as the return of artifacts from the Vatican? </p>
<p>All of these may be possible but they also might not happen. </p>
<p>The fulfilment of one of the TRC Calls to Action is not an end in itself. It is one act of truth-telling that must be in service to the other Calls to Action, which together implicates all Canadians in the long path ahead. </p>
<p>It is important to recall that Prime Minister <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100015644/1571589171655">Stephen Harper apologized in 2008</a> on behalf of the Government of Canada and asserted that the burden on this history should be borne by the entire country. The apology in Maskwacis by the Pope, long overdue, should not really be about the Pope or even just the Catholic Church. </p>
<p>Rather, it should be about acknowledging the suffering and the human dignity of survivors. It should also be received as an occasion for all Canadians to reckon with a painful past, and engage in the long and difficult and costly work of repair.</p>
<p><em>If you are an Indian Residential School survivor, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187342/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeremy M. Bergen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Whether this apology has truly advanced the goal of healing may become evident only in years and decades to come.Jeremy M. Bergen, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Theological Studies, Conrad Grebel University College, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1874882022-07-24T12:28:49Z2022-07-24T12:28:49ZThe Vatican and Western Canadian missions: A brief history<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475523/original/file-20220721-9733-sms5ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=116%2C187%2C2271%2C1380&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Drawing of St. Peter's cathedral, Rome, with the Vatican wall in the left distance, c. 1640. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(The Trustees of the British Museum)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pope Francis’s <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/pope-francis-canada-watch-listen-1.6526076">historic visit to Canada</a> and his <a href="https://theconversation.com/popes-visit-to-canada-indigenous-communities-await-a-new-apology-and-a-commitment-to-justice-185555">much-anticipated apology for the Catholic Church’s role in abuses</a> Indigenous people suffered at residential schools raises the question of the overall relationship between the Vatican and Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<p>In my book <em>Rome in Canada: the Vatican and Canadian Affairs in the Late Victorian Age</em>, I examined how lobbies based on divergent interests in government, church representatives in Canada and the Vatican itself operated in an age of expanding colonial powers and Catholic evangelism. </p>
<p>Today, the Catholic Church is still popularly seen as a tightly centralized organization under absolute papal authority. In fact, it is one <a href="https://www.paulistpress.com/Products/4750-2/vatican-ii.aspx">where competing interests</a> often vie <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3038648-the-church">for influence and power</a>.</p>
<p>For example, in the three decades after Confederation in Canada (1867), “<a href="https://utorontopress.com/9780802067623/rome-in-canada">an aggressive Anglo-Saxon nationalism struggled to imprint its cultural model on the emerging Canadian state</a>.”
The biggest source of tension in the church in Canada was that between French and English speakers.</p>
<p>Conflicts erupted about the linguistic suitability candidates for episcopal office, the creation of new dioceses, the appointment of pastors in ethnically mixed parishes and the language of instruction in Catholic schools. </p>
<p>In these struggles, people in the pews challenged religious authorities, priests and bishops fought each other and religious communities split along linguistic lines. The Vatican had to intervene in some of these problems, but the Roman bureaucracy itself was split in competing factions over the correct course of action.</p>
<p>My research of 19th-century missions and Vatican diplomacy leads me to conclude
that, despite the complexities of structure and authority within the Catholic Church, the Vatican was certainly uninvolved in, and likely unaware of, agreements signed between the government of Canada and religious orders to run residential schools. </p>
<p>While the federal government must bear ultimate responsibility for creating and funding residential schools, religious communities, bishops and popes were variously complicit in a system that dispossessed Indigenous peoples and cruelly oppressed their children.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475528/original/file-20220721-14353-2ewgy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475528/original/file-20220721-14353-2ewgy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475528/original/file-20220721-14353-2ewgy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475528/original/file-20220721-14353-2ewgy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475528/original/file-20220721-14353-2ewgy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475528/original/file-20220721-14353-2ewgy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475528/original/file-20220721-14353-2ewgy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indigenous delegates from Canada walk in St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, after their meeting with Pope Francis in April 1, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source"> (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Church justified dispossession</h2>
<p>At the dawn of the 16th century, a Spanish pope, Alexander VI, created a bull (edict) <a href="https://www.papalencyclicals.net/alex06/alex06inter.htm">Inter caetera</a> that paved the way for the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494. This divided the New World between Spain and Portugal, the two most powerful maritime states at the time. Not a thought was given to the hemisphere’s Indigenous inhabitants. </p>
<p>The bull validated the subsequent rampant exploitation of European expansionism, and is one <a href="https://www.cccb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/catholic-response-to-doctrine-of-discovery-and-tn.pdf">bull often associated with the “Doctrine of Discovery.</a>”</p>
<p>It is fitting therefore <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-two-popes-is-beautifully-set-but-the-films-omissions-left-me-with-a-taste-of-exclusion-130987">that an Argentine pope</a>, Pope Francis, repudiate his predecessor’s document.</p>
<h2>19th century ‘propagation of the faith’</h2>
<p>As a mission territory, the lands that became Canada fell under the jurisdiction of a Vatican department, <a href="http://www.archiviostoricopropaganda.va/content/archiviostoricopropagandafide/en/la-congregazione/congregazione.html">Propaganda Fide (Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith)</a>. This was established in 1622 and headed by a cardinal with the help of clerical bureaucrats. </p>
<p>As a result of major administrative reforms instituted in 1908, dioceses with significant Indigenous populations such as Mackenzie-Fort Smith (in present-day Yellowknife) or Hearst-Moosonee (in northern Ontario) continued to be under its rule, whereas the non-Indigenous ones were detached from it. </p>
<h2>Early evangelizing</h2>
<p>The actual task of evangelizing was undertaken by religious communities, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Jesuits">like the Jesuits</a>, who were were responsible not to Propaganda Fide, but to their own superiors often resident in Rome. After the <a href="https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/conquest">British Conquest of 1763,</a> male religious orders were all but eliminated and it was not until the 1840s under <a href="https://www.umanitoba.ca/colleges/st_pauls/ccha/Back%20Issues/CCHA1989/Perin.htm">Ignace Bourget</a>, the bishop of Montréal, that they returned.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-an-indigenous-delegation-prepares-to-visit-the-vatican-its-worth-revisiting-trudeaus-2017-papal-gift-of-the-jesuit-relations-179258">As an Indigenous delegation prepares to visit the Vatican, it's worth revisiting Trudeau's 2017 papal gift of the Jesuit 'Relations'</a>
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<p>Meanwhile, in 1820, Rome appointed a French Canadian resident bishop in Red River (present-day Winnipeg). Bishop Norbert Provencher was also responsible for missions in Western Canada. The Anglican Church dispatched its own workers there and were soon <a href="https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf">joined by other Protestant denominations</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475526/original/file-20220721-14641-kvgeej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black and white photo of a man in a white priest's collar." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475526/original/file-20220721-14641-kvgeej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475526/original/file-20220721-14641-kvgeej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475526/original/file-20220721-14641-kvgeej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475526/original/file-20220721-14641-kvgeej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475526/original/file-20220721-14641-kvgeej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475526/original/file-20220721-14641-kvgeej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475526/original/file-20220721-14641-kvgeej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Alexandre-Antonin Taché, seen around 1890.</span>
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</figure>
<p>Short-staffed, Provencher went to Europe where he met Eugène de Mazenod, bishop of Marseilles and founder of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate who played a key role in the West. Alexandre-Antonin Taché, a Québec Oblate, became Provencher’s successor in 1853. </p>
<p>Taché ensured the French and Belgian Oblates would monopolize the nomination of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/bishop-Christianity">of bishops</a> for the rest of the century west and north of the Red River. Since female religious communities were recruited in Québec to staff schools and hospitals serving Indigenous communities, the Catholic Church had a decidedly French-speaking character. </p>
<h2>Assimilating Indigenous Peoples</h2>
<p>At the time, there was a desire to make British North America into the image and likeness of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mother%20country">the “mother country.”</a> This meant two things: confining French Canadian influence to Québec, and ensuring that Indigenous Peoples become thoroughly assimilated. </p>
<p>The first objective found ready allies among leading English-speaking Catholics who chafed at their second-class status within the church where French Canadians comprised close to three-quarters of its members. Some Catholics of Irish origin saw themselves as being endowed with a special mission: the view existed that Providence had willed that the Irish became <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2281.2010.00556.x">instruments of conversion</a> through the English language. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/st-patricks-day-how-irish-born-writers-contributed-to-canadian-and-irish-histories-174683">St. Patrick’s Day: How Irish-born writers contributed to Canadian and Irish histories</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This contrasted with <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/history-of-canadian-catholics--a-products-9780773523142.php">French Canada’s providential mission</a> which saw the French language as inextricably tied to the Catholic faith, a bulwark against North American godless materialism. </p>
<p>These two visions fought it out in Canada, where one by one western dioceses fell to English speakers, and in Rome, where the Irish party exploited to its advantage the prospect of mass conversions of North American Protestants to Catholicism whereby the English language was key.</p>
<h2>Social darwinist views</h2>
<p>Shaped by racist <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/social-darwinism">social darwinist 19th century views</a> that emphasized the demographic decline of Indigenous Peoples and their eventual disappearance as distinct peoples, Ottawa forced acceptance of the <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/numbered-treaties">Numbered Treaties on</a> Prairie Indigenous populations that were <a href="https://theconversation.com/ukrainian-language-schools-in-western-canada-were-shaped-by-shifting-settler-colonial-policies-179710">starving in the wake of</a> the sudden <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2016/05/the-buffalo-killers/482349">disappearance of the buffalo</a>. The <em>Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada</em> notes a major role in the bison’s demise was “<a href="https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/bison-hunting/">U.S. government policy aimed at taking away a key food source for Indigenous peoples</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/clearing-the-plains-continues-with-the-acquittal-of-gerald-stanley-91628">'Clearing the plains' continues with the acquittal of Gerald Stanley</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The federal government also instituted the residential school system with the objective of ”<a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/stolen-lives-indigenous-peoples-canada-and-indian-residential-schools/chapter-3/killing-indian-child">killing the Indian in the child</a>.“</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Drummers are seen standing in front of pillars." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475530/original/file-20220721-10497-yf5l5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475530/original/file-20220721-10497-yf5l5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475530/original/file-20220721-10497-yf5l5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475530/original/file-20220721-10497-yf5l5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475530/original/file-20220721-10497-yf5l5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475530/original/file-20220721-10497-yf5l5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475530/original/file-20220721-10497-yf5l5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indigenous delegates from across Canada drum at the Vatican, April 1, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Governments, religious orders</h2>
