How do we support our Indigenous people in Canada?
How can we help them move forward?
How can we move forward?
Can we move forward from such a tragedy?
As Canadians, we were all deeply shocked horrified at the recent discovery of hundreds and probably thousands of unmarked graves of Indigenous children from residential schools. Is there a way for forgiveness and moving forward? Forgiveness and moving forward how can we do this in today’s world?
On July 1st, it was an opportunity for self-reflection on what it means to me. An opportunity to self explore my own attitudes, opinions and conscious or unconscious biases.
What do forgiveness and moving forward look like for you?
It looks and feels different for everyone because each of us is different, coming from our own life experiences, trauma, beliefs systems and tools and strategies to deal with life events. None of us is perfect and clearly, our history has shown our abuses to the ‘other’.
No country has a perfect past. In recent days we have seen that Canada does not have a perfect past and although we have acknowledged it, the true horror of the residential school system and the historical trauma for our indigenous people are in the front and centre of our mindset.
We cannot deny or change your past. We cannot deny or change our country’s past. We do have a choice, however, in what we do with those lessons, with awareness of the trauma, and the victims who are surviving today helping them find their own way to move forward. Asking those important questions ‘am I a racist?’ ‘do I look at Indigenous people differently?’ ‘Do I as a shop owner treat them differently?’ Good insightful questions. If we understand a person’s past we can understand their behaviours of today.
I am not Indigenous, my parents are of Icelandic and Scottish descent and I have no personal experience with racism. As an RCMP officer watched other officers who were Native treat their own people with contempt and abuse, it was difficult to listen to their comments about ‘just another drunk Indian’ which horrified me as a junior officer. There are targeted parts of our population that have historically been subjected to racism, exclusion and cultural destruction.
I decided to read the Report of Truth and Reconciliation.
The Commission heard from more than 6,000 witnesses, most of whom survived the experience of living in the schools as students. The stories of that experience are sometimes difficult to accept as something that could have happened in a country such as Canada, which has long prided itself on being a bastion of democracy, peace, and kindness throughout the world. Children were abused, physically and sexually, and they died in the schools in numbers that would not have been tolerated in any school system anywhere in the country, or in the world.
But, shaming and pointing out wrongdoing were not the purpose of the Commission’s mandate. Ultimately, the Commission’s focus on truth determination was intended to lay the foundation for the important question of reconciliation. Now that we know about residential schools and their legacy, what do we do about it?
Collectively most Canadian are in shock and trying to come to terms with the magnitude of the suffering and wanting to ‘do something!
Reconciliation requires that a new vision, based on a commitment to mutual respect, be developed. It also requires an understanding that the most harmful impacts of residential schools have been the loss of pride and self-respect of Aboriginal people, and the lack of respect that non-Aboriginal people have been raised to have for their Aboriginal neighbours. Reconciliation is not an Aboriginal problem; it is a Canadian one. Virtually all aspects of Canadian society may need to be reconsidered. This summary is intended to be the initial reference point in that important discussion. Reconciliation will take some time.
There is no way to correct the terrible history of cultural destruction and the TRC way may build bridges of understanding and compassion.
Cultural genocide is the destruction of those structures and practices that allow the group to continue as a group. States that engage in cultural genocide set out to destroy the political and social institutions of the targeted group. Land is seized, and populations are forcibly transferred and their movement is restricted. Languages are banned. Spiritual lead- ers are persecuted, spiritual practices are forbidden, and objects of spiritual value are confiscated and destroyed. And, most significantly to the issue at hand, families are disrupted to prevent the transmission of cultural values and identity from one gener- ation to the next.
In its dealing with Aboriginal people, Canada did all these things.
There are 94 calls to action. This is important in the healing and moving forward journey.
It is a long document and something which we as non-Indigenous people need to read.
Acknowledging our historical past (The good, the bad and the terrible) is part of the journey of reconciliation, finding the truth, showing understanding and compassion for people who have been exposed to violence. Actually taking these recommendations and intigrating into our schools, stores, community,
People are shocked at the number of children who died in these residential schools from coast to coast. As a country, this cannot remain a silent shame, but an acknowledgement and accountability for the Canadian mentality on Indigenous people in the society of the past.
Missing Children and Burial Information
71. We call upon all chief coroners and provincial vital statistics agencies that have not provided to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada their records on the deaths of Aboriginal children in the care of residential school authorities to make these documents available to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
72. We call upon the federal government to allocate sufficient resources to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to allow it to develop and maintain the National Residential School Student Death Register established by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
73. We call upon the federal government to work with churches, Aboriginal communities, and former residential school students to establish and maintain an online registry of residential school cemeteries, including, where possible, plot maps showing the location of deceased residential school children.
Imagine going into a store, you have money yet the store staff follow you around as if you are going to steal something just because of the color of your skin! This happens to our Indigenous people and other minorities. Ask yourself how you feel about land claims? Other issues and come up in the news? Be curious about your own history which an impact on you today.
This is an opportunity to reflect on what we want Canada to represent. On how we want Canada to provide survivors and families of victims in moving forward in with their lives. Nothing can ever take away the loss in the tragedy of children being ripped from their families or the trauma of abuse and destroyed culture.
- We call upon federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to fully adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the framework for reconciliation.
It is not about our feelings of shock and or guilt, it not about us, but an opportunity for further discussion, to learn, listen, compassion, empowerment, accept and acknowledge our history and what we want our country to reflect as a nation. To be willing to let go of our unconscious biases. We cannot deny or change our past we must find ways to move forward as a nation and take responsibility for this painful part of history.