Tag Archives: st. joseph’s

St. Joseph’s Memorial – Weblog 3 – 4

Events for St. Joseph’s Reunion

http://www.splatsin.ca/wp-content/uploads/SJM-COMMEMORATION-COMMUNIQUE-December-21-2012.pdf

This site shows the planning of the committee which culiminated in a memorial in May of 2013. It’s purpose was to help facilitate the healing process as St. Joseph’s residential school was one of the more horrific schools. The interesting point was it was organized by the Esketemc First Nations. It also shows that St. Joseph’s drew from 15 First Nation communities and operated, officially, for 90 years.

The first event was put on by SD27 (Cariboo-Chilcotin) and I knew a few people that attended and said it was extremely informative.

The original funding for the memorial came from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. However, additional funding was raised through events. It also shows that SD27 used their Professional development day as a focus on residential schools. I am not sure if that is accurate as the date sited is in April, so it may have been a non-instructional day.

It discusses the unveiling of the monuments and what can be done in the future as it pertains to education around the residential school issue in William’s Lake. It also discusses the book (although the title was changed) They Called me Number One by Bev Sellars a recount of her time at St. Joseph’s.

This document will not be used in my project as a source, however, it was valuable as it clearly demonstrated the work that went into the day. It is also important to note that the day, although initially funded by TRC, was also completely organized by the School district and the Esketemc First Nations.

An additional thing that came from this event was the idea for a day in September to become an annual remembering residential schools day. This year it will be on Sept. 30 (I think) and orange t-shirts will be worn and teachers are being asked to discuss residential schools in classes on that day. I have been in contact with both my Aboriginal teacher liaison and Principal for an event to occur in my library on that day. Every little bit helps.

The Residential School System

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The Residential School System

http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/government-policy/the-residential-school-system.html

This website, through the University of British Columbia (shout out!), is an excellent look at the residential system in BC and Canada. It discusses the purpose of the residential school which was to assimilate and destroy culture. As the site points out it was to, “kill the Indian in the child.” It stated in the 1880s, with the church assuming the role of educator and forcing theological beliefs on children who were uprooted from their homes. The site discusses the torment these children faced on a daily basis: abuse, which was physical, psychological, and sexual . It also outlines the inferior education the children received, often only to grade 5 and preparing the children for a life in agriculture or wood working. It was not until the 1990s that churches began to recognize their part in this destructive ploy.

The site is a great source because it also outlines the ‘need’ for residential schools. The government of the time believed in order to settle Canada, the Aboriginal population needed to be reformed and the best way to do that was indoctrination at an early age. They went as far as to make it illegal for First Nations to attend schools which were not residential. The conditions at the residential school also highlighted the capabilities the government thought Aboriginal children possessed. Work was geared toward practical ability: sewing, carpentry and farming. Ironically, for a school, it was so unfocused on education that many students only reached grade 5 by 18 years of age. Many children died to the unsanitary conditions faced at residential schools, yet the value placed on Aboriginal life was so low the schools continued for a century.

In the late 1950s the government finally began to treat these institutions more like a school and began to hire qualified staff, and the 80 years of mistreatment was swept under the rug. The worthlessness created by these schools is still in communities today. As an aside, when St. Joseph’s finally shut down many non-Native peoples had no idea what when on because that implied worthlessness still lingered in 1981.

This site will be very valuable to my project because it outlines why the government felt the need to create residential schools and always demonstrates how the schools created a sense of despair and worthlessness in many Aboriginal communities. Many Aboriginal people are still reluctant to attend schools and are distrustful of schools due to the horrifying repercussions these schools caused. I hope to glean from this site some of the overt means of making students ashamed of their culture and some of the not-so-overt means of destroying self worth.

Module 2 – Weblog 5 – Abuse and Cover-up

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Weblog (Mod 2 – WL5)

http://www.nwac.ca/sites/default/files/reports/InstitutionalAbusePublicResponse.pdf

This website from the Native Women’s Association of Canada, in 1992, and it documents how the government refuses to look into residential schools and call for an inquiry.

It focuses on schools which have faced allegations of sexual abuse and the redress as a result. These include: Mount Cashel by the Newfoundland government, the Ontario government’s investigation into the St. Joseph’s Training School for Boys, and the British Columbia government’s inquiry into the Jericho Hill School for the Deaf.