<p>For a modest fee these orders ran residential schools, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-an-opportunity-for-closure-residential-school-survivors-travelling/#">60 per cent of which</a> were Catholic. It is likely that diocesan bishops had a dim appreciation of how these establishments functioned, most of them being located far from where they resided.</p>
<p>All the while, successive governments, obsessed with cost-cutting and austerity, reduced subsidies, which severely affected the physical, mental and moral well-being of students.</p>
<p>Religious communities, bishops and popes were variously complicit in a system that devastated generations of Indigenous children and caused <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/intergenerational-trauma-and-residential-schools">intergenerational trauma</a>. Residential schools and the papal bulls justifying the fallacious doctrine of discovery call out for concrete acts of atonement and reparation on the part of the church.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187488/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roberto Perin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Residential schools and the papal bulls justifying the doctrine of discovery call out for concrete acts of atonement and reparation on the part of the church.Roberto Perin, Professor Emeritus, HIstory Department and School of Public and International Affairs, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1872442022-07-21T19:05:59Z2022-07-21T19:05:59ZWhy the Pope’s visit is important to all Canadians<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475515/original/file-20220721-14484-hypbgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=36%2C24%2C4042%2C2690&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Francis's visit to Canada will offer him an opportunity to apologize for the harms of the Catholic-run Indian Residential Schools.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For whom did <a href="https://www.papalvisit.ca">Pope Francis really organize his July 24-29 trip to Canada</a>? </p>
<p>In general, these papal visits primarily concern Catholics and may not hold much interest for the general population. With stops in <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-07/pope-canada-pilgrimage-indigenous-peoples-angelus-reconciliation.html">Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Que.</a>, Edmonton, Maskwacis, Alta., and Iqaluit, this tour appears to be aimed primarily at Indigenous peoples: its purpose is to apologize on behalf of the Catholic Church for its involvement in Indian Residential Schools.</p>
<p>Indeed, of the 139 residential schools recognized by the legal definition of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA), <a href="https://www.cccb.ca/indigenous-peoples/resources/indian-residential-schools-truth-reconciliation-commission/">approximately 60 per cent were run by Catholics</a>. It makes sense, then, for Indigenous communities to be the primary audience for this visit.</p>
<p>Should the rest of Canada overlook the visit? On the contrary, I believe the whole country should be concerned by what’s at stake. I have every reason to to feel concerned: I am an anthropologist and have been doing research for over 25 years on colonization and its impacts, the Algonquin religious landscape and residential schools. But the issue at stake here goes far beyond the boundaries of academic research.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473643/original/file-20220712-31783-ciyjbg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473643/original/file-20220712-31783-ciyjbg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473643/original/file-20220712-31783-ciyjbg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473643/original/file-20220712-31783-ciyjbg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473643/original/file-20220712-31783-ciyjbg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473643/original/file-20220712-31783-ciyjbg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473643/original/file-20220712-31783-ciyjbg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chief Vernon Saddleback walks past a photo of a residential school during a news conference to announce Pope Francis’ visit, in Maskwacis, Alta., on June 27, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Canadian Press/Jason Franson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Rewriting, erasing or judging history</h2>
<p>What is the issue, exactly?</p>
<p>It is about our relationship to history, specifically that of the construction of a state that marginalized Indigenous Peoples and tried to assimilate them in order to destroy their societies and cultures.</p>
<p>The Catholic Church played an important role in this construction, beginning in New France. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/42952158">Religious men and women founded the educational and hospital systems</a>. The parishes structured the urban network. The missionaries worked, here and there, to extend the railroads and <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/seigneurial-system">colonize the land</a>. </p>
<p>They influenced policies, promoted agriculture and gave their names to many geographical features in cities, provinces and territories. In addition, with the ideas of their times, they wrote and disseminated opinions widely shared by their fellow citizens, but which today would be considered unacceptable.</p>
<p>Today, some are tempted to dismiss history as, “in the past,” or to rewrite history, erase it or refuse to inherit it. </p>
<p>Many elements of Canada’s Christian past no longer exist. We are shocked by the prejudice and racism that inflicted so much suffering on Indigenous people. Yet they continue to suffer from intergenerational trauma. In this sense, history lives on. </p>
<p>Many no longer want to pay tribute to figures — with statues, streets and schools — who have had devastating effects on Indigenous cultures and identity. Whether we judge them is another thing. How would we ourselves have acted in their place at the time? For that matter, how will we be judged by the generations that follow us?</p>
<h2>Facing the past honestly</h2>
<p>History is not black and white: it is complex, full of shades of grey, errors and compromises. Some religious people cared for and trained populations, they protected the French language. Some took up the cause of those whom they considered as their Indigenous brothers and sisters. Others, on the contrary, violated them, belittled them and prevented them from practising their own beliefs.</p>
<p>We cannot undo history. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Nora">The French historian Pierre Nora</a> wrote in 2006 about the French government’s memorial laws on genocide and colonization, arguing that it was dangerous to criminalize the past and allow what he called a “memorial hegemony” to emerge: in his view, it was important to define a collective and national history, rather than to allow a memory that was “essentially accusatory and destructive of that history.”</p>
<p>This does not mean denying some facts in favour of others. It means confronting all aspects of this history honestly. Our challenge now is to include Indigenous perspectives in a collective history, or rather to create a collective history using those of our three solitudes: English, French and Indigenous. After that, we will need to pass it on.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473647/original/file-20220712-19-le4cbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473647/original/file-20220712-19-le4cbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473647/original/file-20220712-19-le4cbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473647/original/file-20220712-19-le4cbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473647/original/file-20220712-19-le4cbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473647/original/file-20220712-19-le4cbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473647/original/file-20220712-19-le4cbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of the Assembly of First Nations perform in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, March 31, 2022. A delegation of indigenous people was received by Pope Francis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The dark role of the federal government</h2>
<p>Our third temptation is to place all the blame for the history of residential schools on the missionaries.</p>
<p>Of course, they were largely responsible for it, through their dioceses and congregations. Their level of responsibility is high. But let’s not forget that it was the federal government <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools">that created the system and maintained it, and that it was Indian Affairs officers</a> who identified the children and sent them to the residential schools.</p>
<p>This same government, under pressure from its superintendent of Indian Affairs, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/duncan-campbell-scott">Duncan Campbell Scott</a>, shelved the <a href="http://www.fnesc.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/IRSR11-12-DE-1906-1910.pdf">1907 report by Dr. Peter Bryce</a>. The latter urged the authorities to put in place measures that would limit mortality in Indian Residential Schools, mainly due to epidemics. </p>
<p>Dr. Bryce had noticed <a href="https://thechildrenremembered.ca/school-histories/file-hill/">that at the File Hills Colony Residential School</a>, in Saskatchewan (operated by the Presbyterians, and later by the United Church of Canada), nearly 70 per cent of the children died because of poor sanitary conditions. When he advocated measures as simple as separating the sick from the healthy children, he was not heard.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473645/original/file-20220712-31833-xmyjzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473645/original/file-20220712-31833-xmyjzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473645/original/file-20220712-31833-xmyjzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473645/original/file-20220712-31833-xmyjzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473645/original/file-20220712-31833-xmyjzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473645/original/file-20220712-31833-xmyjzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473645/original/file-20220712-31833-xmyjzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Northwest Territories Assembly of First Nations regional chief Gerald Antoine speaks to reporters outside St. Peter’s Square at the end of a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, March 31, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The general indifference of the population</h2>
<p>Nor was public opinion moved by the existence of Indian Residential Schools or that they were intended to “civilize” Indigenous children. In April 1957, the newspaper <em>Le Progrès</em> wrote about the <a href="https://collections.irshdc.ubc.ca/index.php/Detail/entities/1156">Amos Indian Residential School</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Their education as well as the food and clothing they receive are generous gifts from a government that is keen to help them adapt to a normal life in a civilized country, striving to build a courageous and proud people to defend their essential rights.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The mental and cultural well-being of these children was not taken into consideration, neither in the residential schools nor elsewhere. How many Indigenous children have disappeared from the child welfare system since the 1960s, during the <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sixties-scoop">the Sixties Scoop</a>, and how many into the health-care system?</p>
<p>It took the work of researchers, journalists and government commissions to give families the tools they needed to begin searching for their loved ones.</p>
<h2>We also inherit what troubles us</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>Our home and native land! True patriot love in all of us command. With glowing hearts we see thee rise, The True North strong and free! From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>“With glowing hearts,” is everywhere in Canada’s history. As Canadians, we live with the benefits that history has bequeathed to us: a country that is democratic, free and safe, where we have universal health care, and so on. </p>
<p>But we cannot inherit only what is convenient for us. We also inherit a country where <a href="https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/discrimination-aboriginals-native-lands-canada">Indigenous people are less safe than others</a>, where they have been deprived of freedoms and rights to participate in democratic life (they only obtained the <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/indigenous-suffrage">right to vote in federal elections in 1960</a>), where they can be unsafe in the health-care system.</p>
