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Canadians urged to confront ugly truth of residential schools


Heretic

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What's really sad is that this lasted into the 1990's.

"In the 19th and 20th century, the Canadian federal government's Indian Affairs department officially encouraged the growth of the Indian residential school system as a valuable agent in a wider policy of assimilating Native Canadians into European-Canadian society. A key goal of the system, which often separated children from their families and communities, has been described as cultural genocide or "killing the Indian in the child""

OTTAWA – The time for frank apologies for Canada’s treatment of its first peoples is over and must make way for a change in behaviour, the chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission said on the eve of his long-awaited report’s release.

“Truth and apologies are achieved through words, important words, yes,” Justice Murray Sinclair said Monday.

“But the next step, reconciliation, is achieved only by acting differently.”

Five years and $60 million have gone into the six-volume study of Canada’s residential schools, which were established in the 1840s to “take the Indian out of the child” and lasted until the 1990s.

READ MORE: Thousands march through Ottawa in walk for truth and reconciliation

Prime Minister Stephen Harper kicked off the long reconciliation process with a moving apology from the government of Canada in the House of Commons in June 2008, with the commission getting off to a wobbly start the following year.

The original cast of three commissioners all resigned before the project hit its stride, eventually visiting hundreds of communities and hearing testimony from 7,000 survivors.

“Many survivors’ stories remain difficult to hear, or even to comprehend,” Sinclair said of the litany of physical, sexual and mental abuse that too often characterized residential schools.

“But we cannot permit discomfort to prevent us from accepting the truth. Rather, it should set the course towards our actions in future.”

About 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Metis children were taken from their families and forced to attend residential schools, with some 80,000 still alive today.

WATCH: NDP challenges Feds’ attempt at First Nations reconciliation

MO_QP_Reconciliation_060115_848x480_4551

READ MORE: Justice Murray Sinclair’s parents lived residential schools experience

The report by Justice Sinclair and fellow commissioners Marie Wilson and Wilton Littlechild chronicles their stories and will provide a lengthy list of recommendations.

Education – sharing the story of the country’s dark past – is expected to feature prominently.

“There can be no reconciliation without education,” Jason Lafferty, the education minister for the Northwest Territories, told a gathering at a downtown hotel that included hundreds of residential schools survivors.

The territorial government has already developed and implemented the first comprehensive curriculum covering the history of residential schools and their legacy and it is in talks with other provincial education ministries about sharing the program nationally.

“We’re willing to offer training in school settings for teachers that are going through the trauma when they’re teaching, because it is very emotional and a very sensitive topic to talk about,” Lafferty said in an interview.

As he spoke, a woman nearby broke down, keening loudly that she had lost her son and no longer knows whether he’s alive or dead.

READ MORE: Up to 6,000 children died at Canada’s residential schools, report finds

It was a pointed reminder of the raw emotions that lie just beneath the rather celebratory atmosphere of four days of events surrounding Tuesday’s report release.

Imparting that message to the wider Canadian public is the next challenge for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Celebrated author Joseph Boyden was inducted as an honorary witness Monday, along with Sharon Johnston, the wife of the Governor General. Some 80 such honorary witnesses are charged with carrying the commission’s message out to the world.

It’s going to be a generational job, Boyden said in an interview.

“Today and the week that’s coming does not suggest that everything is done. Things are just beginning in terms of speaking to Canadians about our history.”

Boyden said his next novel will deal indirectly with the fallout from residential schools.

Perry Bellegard, the national grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations, delivered much the same message, but he’s clearly in a greater hurry, pointing to this October’s federal election as a pivotal point.

“If we do a more effective job of educating the Canadian public, there will be such a groundswell of support for change that no matter who gets in (to government) on Oct. 19, they will have to deal with this shared history,” Bellegard said at a news conference.

Prime Minister Harper will attend events Wednesday that wrap up four days of ceremonies in the capital surrounding the release of the report.

Source was June 1st, 2015: http://globalnews.ca/news/2029104/canadians-urged-to-confront-ugly-truth-of-residential-schools/

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What people don't realize is that oppression continues to have a negative effect for generations.

And yeah, if I was struggling with poverty (and didn't even have clean drinking water in many cases) I would want money too.

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What people don't realize is that oppression continues to have a negative effect for generations.

And yeah, if I was struggling with poverty (and didn't even have clean drinking water in many cases) I would want money too.

The oppression was also occurring to people who are still alive, some of whom would be in their forties. This was not ancient history.

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What amazes me about First Nations peoples in Canada is how, after everything our white supremacist country has put them through since Europeans first crossed the ocean, they are still willing to work with and share their land and resources with us.

And the fact that they are so willing is the reason why they are finally beginning to realize many corrected wrongs.

Wake up, Canadians, because you have much to learn from those you have kept down for so long.