At the time of the documentation, only St. Joseph’s in Williams Lake had an active RCMP investigation into the sexual abuse at the school. Two convictions were handed down, but at that time no inquiry was made into the school, no arranged of compensation offered, and, as the document points out, no real outcry from the non-Native community.

The document points out that in addition to the government refusing to inquire or apologize for the residential school, churches have not been much more forthcoming than the government. Although some churches have apologized, no compensation has been made available.

The four aforementioned schools are discussed, at length, by the article, but it is the Williams Lake school much brought me here. In 1989, Father Harold McIntee was convicted of sexually assaulting 17 boys over a 25 year period at the school. One year later, Brother Doughty (a Roman Catholic official) was convicted of 5 counts of gross indecency and indecent assault, for instances that occurred between 1961 and 1967.

The article also documents a study done by Roland Chrisjohn from Guelph University on the graduates of St. Joseph’s was published and I will try to get my hands on it for my project.

One facet of the article intrigued me about St. Joseph’s. The article states Williams Lake was more concerned about the lumber market that the residential school. I will delve into that a little more and see f there is any substance to that allegation. If so, I wonder if was collective shame that caused that response. A school with that many students and things like that happening over a long time period, the people in the Cariboo had to know, right?

I will use this document in my research to outline the government’s slow response to addressing the concerns of the survivors of residential school and the silence they tried to buy with $16 million dollars.

Moore

Module 2 – Weblog 3 Residential School Settlement

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Weblog (Mod 2 – WL3)

http://www.residentialschoolsettlement.ca/english_index.html

This website contains the entire decision for the class action lawsuit in which the government and the churches were sued by survivors of the residential schools. The website also contains a claim form so people who were unaware or for hardship reasons can still file a claim. Currently, Mistassini hostels are the focus of the claims.

What makes this site interesting is that it offers monthly updates to the claims put forth so far. The following data is directly from the site:

Update for June 5, 2013:

The Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Secretariat has posted updated statistics including details such as the amount of claims received and total compensation distributed from September 19, 2007 to April 30, 2013:

Total number of claims received:	37,767
Total number of claims resolved:	20,855
Total number of claims in progress:	16,912
Total number of hearings held:	16,968
Total Compensation:	$1,974,000,000

The update can be viewed at www.iap-pei.ca.

The next status update will be available on July 3, 2013.

The website also offers appeal forms to those who may need them. It also lists all the schools that applied to be a part of the process including the school I will focus on: St. Joseph’s.

Cariboo (St. Joseph’s, Williams Lake) St. Joseph’s Missions (Mission)

CARIBOO-ST. JOESPH’S

British Columbia Williams Lake Already Included in Settlement

Agreement

Identified as IRS #34 on CEP and IAP

I plan to use this to show the process the survivors of St. Joseph’s went through and to see if any compensation was given. This is all part of the documentation process of St. Joseph’s.

The formating on this one seems a little wonky when cut and pasted from my documents, must be due to the table…my apologies.

Moore

Weblog Module 2 – WL1 – St. Joseph’s memorial

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Weblog (Module 2 – WL 1)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/04/24/bc-st-josepho-memorial.html

This website is from the CBC and discusses the reunion of survivors of the St. Joseph’s residential school (also known as Williams Lake Indian Residential School and Williams Lake Industrial School). Closed in 1981, the school was one of the last operating residential schools in BC. The article calls for plans for a monument for survivors in the spot of the school, which has been torn down and a monument in a Williams Lake park to honour the children that died at this school.

However, there is also a link on the page to a 8 and a half minute radio interview with Andy Brice, who is the great grandson of Peter Henderson Brice, who was hired to be a health official for a smallpox outbreak. He did a 3 year study and found that Residential schools in Ontario were so bad that tuberculosis was found in up to 75% of students. Other suggestions included better nutrition, heating and ventilation.

1922 – ‘Story of a National Crime’ published. It discussed deplorable conditions in Residential Schools that Brice had seen. The pamphlet by Brice, was less than stellarly received.

This story links the deplorable conditions in BC to the deplorable conditions in Ontario and show Residential schools to be a national problem at the turn of the century.

I will use the information in my paper on Residential schools, with a focus on St. Joseph’s , to demonstrate what the city is doing as reparations.

Moore