<p>The Pope’s solemn recognition, on Canadian soil, of the harm collectively suffered by Indigenous Peoples is part of a process of reconciliation and reparation that has only just begun, to bring a true closure to the past. We must therefore take this opportunity to accept difficult truths about our collective history and, in so doing, move forward in building a shared future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187244/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marie-Pierre Bousquet has received funding from SSHRC, FRQSC, Université de Montréal, Digital Museums Canada.</span></em></p>Pope Francis’ visit concerns all Canadians. It’s about our relationship to history and the construction of a state that marginalized Indigenous people and tried to assimilate them.Marie-Pierre Bousquet, Professeure titulaire, directrice du programme en études autochtones, Université de MontréalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1855552022-07-12T21:30:13Z2022-07-12T21:30:13ZPope’s visit to Canada: Indigenous communities await a new apology — and a commitment to justice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473437/original/file-20220711-26-bn3oav.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C673%2C6195%2C3681&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of the Assembly of First Nations perform in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on March 31, 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/pope-s-visit-to-canada--indigenous-communities-await-a-new-apology-—-and-a-commitment-to-justice" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Only in the past <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/sunday/the-sunday-magazine-for-march-27-2022-1.6391961/time-has-come-for-pope-to-apologize-over-residential-schools-says-phil-fontaine-1.6395063">few decades have survivors of the residential school system spoken out publicly</a> about the injustices they endured in these colonial school systems.</p>
<p>More recently, governments, organizations and institutions have initiated acts of reconciliation, particularly in light <a href="https://nctr.ca/records/reports/#trc-reports">of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)</a> and <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf">its Calls to Action</a>. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/stolen-lives-indigenous-peoples-canada-and-indian-residential-schools/historical-background/prime-minister-harpers-apology">there have</a> been <a href="https://www.cccb.ca/letter/statement-of-apology-by-the-catholic-bishops-of-canada-to-the-indigenous-peoples-of-this-land">some apologies issued</a>, many survivors have <a href="https://www.indigenouswatchdog.org/actions-commitments/stakeholder/catholic-church/call-to-action-58/">highly anticipated</a> an apology from the Pope, in Canada.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indian-residential-schools-what-does-it-mean-if-the-pope-apologizes-in-canada-170984">Indian Residential Schools: What does it mean if the Pope apologizes in Canada?</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-pope-visit-maskwacis-alberta-residential-school">Pope Francis</a> will visit Canada <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-residential-school-indigenous-pope-1.6500119#">from July 24 to 29</a>. Many are hopeful he will issue an additional apology — one that is full of accountability and institutional responsibility, unlike the <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2022/april/documents/20220401-popoli-indigeni-canada.html">one issued at the Vatican on April 1</a>.</p>
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<h2>Years of research</h2>
<p>As a member of the Kainai (Blood Tribe), part of the Blackfoot Confederacy, it took years of research before I understood the connection between the strange and heavy silences I recognized as a child but could not name and <a href="https://www.westwind.ab.ca/about-us/podcast/post/dr-tiffany-prete-understanding-intergenerational-trauma">the devastation caused</a> by colonialism inflicted by the Canadian government and Christian churches through the Indian Residential School System.</p>
<p>Part <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLGCqTgdX70">of my research</a> involved articulating my journey and that of my community in <a href="https://doi.org/10.18733/cpi29409">navigating the written records of the Roman Catholic order, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate</a>. These records contained information about our people, and we used them to identify our ancestors and to research <a href="https://www.diopress.com/product-page/brave-work-in-indigenous-education">the colonial education system</a> on the Blood Reserve. The Oblates came to the Blood Reserve and opened <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/indigenous-residential-schools-trc-alberta-25-truth-reconciliation-1.6185579">a residential school</a>, as did representatives <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-donors-from-canada-and-europe-helped-fund-indian-residential-schools-164028">of the Anglican Church</a>. Representatives of Catholic, Anglican and Methodist denominations were involved in running colonial schools on the Blood Reserve.</p>
<h2>Earlier statement made in Rome</h2>
<p>The TRC’s <a href="https://www.indigenouswatchdog.org/cta/call-to-action-58/#">Call to Action No. 58 asks the Pope to “issue an apology</a> to survivors, their families, and communities for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children in Catholic-run residential schools,” and to do so in Canada. </p>
<p>An apology in line with this call would help demonstrate the Roman Catholics’ responsibility in the colonial education system.</p>
<p>Pope Francis’s <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2022/april/documents/20220401-popoli-indigeni-canada.html">earlier apology</a>, in April, mainly addressed the cultural abuse Indigenous Peoples suffered. He said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The chain that passed on knowledge and ways of life in union with the land was broken by a colonization that lacked respect for you, tore many of you from your vital milieu and tried to conform you to another mentality. In this way, great harm was done to your identity and your culture … following programs devised in offices rather than the desire to respect the life of peoples.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>A statement like this places the blame on colonization and fails to acknowledge the Catholic Church’s role in supporting these negative colonial outcomes for Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<p>Pope Francis also said, “I feel shame … in the abuses you suffered and in the lack of respect shown for your identity, your culture and even your spiritual values.” This is the extent to which the Pope acknowledged specific types of abuse that Indigenous children suffered at the hands of religious members.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/catholic-church-response-to-sexual-abuse-must-centre-on-survivor-well-being-not-defensiveness-162417">Catholic Church response to sexual abuse must centre on survivor well-being, not defensiveness</a>
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<p>Pope Francis did not address how Catholic-run residential schools negatively impacted generations of Indigenous Peoples through spiritual, emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Nor did he articulate any formal plan for how the Catholic Church would attempt to walk the path of reconciliation.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Four people are seen sitting in front of a backdrop that says 'walking together' and two bishops are wearing black clerical garments and collars." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473439/original/file-20220711-24-8rfdae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473439/original/file-20220711-24-8rfdae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473439/original/file-20220711-24-8rfdae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473439/original/file-20220711-24-8rfdae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473439/original/file-20220711-24-8rfdae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473439/original/file-20220711-24-8rfdae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473439/original/file-20220711-24-8rfdae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President, Natan Obed, Inuit community member Martha Greig and bishops Richard Gagnon and William McGrattan attend a press conference in Rome on March 28, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)</span></span>
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<h2>Truth, justice, relationships</h2>
<p>There are many of us who hope Pope Francis’s visit will bring a new and more sincere apology. </p>
<p>The Pope must set foot in our communities and onto our reserves. He must see the lasting impacts the Catholic Church has had. He must have conversations, build relationships and listen to the needs of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. He must learn that healing and reconciliation will look different across various communities. </p>
<p>The Pope must make a plan with us, not for us, in order to walk the path of reconciliation.</p>
<p>If the Pope cannot provide a plan while he is here, due to the short visit, he can set things in motion. Indigenous Peoples need more than words. Pope Francis should commit to timelines for formal actions and plans.</p>
<p>These plans should include commitments for representatives of the Catholic Church with the power to make high-level decisions to work with Indigenous communities, and to fulfil all of the TRC’s Calls to Action <a href="https://crc-canada.org/en/ressources/catholic-responses-truth-reconciliation-call-action-48-questions-regarding-doctrine-discovery">related to</a> <a href="https://www.catholicregister.org/item/33968-reconciliation-council-positive-step-forward">the Catholic Church</a> and to attend to any additional needs.</p>
<h2>How to move forward</h2>
<p>As someone who has researched colonial schooling, and who has learned from other experts and Elders in my community, I offer the following suggestions of how to move forward. This is by no means an exhaustive list: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>The Catholic Church should work with Indigenous communities to determine if criminal investigations will be made <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8067396/residential-school-abuse-perpetrators-charges-survivors/">into the abuses Indigenous children suffered</a> at the hands of adults who were in charge of residential schools. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/residential-school-survivors-draft-papal-apology-bishops-1.6489390">Survivors have asked the Pope to acknowledge church failures in reporting</a> abusers, and the church must hold <a href="https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/92-year-old-charged-following-investigation-into-historic-sexual-abuse-at-manitoba-residential-school-1.5951416">those accountable who are still alive today</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>The <a href="https://ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/en/news/1873085/first-nations-delegates-ask-pope-francis-to-revoke-church-doctrine-used-to-justify-colonialism">papal bulls (edicts) used to justify</a> the doctrine of discovery and terra nullius must <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/07/06/bishop-syracuse-doctrine-discovery-indigenous-240986">be revoked</a>.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/records-for-residential-schools-should-be-made-public-says-blood-tribe-researcher-1.6081136">Catholic records pertaining to the 1870-1990s colonial school systems must be released</a> and copies given to relevant Indigenous communities. </p></li>
<li><p>In response to requests from survivors, Pope Francis must <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/residential-school-survivors-draft-papal-apology-bishops-1.6489390">recognize that many students were buried in unmarked graves</a> and a plan should be shared to aid Indigenous Peoples while <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7970651/finding-residential-school-graves-complicated">they uncover unmarked graves</a>. </p></li>
</ul>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-lawyer-investigate-discovery-of-215-childrens-graves-in-kamloops-as-a-crime-against-humanity-161941">Indigenous lawyer: Investigate discovery of 215 children's graves in Kamloops as a crime against humanity</a>
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<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/04/01/theres-a-lot-to-it-repatriating-indigenous-artifacts-from-vatican-may-take-years.html">Indigenous artifacts at the Vatican</a> must be investigated to determine authorship, and dialogue must happen with the appropriate communities on the fate of the artifacts.</p></li>
<li><p>The <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/vatican-assets-residential-school-compensation-1.6404280">Catholic Church</a> <a href="https://irshdc.ubc.ca/2021/12/07/online-resources-clarify-outstanding-obligations-of-the-catholic-church-to-indian-residential-school-survivors/">must live up</a> to the original <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100015576/1571581687074">Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>A new apology from the Pope must be issued on Canadian soil.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>As Pope Francis declared in his April statement, “<a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2022/april/documents/20220401-popoli-indigeni-canada.html">Whenever memory and identity are cherished and protected, we become more human</a>.”</p>
<p>Let us see how the Pope will cherish and protect the memory and identity of Indigenous Peoples by engaging in truth and justice. Such actions will help the world see we are human beings, which colonization and the colonial education system stole from us. </p>
<p><em>If you are an Indian Residential School survivor, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185555/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tiffany Dionne Prete received funding from SSHRC, the National Indian Brotherhood Trust Fund, Community University Research Alliance and Networked Environment of Aboriginal Health Research. She currently receives funding from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. </span></em></p>Pope Francis and the Catholic Church must make a plan with Indigenous Peoples, not for us, in order to walk the path of reconciliation. Some initial suggestions of what a plan might include.Tiffany Dionne Prete, Assistant Professor, Sociology Department, University of LethbridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1855652022-06-27T15:35:41Z2022-06-27T15:35:41ZAre the kids alright? Why Canada must urgently step up to ensure children’s rights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470561/original/file-20220623-53892-fnpyrt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4792%2C3211&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation children play in water sprinklers during National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations in Mississauga, Ont., on June 21, 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child recently issued its long-awaited <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/CAN/CRC_C_CAN_CO_5-6_48911_E.pdf">concluding observations</a> on Canada’s compliance with international human rights law regarding children. </p>
