Four years after PM's apology, Residential Schools have lasting impact

SERPENT RIVER FIRST NATION, June 11, 2012 /CNW/ - Even four years after the Residential School apology that Prime Minister Harper made on this day in June of 2008, First Nations communities are still reeling from the impacts.

First Nations leaders are not satisfied with outcomes on reconciliation that the Progressive Conservative government has made since the apology. Many of those leaders continue to talk about the multi-dimensional impacts that this policy had imposed on the quality of life in First Nations across the country nearly a hundred years after some of these schools were instituted by Canada. And many of them are saying that the Harper government missed four years of being able to do much more.

Chief Isadore Day, Wiindawtegowinini, says that many of his First Nation citizens attended Residential School in Spanish and in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario. Some attended as far away as Kenora. "Whether or not First Nations children were placed locally or far away, the impacts were consistently the same - racial segregation, loss of language and all forms of abuse imposed," says Day. "Years of traumatic stress and effects of abuse shaped the social fabric of many of our communities. That often meant re-lived trauma and cycles of horrid abuse and family dysfunction."

Chief Day has looked at the apology in depth and says that it was a well-crafted but presumptuous apology that could be evaluated and put to the test of a "results-based" overview next year, in a fifth-year study. He encourages other leaders and First Nations advocates to bring forward a discussion on behalf of survivors and their communities. "We need to look at the apology and ask the question -- have the effects of this atrocious policy been mitigated, or do we still have work to do?" suggests Day. "If we still see poverty, abuse, apprehension of children, a gap in education outcomes and erosion of language, chances are that Canada still has work to do in further defining and resourcing its reconciliation policy."

In Stephen Harper's own words, the 2008 apology:

"Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today to offer an apology to former students of Indian residential schools.

The treatment of children in Indian residential schools is a sad chapter in our history.

In the 1870s, the federal government, partly in order to meet its obligation to educate aboriginal children, began to play a role in the development and administration of these schools.

Two primary objectives of the residential schools system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture.

These objectives were based on the assumption aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal. Indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, `to kill the Indian in the child.' Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country.

Most schools were operated as `joint ventures' with Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian or United churches.

The Government of Canada built an educational system in which very young children were often forcibly removed from their homes, often taken far from their communities.

Many were inadequately fed, clothed and housed. All were deprived of the care and nurturing of their parents, grandparents and communities.

First nations, Inuit and Metis languages and cultural practices were prohibited in these schools.

Tragically, some of these children died while attending residential schools and others never returned home.

The government now recognizes that the consequences of the Indian residential schools policy were profoundly negative and that this policy has had a lasting and damaging impact on aboriginal culture, heritage and language.

While some former students have spoken positively about their experiences at residential schools these stories are far overshadowed by tragic accounts of the emotional, physical and sexual abuse and neglect of helpless children and their separation from powerless families and communities.

The legacy of Indian residential schools has contributed to social problems that continue to exist in many communities today.

It has taken extraordinary courage for the thousands of survivors that have come forward to speak publicly about the abuse they suffered.

It is a testament to their resilience as individuals and to the strength of their cultures. Regrettably, many former students are not with us today and died never having received a full apology from the government of Canada.

The government recognizes that the absence of an apology has been an impediment to healing and reconciliation.

Therefore, on behalf of the government of Canada and all Canadians, I stand before you, in this chamber so central to our life as a country, to apologize to aboriginal peoples for Canada's role in the Indian residential schools system.

To the approximately 80,000 living former students, and all family members and communities, the government of Canada now recognizes that it was wrong to forcibly remove children from their homes and we apologize for having done this.

We now recognize that it was wrong to separate children from rich and vibrant cultures and traditions, that it created a void in many lives and communities, and we apologize for having done this.

We now recognize that, in separating children from their families, we undermined the ability of many to adequately parent their own children and sowed the seeds for generations to follow and we apologize for having done this.

We now recognize that, far too often, these institutions gave rise to abuse or neglect and were inadequately controlled, and we apologize for failing to protect you.

Not only did you suffer these abuses as children, but as you became parents, you were powerless to protect your own children from suffering the same experience, and for this we are sorry.

The burden of this experience has been on your shoulders for far too long. The burden is properly ours as a government, and as a country.

There is no place in Canada for the attitudes that inspired the Indian residential schools system to ever again prevail.

You have been working on recovering from this experience for a long time and in a very real sense, we are now joining you on this journey.

The government of Canada sincerely apologizes and asks the forgiveness of the aboriginal peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly. We are sorry.

In moving towards healing, reconciliation and resolution of the sad legacy of Indian residential schools, implementation of the Indian residential schools settlement agreement began on September 19, 2007.

Years of work by survivors, communities, and aboriginal organizations culminated in an agreement that gives us a new beginning and an opportunity to move forward together in partnership.

A cornerstone of the settlement agreement is the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

This commission presents a unique opportunity to educate all Canadians on the Indian residential schools system.

It will be a positive step in forging a new relationship between aboriginal peoples and other Canadians, a relationship based on the knowledge of our shared history, a respect for each other and a desire to move forward together with a renewed understanding that strong families, strong communities and vibrant cultures and traditions will contribute to a stronger Canada for all of us. - God bless all of you and God bless our land."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper June 11, 2008

Chief Isadore Day, Wiindawtegowinini
Serpent River First Nation
Po. Box 14, 195 Village Rd.,
Cutler, Ontario - P0B 1B0
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]t