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My faith in human intelligence continues to die a little each time I come to CDC.

Most of the posts in the thread so far seem to share this opinion, yet the one abysmally misinformed post continues to pile up the upvotes... :sadno:

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What amazes me about First Nations peoples in Canada is how, after everything our white supremacist country has put them through since Europeans first crossed the ocean, they are still willing to work with and share their land and resources with us.

And the fact that they are so willing is the reason why they are finally beginning to realize many corrected wrongs.

Wake up, Canadians, because you have much to learn from those you have kept down for so long.

This attitude is just as divisive as the ignorant folk who believe 1st Nations only want money.

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That was a bad time no arguing but treat natives in Canada like they do in the US and we will whats up.... Mostly all natives want is $$$$$

I sir am first nations, my Grandmother and her siblings were forced to attend residential school, she was witness to horrible things and she survived it, not only that, she raised a successful family and worked a long successful career, she built strong family values which mean the world to me, and I will use these to raise my own child. I dont ask for money, I work for it. To read online ignorance like yours, shows how far we have to go as a society to accept what has happened and even start working on this issue.

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I sir am first nations, my Grandmother and her siblings were forced to attend residential school, she was witness to horrible things and she survived it, not only that, she raised a successful family and worked a long successful career, she built strong family values which mean the world to me, and I will use these to raise my own child. I dont ask for money, I work for it. To read online ignorance like yours, shows how far we have to go as a society to accept what has happened and even start working on this issue.

Amen.

My mother in law also attended a residential school. (Lejac) She doesn't talk about it much, but it was obviously an extremely traumatic experience for her.

It's a testament to her strength and character that she was able to raise four well adjusted, successful children, one of whom I am proud to call my wife.

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What do they want exactly? Another sorry? Im confused. Thought this article came out last year or is a yeary appology thats due for my great great ancesters

Education would be a good start, IMO.

Did anyone here learn about this in school? I certainly did not.

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What do they want exactly? Another sorry? Im confused. Thought this article came out last year or is a yeary appology thats due for my great great ancesters

Basically this.. injustices have happened throughout history, I don't think we need to dwell on them all.

Sure - adjusting history education in public schools to represent the truth would be great. There are many other aspects of Canadian curriculum that could be changed as well while were at it..

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Basically this.. injustices have happened throughout history, I don't think we need to dwell on them all.

Sure - adjusting history education in public schools to represent the truth would be great. There are many other aspects of Canadian curriculum that could be changed as well while were at it..

What exactly is that going to change? I think natives need to start demanding more accountablility from their own corrupt leaders (like Theresa Spence) and start developing a work ethic instead of expecting the government to fix all their problems for them. You want something better you need to roll up your sleeves and work for it. We need to scrap the Indian act and the reserve system because all they do is allow for corruption among band leaders and keep the people in a perpetual welfare state.

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Basically this.. injustices have happened throughout history, I don't think we need to dwell on them all.

Sure - adjusting history education in public schools to represent the truth would be great. There are many other aspects of Canadian curriculum that could be changed as well while were at it..

It was shameful.

It's not about dwelling on it, it's about reconciliation.

Best quote I've read is this one:

Valcourt said reconciliation is not to "forgive and forget, but to remember and change."

Canadians must believe in the need for reconciliation with Aboriginal Peoples to repair the damage caused by residential schools, aboriginal leaders said Tuesday, as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its summary report and findings.

Justice Murray Sinclair, chair of the commission, called for changes in policies and programs, as well as commemoration through education and memorials, in introducing the commission's summary report and 94 recommendations.

​"Words are not enough," Sinclair said, to address the "cultural genocide" of residential schools on aboriginal communities.

"Reconciliation is not an aboriginal problem — it is a Canadian problem. It involves all of us."

Aboriginal leaders, church representatives and government and opposition leaders all acknowledged the commission's work is just the beginning, with many agreeing the history and legacy of residential schools should be part of the Canadian education curriculum.

More here:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/truth-and-reconciliation-report-brings-calls-for-action-not-words-1.3096863

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It was shameful.

It's not about dwelling on it, it's about reconciliation.

No one is saying it was not shameful. There comes a point where this becomes too much. This whole matter has been recognized and apologies have been made for decades.

What I don't like is that this cultural genocide is being treated like real genocide. It is not the same. It is not even close.

Given the atrocities that have occurred throughout the centuries and all over the world, this nations black mark pales in comparison.

Times have changed. Let's move on.

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Truth.

It's appalling that Canadians in general know so little about one of the most shameful chapters in our history.

Same here with aussie's brother.

Cracked me up last year when Adam Goodes - Indigenous AFL player- got up on the podium to accept his australian of the year award , he stated that he felt honoured and all but his people called australia day, invasion day.

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