<p>One of the committee’s key recommendations advised Canada to establish an independent mechanism for monitoring children’s rights by receiving, investigating and addressing complaints by children in a child-sensitive, child-friendly manner. </p>
<p>As researchers in children’s rights, this recommendation did not come as a surprise to us. We have canvassed all human rights laws in Canada and determined these laws generally don’t guarantee child-sensitive and child-friendly processes. </p>
<p>Much more needs to be done to respect the human rights of children in Canada in keeping with international human rights law and the recommendations made by the UN committee. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-provinces-must-respect-childrens-rights-to-education-whether-or-not-schools-reopen-in-september-142802">COVID-19: Provinces must respect children's rights to education whether or not schools reopen in September</a>
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<h2>Children as rights bearers</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">The Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>, ratified by Canada in 1991 and <a href="https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention#:%7E:text=In%201989%2C%20world%20leaders%20made,children's%20lives%20around%20the%20world.">the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history</a>, recognizes children as rights bearers.</p>
<p>Under the convention, children have the right to be heard in legal proceedings that directly or indirectly affect them. According to the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/766759?ln=en">access to justice is a fundamental right on its own, but also an essential prerequisite for the protection and promotion of all other human rights.</a> </p>
<p>Simply put, legal proceedings that aren’t adapted to the needs and realities of children may have a negative impact on other human rights. Because children play an increasingly important role in litigation involving the most pressing human rights issues of our time — including climate change and reconciliation — efforts must be made to ensure that legal processes are child-sensitive and child-friendly.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Drummers beat their drums at a large gathering with mountains in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470572/original/file-20220623-51375-cavjae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470572/original/file-20220623-51375-cavjae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470572/original/file-20220623-51375-cavjae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470572/original/file-20220623-51375-cavjae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470572/original/file-20220623-51375-cavjae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470572/original/file-20220623-51375-cavjae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470572/original/file-20220623-51375-cavjae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Drummers play and sing during a May ceremony to mark the one-year anniversary of the discovery of the remains of 215 children at an unmarked burial site at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
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<h2>Are children’s rights human rights?</h2>
<p>There has been a recent proliferation of child-initiated legal proceedings. <a href="https://www.amnesty.ca/legal-brief/environnement-jeunesse-enjeu-v-attorney-general-canada/">For example, ENvironnement JEUnesse, a youth-led environmental group, is seeking to sue the government of Canada for its failure to take action to curb climate change</a>, claiming that it amounts to a violation of their rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. </p>
<p>Despite recent youth leadership in human rights litigation, our research has shown that few Canadian courts and administrative tribunals are equipped to deal with legal proceedings concerning the human rights of children in a child-sensitive and child-friendly manner. </p>
<p>In fact, in five Canadian jurisdictions, human rights laws — which are meant to promote equality in society — tacitly permit discrimination against children and youth on the basis of their age. </p>
<p>For example, the <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/ontario-human-rights-code">Human Rights Code of Ontario</a> excludes people under 18 years old in the definition of age. This means that it’s legal in Ontario for a service provider — like a restaurant or a store, for example — to refuse to serve a meal to a young person under 18 or to sell them a pair of shoes on the basis of their age.</p>
<p>What’s more, apart from Québec, no human rights commission or tribunal in the country has specific rules of procedure to ensure that complaints are dealt with in a child-sensitive and child-friendly manner. It’s therefore no surprise that the UN committee criticized Canada for failing to have an independent mechanism for monitoring children’s rights and urged it to put one in place. </p>
<h2>A success story</h2>
<p>But does this mean that all human rights litigation in Canada is conducted in a manner that is not child-sensitive or child-friendly? Not exactly. </p>
<p>In fact, there are some success stories that saw decision-makers place the needs and best interests of children at the heart of how they dealt with human rights cases even when not required to do so by law or rules of procedure. </p>
<p>One shining example of this is <em>Caring Society v Canada</em>, a case before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal regarding Canada’s discriminatory treatment against First Nations children in its provision of public services to them. “This decision concerns children” was the first sentence of the <a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/chrt/doc/2016/2016chrt2/2016chrt2.pdf">historic 2016 ruling by the tribunal asserting the equality rights of more than 165,000 children and it perfectly captures how the litigation was conducted.</a></p>
<p>The case was a veritable showpiece on how to conduct a human rights proceeding in child-sensitive and child-friendly manner.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in a blue shirt wearing an eagle necklace embraces a woman." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470557/original/file-20220623-51658-2w9vtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470557/original/file-20220623-51658-2w9vtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470557/original/file-20220623-51658-2w9vtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470557/original/file-20220623-51658-2w9vtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470557/original/file-20220623-51658-2w9vtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470557/original/file-20220623-51658-2w9vtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470557/original/file-20220623-51658-2w9vtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde embraces Cindy Blackstock, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society Caring Society executive director, as they speak about the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal regarding discrimination against First Nations children at a 2016 news conference.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
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<p>Firstly, the tribunal incorporated “the best interest of the child” in its legal interpretation of the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/h-6/">Canadian Human Rights Act</a>. In particular, it ruled that for Canada to comply with its legal obligations under the act, it must consider the best interests of First Nations children in the design and provision of services to them. </p>
<p>Secondly, the tribunal allowed children to participate in the hearings in various age-appropriate ways. For example, children sang a song at the beginning and end of the hearing and the proceedings were televised to make them accessible and free to children across the country. </p>
<p>The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal also ensured that the space was welcoming for children by setting aside rooms in which they could eat, leave their coats and bags and discuss the case with their schoolmates. </p>
<p>Finally, the tribunal did not require children and youth to testify about the harm they experienced as a result of discrimination <a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/09/29/Indigenous-Kids-Win-Court-Rejects-Ottawa-Bid-Human-Rights-Order/">to find the Canadian Human Rights Act had been breached and to order compensation to be paid to the children</a>.</p>
<p>This prevented children and youth from being re-traumatized to have access to remedies they’re entitled to due to the violation of their human rights.</p>
<h2>What now?</h2>
<p>It’s deeply troubling that human rights processes in Canada generally do not provide for child-sensitive and child-friendly processes and in fact, often exclude protection of children against age-based discrimination. </p>
<p>The good news is that decision-makers can look to <em>Caring Society v Canada</em> <a href="https://lawjournal.mcgill.ca/article/the-complainant-the-canadian-human-rights-case-on-first-nations-child-welfare/">as an example to follow</a> when it comes to overseeing legal proceedings concerning the human rights of children in a manner that is sensitive to their needs and child-friendly. </p>
<p>As children in Canada increasingly step up in important leadership roles in human rights advocacy, they’re long overdue to be recognized as human rights bearers. This means human rights processes across the country must be accessible to and welcoming for children, and an independent mechanism for monitoring children’s rights must be put in place.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185565/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne Levesque is a fellow with the Broadbent Institute. Along with Professors Mona Paré (Principal Investigator/Project Director) and Daniella Mento (Collaborator), she received an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to conduct the research mentioned in this article. She is also one of the lawyers who represented the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada in its human rights complaint leading to a landmark victory in 2016 that affirms the right to equality of over 165,000 First Nations children.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Malorie Kanaan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Under international law, children have the right to be heard in legal proceedings directly or indirectly affecting them. Canada must step up to ensure all human rights apply to kids as they do adults.Anne Levesque, Assistant professor, Faculty of Law, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaMalorie Kanaan, LLM droit, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1837782022-05-26T15:04:01Z2022-05-26T15:04:01Z‘Every child matters’: One year after the unmarked graves of 215 Indigenous children were found in Kamloops<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465143/original/file-20220524-12-uq7plw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C0%2C5579%2C3834&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People march in Ottawa during a rally to demand an independent investigation into Canada's crimes against Indigenous Peoples, including those at Indian Residential Schools on July 31, 2021. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: This article contains details that some readers may find distressing</em></p>
<p>“<a href="https://nctr.ca/education/every-child-matters/">Every child matters” has become a rallying cry</a>, adorning banners, orange shirts, decals and memorials to the Indigenous children who died at or went missing from Indian Residential Schools and similar institutions. </p>
<p>Indigenous communities have used these words to recognize the thousands of Indigenous children <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/06/native-children-didnt-lose-their-lives-at-residential-schools-their-lives-were-stolen">who were taken</a>, never to return. </p>
<p>Despite this truth being something communities knew for decades, it took the use of scientific methods to locate potential unmarked graves of children buried near the former Kamloops Indian Residential School to garner the attention of non-Indigenous people, both in Canada and globally. </p>
<p>On May 27, 2021, <a href="https://tkemlups.ca/remains-of-children-of-kamloops-residential-school-discovered/">Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc announced that they had located 215 potential unmarked graves of children</a> — that number <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57325653">reverberated around the world</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/unmarked-graves-of-215-indigenous-children-were-found-in-kamloops-a-year-ago-whats-happened-since-podcast-182728">Unmarked graves of 215 Indigenous children were found in Kamloops a year ago: What's happened since? — Podcast</a>
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<p>In the first rush of media coverage and public outrage, governments were quick to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/residential-schools-support-funding-1.6136352">commit millions of dollars worth of funding</a> for communities to undertake searches around the sites of former Indian Residential Schools. </p>
<p>Memorials of <a href="https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/memorial-for-indigenous-children-lost-and-buried-at-former-residential-schools-grows-on-parliament-hill-1.5485367">stuffed animals and children’s shoes began to appear</a>. The Canadian flag <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8352885/remembrance-day-2021-afn-canadian-flag/">was lowered to half-mast for months</a>. Orange Shirt Day was transformed into an <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1631130192216/1631130220404">official National Day for Truth and Reconciliation</a>. And First Nations communities across the country <a href="https://leaderpost.com/news/saskatchewan/hundreds-of-bodies-found-near-former-residential-school-site-at-cowessess">made public statements about their searches</a>. </p>
<p>The numbers from Kamloops were originally reported as <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-kamloops-residential-school-unmarked-graves-discovery-update/">215 and later revised to 200</a>, then the numbers began to climb as more unmarked graves were found at the former <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/cowessess-first-nation-says-751-unmarked-graves-found-near-former-sask-residential-school-1.5483858">Marieval Indian Residential School</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/penelakut-kuper-residential-school-1.6100201">Kuper Island Residential School</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/world/canada/mass-graves-residential-schools.html">and many more</a>. But inaccurate numbers also surfaced on social media — first <a href="https://twitter.com/MK_MARAUDER/status/1526697058362695686?s=20&t=drrKCXgLbhPRUWV4BPDMBQ">6,000</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/christibelcourt/status/1509935851857498124?s=20&t=xTtEckSDevrkR6wRuublXA">10,000</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/cie1947/status/1526818958166200320?s=20&t=drrKCXgLbhPRUWV4BPDMBQ">then 12,000</a> and it didn’t take long for people to try and downplay the numbers and cast doubt on the results. </p>
<p>As someone who has worked with Indigenous communities for several years to help <a href="https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/2019/02/07/dignity-in-death-searching-for-the-lost-graves-at-a-prairie-residential-school.html">locate potential unmarked graves</a>, it is very important to me that people to understand the difficult journey survivors and communities must take in order to find justice and healing. </p>
<h2>Who is responsible for their deaths?</h2>
<p>Finding the graves of children who died at Indian Residential Schools is a challenging task. Information exists in archives about the deaths of children, which has contributed to <a href="https://nctr.ca/memorial/">the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation’s Memorial Register</a>. As of May 24, 2022, the register has 4,130 confirmed names of children who died while at Indian Residential Schools.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People stand looking solemn, a woman in an orange shirt clutches a hand drum." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465139/original/file-20220524-12035-wq90c2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465139/original/file-20220524-12035-wq90c2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465139/original/file-20220524-12035-wq90c2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465139/original/file-20220524-12035-wq90c2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465139/original/file-20220524-12035-wq90c2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465139/original/file-20220524-12035-wq90c2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465139/original/file-20220524-12035-wq90c2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People listen as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a ceremony to mark the one-year anniversary of the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc announcement on May 23, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some of these records indicate where the children were buried, including cemeteries located near the schools. <a href="https://thediscourse.ca/okanagan/residential-school-survivor-shares-stories-about-st-eugenes">Survivors have shared knowledge</a> of disappearances or deaths of children at these institutions, with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zNSgh_oP6A">some recounting how they dug graves</a>. </p>
<p>Thousands of children died, and by all accounts <a href="https://pressprogress.ca/why-no-one-knows-how-many-children-died-inside-canadas-residential-schools/">the records from many schools are woefully incomplete</a>, meaning the number of children who died is likely much higher than what is currently known. </p>
<p>The questions that haunt families and communities are: Where are their children buried, and who is responsible for their deaths?</p>
<h2>Ground penetrating radar</h2>
<p>One year after the announcement, Indigenous communities across the country are working to find the specific locations where children may be buried. </p>
<p>Many families were never notified if their children died while at school. And even when they were, <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-graves-were-never-a-secret-why-so-many-residential-school-cemeteries-remain-unmarked">the bodies of their children were rarely sent home to be buried</a>. Survivors have often spoken of times where deaths occurred <a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/06/01/Neglected-Life-Dishonoured-Death-TRC-Excerpt/">and children weren’t buried in cemeteries</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/28/world/canada/kamloops-mass-grave-residential-schools.html">merely buried on the school grounds</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ground-radar-technology-residential-school-remains-1.6049776">Ground-penetrating radar and other technologies</a> are now being mobilized to try to narrow down where graves may be found to mark, commemorate and investigate what happened to children. </p>
<p>At best, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/materials-science/ground-penetrating-radar">ground-penetrating radar can find anomalies in the ground</a> that look grave shaped, based on interpretations of results from scans. In some cases, such as in unmarked sections of historic cemeteries, these are likely to be graves. In other cases it is less clear. In all cases, further investigation is warranted. And the nature of that investigation will have to be decided by the communities whose children were forced to attend that school. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A child stands amid hundreds of orange flags" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465142/original/file-20220524-20-4f73wt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465142/original/file-20220524-20-4f73wt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465142/original/file-20220524-20-4f73wt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465142/original/file-20220524-20-4f73wt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465142/original/file-20220524-20-4f73wt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465142/original/file-20220524-20-4f73wt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465142/original/file-20220524-20-4f73wt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A child touches an orange flag, representing children who died while attending Indian Residential Schools in Canada, placed in the grass at Major’s Hill Park in Ottawa on July 1, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The technical results of ground-penetrating radar surveys have become vital, but they are not the first step, nor the last, in the search for justice. Communities are working to find their lost children and hold those who were responsible for the horrors of Indian Residential School accountable, but they need certain supports to be able to do so. </p>
<p>There needs to be ongoing funding and access to expertise in a co-ordinated manner to ensure families and communities get the answers they deserve. </p>
<p>There are likely thousands of graves at former Indian Residential Schools across the country, but we don’t yet have enough information to know where most of them are located — some are likely lost forever. </p>
<p>As the number of anomalies reported increases over the months and years to come, we can’t forget that every child matters. Each grave represents a beloved member of a family who was torn away from their community. Each grave represents a story of a child stolen. Every family that lost their children to this genocide deserves answers. Reconciliation isn’t possible without truth and we must not turn away from the truth. </p>
<p>Every child matters. </p>
<p><em>If you are an Indian Residential School survivor, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183778/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kisha Supernant does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the number of unmarked graves found will likely only increase over the months and years to come, we can’t forget that every child matters.Kisha Supernant, Director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology, University of AlbertaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1827282022-05-18T16:20:43Z2022-05-18T16:20:43ZUnmarked graves of 215 Indigenous children were found in Kamloops a year ago: What’s happened since? — Podcast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463073/original/file-20220513-24-zqvv0c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4575%2C2695&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Two people embrace in front of the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa at a memorial for the 215 children whose remains were found at the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cpimages.com/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2RLQ2JT3Y1MDG&SMLS=1&RW=1324&RH=686#/DamView&VBID=2RLQ2JTIWH209&PN=1&WS=SearchResults">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</a></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="480px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/fb609e39-d729-4a54-860a-8a411be157ae?dark=false&show=true"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-572" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/572/661898416fdc21fc4fdef6a5379efd7cac19d9d5/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p><strong><em>Warning: This article contains details that some readers may find distressing</em></strong></p>
<p>It’s been a year since the unmarked graves of 215 Indigenous children — some of them as young as three years old — were found on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia. Since then, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60395242">hundreds more have also been found</a>. Across Canada and the United States, communities reeled as more information was uncovered. </p>
<p>Many felt pain and outrage. Some also experienced relief that their family members who had disappeared from residential schools were finally found. </p>
<p>The Canadian government responded immediately making promises to address historical wrongs and <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/pm-says-cabinet-discussing-further-actions-in-response-to-mass-grave-uncovered-at-residential-school-1.5449637">commitments to reconciliation</a>.</p>
<p>In the month following the findings, three of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action <a href="https://yellowheadinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/trc-2021-accountability-update-yellowhead-institute-special-report.pdf">were completed</a>: to
establish a statutory holiday for Truth and Reconciliation; to put in place an Indigenous Languages Commissioner; to amend the Oath of Citizenship. </p>
<p>But one year later, advocates say these initial actions and promises were mostly symbolic. For example, the most recent provincial budget in B.C. <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/02/25/stone-not-much-in-bc-budget-for-kamloops.html">“doesn’t have Kamloops high on its priority list.”</a> </p>
<p>And the most recent announcement that Pope Francis will visit Canada this summer <a href="https://kamloops.me/2022/05/13/the-popersquos-visit-must-be-more-than-a-symbolic-gesture/">raises questions from communities about more empty gestures</a>.</p>
<p>In today’s episode of <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/"><em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a>, we’re taking a look back at what happened, the immediate political response, the widespread grief and outcry but also, how none of that lasted — despite <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/george-gordon-first-nation-announce-results-geophysical-investigation-1.6424122">communities continuing to find bodies</a>. </p>
<p>An estimated 150,000 First Nation, Inuit, and Métis children attended residential schools — which were put in place by colonial governments — with the goal of exterminating Indigenous histories, cultures and languages. </p>
<p>The last residential school <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-residential-schools-kamloops-faq-1.6051632">closed in 1997 in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut</a>. </p>
<p>When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1450124405592/1529106060525#chp2">final report in 2015</a>, it provided a conservative estimate that between 4,000 and 6,000 children died while in attendance.</p>
<p>Are changes and conciliation on the horizon? Has the government kept its promise? </p>
<p>Our guest today is Veldon Coburn, assistant professor at the Institute of Indigenous Research and Studies at the University of Ottawa. Coburn is Anishinaabe from Pikwàkanagàn and authored <em>The Conversation</em>’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-longer-the-disappeared-mourning-the-215-children-found-in-graves-at-kamloops-indian-residential-school-161782">first article following the Kamloops findings</a>. Joining Vinita and Veldon on the episode is Haley Lewis, <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> producer and <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/team">culture and society editor</a> at <em>The Conversation Canada</em>. Lewis is mixed Kanyen'keha:ká from Tyendinaga and led our coverage of the findings last year. </p>
<h2>Transcript</h2>
<p>An unedited transcript of the episode is available <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/unmarked-graves-of-215-indigenous-children-were-found-in-kamloops-a-year-ago-whats-happened-since-podcast/transcript">here.</a></p>
<h2>ICYMI — Articles published in <em>The Conversation</em></h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/no-longer-the-disappeared-mourning-the-215-children-found-in-graves-at-kamloops-indian-residential-school-161782">No longer ‘the disappeared’: Mourning the 215 children found in graves at Kamloops Indian Residential School</a> by Veldon Coburn</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/stolen-identities-what-does-it-mean-to-be-indigenous-dont-call-me-resilient-podcast-ep-8-166248">Podcast: Stolen identities: What does it mean to be Indigenous? Don’t Call Me Resilient EP 8</a> Interviewed: Veldon Coburn and Celeste Pedri-Spade</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-hypocrisy-recognizing-genocide-except-its-own-against-indigenous-peoples-162128">Canada’s hypocrisy: Recognizing genocide except its own against Indigenous Peoples</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-lawyer-investigate-discovery-of-215-childrens-graves-in-kamloops-as-a-crime-against-humanity-161941">Indigenous lawyer: Investigate discovery of 215 children’s graves in Kamloops as a crime against humanity</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-many-canadians-dont-seem-to-care-about-the-lasting-effects-of-residential-schools-161968">Why many Canadians don’t seem to care about the lasting effects of residential schools</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-canada-committed-genocide-against-indigenous-peoples-explained-by-the-lawyer-central-to-the-determination-162582">How Canada committed genocide against Indigenous Peoples, explained by the lawyer central to the determination</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/when-good-intentions-dont-matter-the-indian-residential-school-system-165045">When ‘good intentions’ don’t matter: The Indian Residential School system</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/indian-residential-schools-acts-of-genocide-deceit-and-control-by-church-and-state-162145">Indian Residential Schools: Acts of genocide, deceit and control by church and state</a></p>
<h2>Additional Reading + Listening</h2>
<p><a href="https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/capitalism-and-dispossession"><em>Capitalism and Dispossession</em></a> by Veldon Coburn</p>
<p><a href="https://www.refinery29.com/en-ca/2021/06/10505350/canada-mistreatment-indigenous-people">It’s Time Settlers Own Up To Canada’s Mistreatment of Indigenous People</a> in <em>Refinery29</em> by Haley Lewis</p>
<p><a href="https://thebigstorypodcast.ca/2021/06/08/if-canadas-residential-schools-reckoning-is-real-this-time-what-happens-next/">Podcast: If Canada’s residential schools reckoning is real this time, what happens next?</a> — The Big Story Podcast</p>
<p><a href="https://mediaindigena.libsyn.com/the-rot-of-reconciliation-in-canada-ep-279">Podcast: The Rot of Reconciliation in Canada</a> — Media Indigena</p>
<p><a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/603503">‘Killing the Indian in the Child’: Death, Cruelty, and Subject-formation in the Canadian Indian Residential School System</a></p>
<p><a href="https://fns.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/AdministeringSocialScience.mosby_.pdf">Administering Colonial Science: Nutrition Research and Human Biomedical Experimentation in Aboriginal Communities and Residential Schools, 1942–1952</a></p>
<p><a href="https://nasjournal.org/index.php/NASJ/article/view/672">Unmarked Graves: Yet another Legacy of Canada’s Residential School System</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Exz4CugbawA">Slavoj Zizek: Will today’s chaos lead to change for the better? | The Stream</a> </p>
<p><em>Support is available for anyone affected by their or their family’s experience at residential schools. Access to emotional and crisis referral services is available through the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.</em></p>
<h2>Follow and listen</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. <a href="mailto:theculturedesk@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join <em>The Conversation</em> on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>,<a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada"> Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient. </p>
<p><em>Don’t Call Me Resilient is a production of The Conversation Canada. This podcast was produced with a grant for Journalism Innovation from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The series is produced and hosted by Vinita Srivastava. The producer on this episode is Haley Lewis. Our associate producer is: Vaishnavi Dandekar. Our sound producer is Lygia Navarro. Reza Dahya is our sound designer. Jennifer Moroz is our consulting producer. Lisa Varano is our audience development editor and Scott White is the CEO of the Conversation Canada.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182728/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In today’s episode of Don’t Call Me Resilient, we take a look at what has happened since the unmarked graves of 215 Indigenous children were found in Kamloops B.C.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientHaley Lewis, Culture + Society Editor | Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1740272022-05-01T15:05:02Z2022-05-01T15:05:02ZFrom Ryerson to Toronto Metropolitan University: What can we learn from the renaming?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438522/original/file-20211220-13-symkzu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C17%2C5913%2C3942&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">With the new name comes a model for other renaming processes in the realm of reconciliation.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/from-ryerson-to-toronto-metropolitan-university--what-can-we-learn-from-the-renaming" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Ryerson University has a new name: <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ryerson-name-change-toronto-metropolitan-university/">Toronto Metropolitan University</a>. </p>
<p>University president Mohamed Lachemi recommended the name from a list developed by a committee of professors, administrators, students and alumni. The name change process was motivated by the <em><a href="https://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/next-chapter/Report/SSTF-report-and-recommendations-Aug_24_FINAL.pdf">Mash Koh Wee Kah Pooh Win (Standing Strong) Task Force</a></em>.</p>
<p>The university’s renaming is a welcome step in helping reconcile <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-in-the-past-colonialism-is-rooted-in-the-present-157395">Canada’s long history of colonization, both past and present</a>. It signals a willingness to make amends for Canada’s mistreatment of Indigenous people, especially in educational settings. </p>
<p>Ryerson’s renaming has the potential to teach important lessons across society as we strive for a more equitable future given our inequitable past. </p>
<h2>Create a balanced history</h2>
<p><em>Mash Koh Wee Kah Pooh Win</em> focused on the university’s complex relationship with its namesake, Egerton Ryerson. <a href="https://theconversation.com/egerton-ryerson-racist-philosophy-of-residential-schools-also-shaped-public-education-143039">His educational policies’ racist legacy</a> devastated Indigenous communities — he was an <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57381522">architect for Ontario’s residential schools</a>. </p>
<p>Archivists dug through records. Historians were consulted. Scholars researched. Knowledge keepers provided wisdom. And by canvassing Ryerson community members past and present, the task force reached a delicate balance. </p>
<p>The authors detailed Egerton Ryerson’s troubling past. They bound him to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-1.4191090/why-some-ryerson-students-want-the-toronto-university-to-change-its-name-1.4191092">his influence in creating Ontario’s residential schools</a>. They even shared his offensive statements on Indigenous education aims.</p>
<p>But the authors also highlighted Egerton’s many accomplishments. This included <a href="https://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/next-chapter/Report/Appendix-D_Life-and-legacy_Aug-26.pdf">Indigenous school fundraising</a> and helping petition the Crown to confirm the Mississaugas’ legal title to reserves.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-longer-the-disappeared-mourning-the-215-children-found-in-graves-at-kamloops-indian-residential-school-161782">No longer 'the disappeared': Mourning the 215 children found in graves at Kamloops Indian Residential School</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>After the buried bodies of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57325653">Indigenous children were found at former Indian residential schools</a>, Ryerson’s statue on campus became even more <a href="https://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/next-chapter/Report/Appendix-B-What-we-learned-Aug-17.pdf">harmful, traumatizing and triggering to many staff, faculty and students</a>. His name adorning buildings, email signatures and sports teams likely did the same. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ryerson-name-change-toronto-metropolitan-university/">an interview with <em>The Globe and Mail</em></a>, president Lachemi said the new name reflects the wishes of community members:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It’s a name that fits us perfectly. We’re located in the heart of our country’s biggest and most diverse city, so the university represents all that it means to be metropolitan. We are a gathering place for people from all over the world, from all walks of life, with broad and diverse perspectives, lived experiences and aspirations.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Toronto Metropolitan University is expected to be in use soon but signage will take time. The blue and yellow colour will remain and Ryerson will still appear on official documents until the university’s governing legislation is amended — likely after the provincial election in June.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1518999145318653953"}"></div></p>
<h2>Acknowledge institutional inequality</h2>
<p>Many institutions have dubious pasts. Some even <a href="http://icdr.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Heidi-Bohaker-The-University-of-Toronto-and-Aboriginal-Residential-Schools-A-Silent-Partner-4MB.pdf">supported residential school atrocities, such as creating a discourse around assimilation</a>.</p>
<p>We must condemn Egerton Ryerson, but acknowledge that many Canadians benefit from systems similar to the ones he helped fashion, not just education. During the pandemic, the <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/04/18/canadas-billionaires-have-grown-richer-during-the-pandemic-and-calls-for-a-wealth-tax-are-getting-louder.html">wealthiest Canadians have prospered</a>. In contrast, <a href="https://monitormag.ca/articles/canadian-billionaires-wealth-skyrocketing-amid-the-pandemic">low wage workers, often women and marginalized people, have continued to suffer</a>. The pandemic has accelerated lasting trends where <a href="https://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/hot-topics/canInequality.aspx">seniors, people with disabilities, recent immigrants, marginalized and Indigenous people felt the most negative impacts of income inequality</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/enormous-amount-of-change-new-data-reveals-impact-of-covid-19-on-canadians-1.5343991">But the pandemic</a>, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/movement-slogan-rallying-cry-how-black-lives-matter-changed-america-n1252434">Black Lives Matter</a> and racial reckoning have also forced a kind of social reset, helping prompt the name change at Ryerson.</p>
<p><em>Mash Koh Wee Kah Pooh Win</em> captured the sadness imperilling Ryerson’s community. The community grieved the legacy of a man they never met, but they are all too familiar with the punitive educational system he created. </p>
<p>We must repair public institutions that allow obscene financial and social inequality as well as personal devastation that can potentially cascade across generations. But first we must acknowledge our own role in allowing their perpetuation.</p>
<h2>Renaming is a start</h2>
<p>Although it could have been resisted and there was <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ryerson-university-name-change-1.4191614">initial opposition by some groups</a>, Ryerson’s renaming speaks to how fundamental institutions like universities can listen to Indigenous people and their allies to drive welcome change.</p>
<p>From this, Ryerson’s renaming should not remain a symbolic act. And this achievement should not mean the battle is over. Instead, a name change means the fight has only just begun. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman takes a torch to the head of a statue" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459857/original/file-20220426-20-wutsm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459857/original/file-20220426-20-wutsm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459857/original/file-20220426-20-wutsm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459857/original/file-20220426-20-wutsm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459857/original/file-20220426-20-wutsm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459857/original/file-20220426-20-wutsm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459857/original/file-20220426-20-wutsm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A protester uses a torch in an attempt to remove the head of the Egerton Ryerson statue in Toronto on Sunday June 6, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Scrubbing Egerton Ryerson’s name from the institution feels good. It is similar to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/statue-of-egerton-ryerson-brought-down-1.6055676">removing his statue from the university’s grounds</a>. But improving the worst parts of the educational policies he helped birth is better. This includes improving antiquated practices. </p>
<p>And Indigenous people must help lead this change. Their knowledge and culture should fully inhabit education. Some equitable education policies could include:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.ryerson.ca/fcs-news-events/news/2019/08/what-it-means-to-indigenize-curriculum/">Indigenizing curriculum</a>.</li>
<li>Practising <a href="https://www.cue.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/images/Source%205%20-%20ladson-billings%20culturally%20relevant%20pedagogy%20-%20the%20remix.pdf">culturally relevant pedagogy</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1495088">Diversifying curriculum</a>.</li>
<li>Implementing <a href="https://policyresponse.ca/can-covid-19-help-us-build-a-more-inclusive-post-secondary-system/">inclusive education</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://on360.ca/policy-papers/how-to-end-streaming-in-ontario-schools/">De-streaming public education</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/hybrid-learning-in-ontario-schools-will-rob-children-of-quality-education-165135">Ensuring equitable learning</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>Public education has caused unjustifiable suffering. Many educational settings are driven by <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/article/aiming-discipline-instead-punishment">punishment, not proactive discipline</a>. They homogenize, dehumanize and <a href="https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/17/11/when-testing-takes-over">test incessantly and excessively</a>.</p>
<p>Renaming public entities begins the process of repairing inequities — Ryerson is one example, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-renaming-dundas-street-1.6103260">Toronto’s Dundas Street</a> is another — but it cannot end them. Regressive institutional practices must be questioned.</p>
<p>Chronicling past atrocities, honouring those tragically lost, incorporating survivors’ voices and building equitable institutions is the only way to build a truly inclusive society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174027/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dino Sossi has studied at, and worked for, Ryerson University. </span></em></p>Incorporating lessons from Ryerson University’s renaming process could help Canadian institutions address colonization.Dino Sossi, Instructional Assistant, Technology and Media, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1792582022-03-22T21:01:31Z2022-03-22T21:01:31ZAs an Indigenous delegation prepares to visit the Vatican, it’s worth revisiting Trudeau’s 2017 papal gift of the Jesuit ‘Relations’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453679/original/file-20220322-15-1wkknf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=509%2C40%2C2669%2C1971&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with Pope Francis for a private audience at the Vatican in May 2017. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A delegation of Indigenous people with <a href="https://www.afn.ca/vatican/">the Assembly of First Nations</a>, <a href="https://www2.metisnation.ca/news/canadian-bishops-assembly-of-first-nations-metis-national-council-and-inuit-tapiriit-kanatami-announce-rescheduled-dates-for-rome-delegation/">Métis National Council</a> and <a href="https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/itk-president-6-inuit-representatives-to-speak-with-pope-in-late-march/">Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami</a> soon travels to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican for events during the week of March 28. </p>
<p>On this occasion, it’s worth reflecting on a gift Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave Pope Francis when he visited the Vatican nearly five years ago.</p>
<p>During Trudeau’s May 2017 visit, he <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trudeau-pope-vatican-1.4135553">offered Pope Francis</a> a set of the Jesuit <em>Relations</em>. These are annual reports written by missionaries in what is now eastern Canada <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/jesuit-relations">from 1632 to 1672, first published in Paris</a>.</p>
<p>The Prime Minister was in Rome in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action #58. This urges the pope to <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf">apologize for the church’s role in the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children in Catholic-run residential schools</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indian-residential-schools-what-does-it-mean-if-the-pope-apologizes-in-canada-170984">Indian Residential Schools: What does it mean if the Pope apologizes in Canada?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In light of the importance of this objective and Pope Francis’s subsequent <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4110276/canada-residential-school-pope-francis-church-apology/">refusal</a> to apologize, relayed to Canadians via the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in March 2018, it’s perhaps not surprising Trudeau’s gift was briefly mentioned in news reports, but otherwise seems to have gone unremarked.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, several high-profile events of urgent concern have made headlines in the last year: the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8074453/indigenous-residential-schools-canada-graves-map/">detection</a> of hundreds of unmarked graves at residential school sites; an <a href="https://www.catholicregister.org/item/33539-bishops-apologize-for-residential-schools-and-raise-possibility-of-pope-visit-to-canada">apology</a> by Canada’s Catholic bishops; renewed calls from both <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/indigenous-leader-phil-fontaine-hopes-papal-apology-will-give-him-other-survivors-closure-1.5726034">Indigenous leaders</a> and Trudeau for a papal apology, while signs suggest <a href="https://theconversation.com/indian-residential-schools-what-does-it-mean-if-the-pope-apologizes-in-canada-170984">one may eventually be forthcoming</a>. </p>
<p>Amid these events and the Indigenous delegation’s visit, Trudeau’s gift and what was reported about it deserves more scrutiny.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Children's shoes seen on church steps with the sign 'Bring our children home.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453408/original/file-20220321-14981-1t8tjbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453408/original/file-20220321-14981-1t8tjbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453408/original/file-20220321-14981-1t8tjbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453408/original/file-20220321-14981-1t8tjbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453408/original/file-20220321-14981-1t8tjbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453408/original/file-20220321-14981-1t8tjbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453408/original/file-20220321-14981-1t8tjbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children’s shoes are seen on the steps of the Holy Rosary Catholic Cathedral in downtown Vancouver, June 8, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Stories of Jesuit missionaries’</h2>
<p>The Prime Minister’s gift can be understood as a diplomatic gesture: Jesuit texts for a Jesuit Pope, and a reminder of the long association between the Catholic Church and Canada.</p>
<p>Yet what was reported about this event, and how it framed Canadian history, contributed to sounding a discordant note in efforts towards reconciliation.</p>
<p>Media reported that in describing his gift, Trudeau called the <em>Relations</em> “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trudeau-pope-vatican-1.4135553">an essential tool for historians to understand the early years and stories of Jesuit missionaries documenting the origins of Canada</a>.” </p>
<p>This framing of the texts, with no other context, shows <a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/unsettling-the-settler-within">how the narrative about heroic settlers acting for the benefit of all, and the privileging of written records, persists</a>. This is even as Canada attempts to address past and ongoing harms of colonization. </p>
<p>This framing also echoes a long history of <a href="https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/ca/product/The-Jesuit-Relations/p/1319113117?selected_tab=Contents">western scholarly interpretation of</a> the <em>Relations</em>, including by the creators of the edition the prime minister gave to Pope Francis. </p>
<h2>1858 edition</h2>
<p>Photos of the meeting show Trudeau gave Pope Francis a 1972 reprinted edition of the “Edition de Québec,” <a href="https://archive.org/details/relationsdesjs01jesu/page/n107/mode/2up">published in 1858</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453383/original/file-20220321-14070-1derlbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a suit is seen pointing to a table and a set of books." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453383/original/file-20220321-14070-1derlbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453383/original/file-20220321-14070-1derlbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453383/original/file-20220321-14070-1derlbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453383/original/file-20220321-14070-1derlbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453383/original/file-20220321-14070-1derlbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453383/original/file-20220321-14070-1derlbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453383/original/file-20220321-14070-1derlbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gestures to gift of the Jesuit ‘Relations’ given to Pope Francis at the Vatican in May 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This edition was, according to journalist <a href="http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cote_augustin_13F.html">Augustin Côté</a>’s preface, the result of numerous requests by his fellow Québécois for someone to yield to feelings of patriotism and reissue the texts following a fire in the Québec parliament that destroyed a large collection of original editions in 1854.</p>
<p>Côté described doing so as “rebuilding this historic monument of our ancestors” (<em>réeédifier ce monument historique de nos ancêtres</em>). His words reflect a vision of his work as preserving and glorifying settlers’ legacies. </p>
<p>From my perspective as a scholar who has researched these texts, a description of the <em>Relations</em> better suited to the occasion might have acknowledged how they set the tone for the centuries of abuse that followed. </p>
<p>The texts did this by ridiculing or dismissing the beliefs and customs of Innu, Wendat, Haudenosaunee (most commonly discussed in the <em>Relations</em>) and other Indigenous Peoples and insisting on the superiority of the settlers’ own cultures — a theme in the texts <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/masters-and-students-products-9780773545137.php">that I wrote about in my 2015 book</a>. </p>
<p>The early Jesuits, and their relationships with wider church structures, certainly deserve scrutiny in Canada’s ongoing reckoning with the harms of colonization, and as contemporary <a href="https://jesuits.ca/press-release/a-dialogue-guide-for-reconciliation-with-indigenous-peoples-from-indignation-to-action">Jesuits continue to examine their responses to the call for reconciliation</a>.</p>
<h2>Acknowledging Indigenous presence, influence</h2>
<p>Even better would have been for Canadians to hear Trudeau tell a more complicated story, and describe Indigenous Peoples’ effects upon the Jesuits’ efforts to document events. At least as reported, his comments did not mention Indigenous Peoples in relation to the texts.</p>
<p>It may be obvious that <a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/huron-wendat">Indigenous Peoples’ histories</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822393832-003">in multiple formats</a>, offer different perspectives than those written by 17th-century Jesuits, and that these accounts should have a central place in public discourse. It may be less obvious that the Jesuit texts themselves sometimes reveal the early missionaries’ dependence upon Indigenous communities, as well as traces of Indigenous influence.</p>
<p>Related sources like letters, journals and draft reports <a href="https://doi.org/10.2357/PFSCL-2019-0004">sometimes credit Indigenous people</a> with gathering information that appeared in the <em>Relations</em>, where no mention of their role is made.</p>
<p>Recently I reread the <em>Relations</em> in preparation to write a new book about the texts. I noticed how often they mention how Indigenous networks enabled the movement of information that eventually appeared in the published reports. Indigenous people frequently carried correspondence between far-flung missionaries. </p>
<p>There are also cases where the texts include what is presented as material dictated by Indigenous people. While it’s essential to consider how these words were filtered through Jesuit translation practices and biases, it’s no exaggeration to say that the Jesuits’ reports would have looked very different without countless choices made by Indigenous people. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three people seen sitting at a table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453397/original/file-20220321-5945-yad6gh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453397/original/file-20220321-5945-yad6gh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453397/original/file-20220321-5945-yad6gh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453397/original/file-20220321-5945-yad6gh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453397/original/file-20220321-5945-yad6gh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453397/original/file-20220321-5945-yad6gh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453397/original/file-20220321-5945-yad6gh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wilton Littlechild, former Grand Chief of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, and a residential school survivor, (centre) is one of the AFN delegates scheduled to visit Rome. Littlechild is seen here in his role as a commissioner for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, with fellow commissioner Marie Wilson and commission chair Justice Murray Sinclair in December 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Long effects of narratives, encounters</h2>
<p>Acknowledging how Indigenous Peoples shaped the creation of texts doesn’t excuse the harms enacted <a href="https://doi.org/10.5149/9780807899663_martin.10">by missionary narratives</a> that dismissed and degraded Indigenous spiritual worldviews and identities or generated long-standing harmful stereotypes — whether in the 17th century or since. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.utoronto.ca/news/introducing-susan-hill-director-centre-indigenous-studies-u-t">Mohawk scholar</a> <a href="https://indigenousstudies.utoronto.ca/person/susan-hill/">Susan Hill</a> has critically examined depictions of the Haudenosaunee in the <em>Relations</em> and cautions <a href="https://dailyorange.com/2019/03/professor-discusses-negative-media-portrayal-haudenosaunee-historical-events/">it’s important to be careful with how these narratives are used</a>.</p>
<p>But considering Indigenous Peoples’ effects on the Jesuits’ efforts to document events does suggest that it ought to be possible to talk about the <em>Relations</em> and similar texts in different ways today: By acknowledging ongoing Indigenous agency and presence, Indigenous effects on Indigenous-settler relationships <a href="https://concilium-vatican2.org/en/original/2019-04-07/">or Indigenous Christian practices and faith</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indian-residential-school-findings-how-diverse-indigenous-communities-deal-with-grief-and-healing-163415">Indian Residential School findings: How diverse Indigenous communities deal with grief and healing</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Telling more complicated stories about the <em>Relations</em> and texts like them won’t erase the past or compensate for the harms of colonialism. </p>
<p>But with renewed calls for a Papal apology growing louder and a visit to Canada <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/pope-francis-canada-visit-1.6226682">by Pope Francis</a> expected, it’s worth considering whether efforts to enlist powerful institutions like the Catholic Church in reconciliation have been helped or hindered by what Canadians hear about these early written records. </p>
<p><em>If you are an Indian Residential School survivor, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179258/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Micah True receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>It is worth considering whether efforts to enlist the church in reconciliation have been helped or hindered by how settlers think about early written records.Micah True, Associate Professor of French, Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, University of AlbertaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1752122022-02-10T15:39:02Z2022-02-10T15:39:02ZTrudeau should have withdrawn Canada from the 2022 Beijing Olympics after reports of Chinese residential schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443595/original/file-20220131-23-11bdif3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5751%2C3819&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tibetans use the Olympic Rings as a prop as they hold a street protest against the 2022 Winter Olympics in Dharmsala, India on Feb. 3, 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/trudeau-should-have-withdrawn-canada-from-the-2022-beijing-olympics-after-reports-of-chinese-residential-schools" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Last June, Canada’s delegation to the United Nations was part of an international effort calling for UN inspectors to have <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/china-canada-un-calls-investigation-crimes-indigenous-uyghurs-1.6075025">free and unfettered access to China’s Xinjiang region</a> to assess reports of human rights violations against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims. </p>
<p>Chinese UN representative Jiang Duan promptly <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/china-canada-un-calls-investigation-crimes-indigenous-uyghurs-1.6075025">fired back</a>, noting that Canada “robbed Indigenous people of the land, killed them and eradicated their culture.” </p>
<p>The truth is, the Chinese government is taking a page out of Canada’s cultural genocide handbook in Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia — extinguishing multiple cultures within their borders. </p>
<p>With the 2022 Beijing Olympics underway, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-diplomatic-boycott-winter-olympic-games-1.6277773">refusal to support a full boycott</a> of the Games is perplexing. </p>
<h2>Ongoing colonialism</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0097700421995135">Settler colonialism</a> is a specific kind of colonization where settlers seek to not only displace Indigenous people, but <a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/stolen-lives-indigenous-peoples-canada-and-indian-residential-schools/chapter-3/killing-indian-child">replace them entirely</a>. </p>
<p>In Canada, this has <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/oka-crisis">included armed assault</a>, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aboriginal-reserves">geographical displacement</a> and the eradication of Indigenous culture and fragmentation of families (as was done through <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools">the residential school system</a> and the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/cbcdocspov/features/the-sixties-scoop-explained">60s scoop</a>). </p>
<p>China has used settler colonialism to destroy Uyghur and Tibetan cultures, moving large numbers of Han settlers <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv28x2b9h.13">into Xinjiang</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26921467?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">and Tibet</a>. </p>
<p>International affairs scholar <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/our-authors/roberts-sean-r">Sean R. Roberts</a> and anthropologist <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1326761032000176122">Uradyn Bulag</a> have labelled Chinese efforts in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia as settler colonialism.</p>
<p>As international relations scholar <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2018.1534801">Dibyesh Anand</a> explains: “The basic premise behind development in contemporary China is not the empowerment of these peoples but their disempowerment, by making them dependent on the state, by destroying their traditional ways of being, and by taking away their dignity, ultimately through state violence.”</p>
<p>And Anand isn’t alone. Academics are pointing to ongoing settler colonialism along China’s borders. Identifying China as an imperial state, anthropologist <a href="https://www.aup.nl/en/book/9789463728713/frontier-tibet">Carol McGranahan</a> argues that the regime’s settler colonialism has inflicted “dispossession and domination, including the loss of state sovereignty.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman wearing a head covering reaches out with a metal scoop into a bag of dried herbs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443570/original/file-20220131-117572-1kwgbea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443570/original/file-20220131-117572-1kwgbea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443570/original/file-20220131-117572-1kwgbea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443570/original/file-20220131-117572-1kwgbea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443570/original/file-20220131-117572-1kwgbea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443570/original/file-20220131-117572-1kwgbea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443570/original/file-20220131-117572-1kwgbea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Uyghur woman who fled China for Turkey works in her shop in Istanbul.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Canada, the Indian Residential School system <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-in-the-past-colonialism-is-rooted-in-the-present-157395">and colonialism are often framed as in the past</a> — but the last <a href="https://www2.uregina.ca/education/saskindianresidentialschools/gordons-indian-residential-school/">school closed less than 30 years ago</a>, and colonialism is still ongoing.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1450124405592/1529106060525">Truth and Reconciliation Commission</a> published <a href="https://irsi.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/inline-files/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf">its final report in 2015</a> detailing the horrific atrocities that occurred at Indian Residential Schools and its ongoing impact on communities. </p>
<p>The report also included <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf">94 calls to action</a> that must be completed as steps toward reconciliation — in six years however, <a href="https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform-single/beyond-94">only 13 calls have been completed</a>. </p>
<p>Summer 2021 was a period of reckoning for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/jun/27/canada-must-reveal-undiscovered-truths-of-residential-schools-to-heal">many Canadians as they faced the horrific truths</a> dredged up by unmarked graves at former Indian Residential Schools. And Canadians are still reckoning with the country’s acts of genocide as more <a href="https://bc.ctvnews.ca/potential-remains-found-in-93-spots-at-b-c-residential-school-but-some-children-will-be-unaccounted-for-even-after-investigation-1.5753439">unmarked graves continue to be found</a>. </p>
<p>We’ve now begun to face the realities of whats been happening in our own country, but we must maintain that same expectation in our relationships abroad.</p>
<h2>Concerning parallels</h2>
<p>For hundreds of thousands of children in China, being taken away from their homes and placed in boarding schools is a grim reality. </p>
<p>A recent report by the <a href="https://tibetaction.net/campaigns/colonialboardingschools/">Tibet Action Institute</a> estimates that the Chinese government is forcing three out of four Tibetan students into boarding schools and separating up to 900,000 children from their families. </p>
<p>The goal, explains the Tibet Action Institute, is to “eliminate Tibetan identity and supplant it with a Chinese nationalist identity in order to neutralize any resistance to Chinese Communist Party rule.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People standing in a line wearing blue masks with red hands painted across the mouth area" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443571/original/file-20220131-27-15cauw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443571/original/file-20220131-27-15cauw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443571/original/file-20220131-27-15cauw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443571/original/file-20220131-27-15cauw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443571/original/file-20220131-27-15cauw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443571/original/file-20220131-27-15cauw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443571/original/file-20220131-27-15cauw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Student activists wearing masks with the colours of the pro-independence East Turkistan flag protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia in January 2022 to demand the cancellation of the Beijing Olympics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia, traditional language education is being eradicated. In Xinjiang in particular, more than <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4438757/china-uighur-muslim-interment-camps-xinjiang/">a million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims</a> are forced into political “re-education camps,” used for “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2018.1507997">coercive social re-engineering</a>” compatible with the government’s aim to promote a universal Chinese culture within its borders. </p>
<p>Many children of detainees are sent to state-run institutions where they are “<a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691234496/the-war-on-the-uyghurs">raised ostensibly as Han children in a Chinese-language environment with Han child rearing methods adopted by the state as standard</a>.” </p>
<p>Should we — as Canadians — be shocked? That’s partly how settler colonialism works: domination has its regional differences, but the broader patterns are mostly the same.</p>
<h2>The prime minister hasn’t learned</h2>
<p>It seems Trudeau hasn’t learned as much as he should have from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Because here we are, with a prime minister who refuses to take a political stance against what is happening in China. </p>
<p>His approach, which borders on disinterest, diminishes <a href="https://theconversation.com/amid-more-shocking-residential-schools-discoveries-non-indigenous-people-must-take-action-161965">the efforts made by Canadians to address their own country’s wrongs</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/2022-winter-olympics-will-help-beijing-sportwash-its-human-rights-record-154911">2022 Winter Olympics will help Beijing 'sportwash' its human rights record</a>
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<p>Following Chinese UN representative Jiang Duan’s condemnation of Canada’s human rights record at the UN, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-trudeau-challenges-china-to-publicly-probe-its-mistreatment-of-uyghurs/">Trudeau asked</a>: </p>
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<p>“In Canada, we had a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Where is China’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission?” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Although Trudeau did appear to see the parallels between China and Canada, and Canada’s quest for truth and reconciliation, he still stopped short of withdrawing the nation from the 2022 Beijing Olympics. </p>
<p>The Olympics will undoubtedly draw attention away from the Chinese government’s genocidal policies, permitting the authoritarian regime “<a href="https://theconversation.com/2022-winter-olympics-will-help-beijing-sportwash-its-human-rights-record-154911">to sportwash</a>” its reputation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175212/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The similarities between ongoing settler-colonialism in China and the history of settler-colonialism in Canada are frighteningly similar.MacIntosh Ross, Assistant Professor, Kinesiology, Western UniversityJanice Forsyth, Associate Professor, Sociology & Director, Indigenous Studies, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.