This is the second story (or might have been the first one, I can’t remember) that sparked my interest in learning more about discrimination and racism in health care and how this happens. While I’m not an emergency room nurse, and never have been, I still find it disheartening that this still happens in today’s world. It’s disgusting and discouraging. It wasn’t even a health care professional that discovered this man dead in the waiting room chairs, it was a visitor.
His death was so easily preventable, if only someone had actually assessed him or even spoken to him to find out why he was there, instead of just making erroneous assumptions.
It is especially discouraging to hear that this happened in an area that services a large population of Indigenous people. Is this assumption so ingrained in our system that this can happen, and continues to happen? Unfortunately, this is a story that continues to happen even today.
Geary, A. (2017, September 18). Ignored to death: Brian Sinclair’s death caused by racism, inquest inadequate, group says. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-brian-sinclair-report-1.4295996
This document, In plain sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific racism and discrimination in BC health care is an important document that all health care providers in BC should read, and should be expanded for use in the rest of Canada. There is a content warning at the beginning that the document may contain subjects that could trigger an emotional response in people, as well as some resources for people so affected.
This is a message of hope, in that this has happened and continues to happen, but there are things that can be done to educate and inform all health care professionals.
I also like the way the introduction discusses ‘willful ignorance’. This concept is prevalent through our society today. There is so much available out there to listen to, to hear, and try to understand, that there is really no excuse to not be educated about Indigenous issues and context.
This report is a right step – if only it could be more emphasized in main stream health care and with all health care professionals. Making it easier to find and more pronounced on the bc gov website would be a further step forward.
White-Hill, E., & desLibris – Documents. (2021). In plain sight: Addressing indigenous-specific racism and discrimination in B.C. health care. Camosun College
YouTube channel, Vox, takes a look at the treatment of Indigenous Peoples by the United States government and their attempts to absorb and assimilate the Indigenous Peoples for the purpose of taking over the land. Part 1 talks about boarding schools and the government program’s motto at the time was to “kill the Indian and save the man”. The story raises many comparisons and similarities to what happened in Residential Schools in Canada. Part 2 talks about The Adoption Era which was something that I have not heard of before. The stories shared are shocking and talk about how the government promoted this program to further assimilate Indigenous children. What is crazy is that the adoptive families, through the propaganda promoted by the government, thought that they were doing these children a favor and that getting adopted to their family was the best thing that could have happened to these children who were ripped away from their original families.
This would be an interesting video to watch and discuss as a class to compare the US government and the Canadian government’s treatment of the Indigenous Peoples and the systems that forced the assimilation of the Indigenous Peoples to rip them from their families and strip them of their identity and culture.
This website provides stories from residential school survivors from video interviews: Janet Longclaws, Katherine Thomas, Louise Longclaws, Debra Courchene, Wandbi Wakita, Peter Yellowquill, Louise Hall, Vivian, and Karen. These videos are from the Beyond 94: Truth and Reconciliation in Canada project. All of these videos just break my heart. You can hear the pain and horror in their voice and you can see the trauma they faced by looking at their eyes. These individuals have PTSD and cannot get these flashbacks out of their head. I just can’t even imagine why anyone would do all these horrible things to another human being. It is absolutely appalling and disgusting.
As educators, it is important that we listen to these stories so that we never forget them. The truth cannot be hidden any longer. It is time for healing and the reconciliation process to fully begin. We need to all listen to EVERY story. We need to learn the truth that has been hidden for way too long. The more we know as educators, the more that we can educate our students, colleagues, family members, and our friends.
While I was exploring more on this website, I stumbled upon a teacher guide for Beyond 94: Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. There is a lot of valuable material within this guide. Topics such as education, language and culture, health, justice, reconciliation, child welfare, and activities to do in the classroom, First nation communities support, and residential school resources. The main purpose of this guide is to allow educators and their students to explore and investigate the TRC Calls to Action and the Beyond 94 site. I appreciate how this guide has follow-up questions from the residential school survivor video interviews. This could allow educators to have a class discussion about what they watched and to see if the students understood the content. It may be too challenging to comprehend for Kindergarten students but the questions could be adapted and could work for upper primary to intermediate grades.
The 7 activities that are provided in this guide focus on acknowledging territory, TRC – educating others, language, residential schools, finding evidence of Indigeneity, and language/culture, exploring child welfare, and examining justice.
For more information on residential schools, there are resources on pages 35-37. Explore them all and share with everyone.
This resource provides reconciliation activities for children that educators can do with their class. This guide starts off with introducing reconciliation, the definition, how to learn from Indigenous people, some protocols for inviting Elders into the classroom, how to communicate with parents, a sample letter for educators to send home to parents, and the activity outline that has five activities.
The five activities that are provided in this resource are the medicine wheel, the blanket exercise, memories, keeping promises, and Shannon’s dream. I like how these activities are laid out with an introduction, objectives, information about the activity and why it is important, what the teacher needs to prepare for the activity, alternatives to the activity and how to do it, and even a handout to send to parents. These would be excellent activities to do with my Kindergarten class as they would be able to learn about reconciliation, residential schools, Indigenous spirituality and culture, the relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, learning about treaties, and about the inequalities in education.
My research statement has me looking at Indigenous knowledge closely. As a middle-aged, white educator, when I think back on going through the school system, I had relatively few problems. As I research and learn about Indigenous experiences with the school system, it is clear that they did not have the same experience. Many (all) Indigenous students experience racism as it is built into the system (Lanson-Billings and Tate, 1995) and that a lot of the racism is invisible so it is difficult to bring it to the surface and address it (Hogarth and Fletcher, 2018). This is why my experience in school when I was younger was a pleasant experience, I did not know I was in a system that oppressed Indigenous people. I was in a system that legitimized the exclusion and segregation of Indigenous people into horrible institutions such as residential schools. Therefore, that horrible truth lived in the background until it was “found” by the news stories that are revealing the truths about residential schools. “We cannot begin to right a wrong, or grieve a loss, or mend a system, without first acknowledging the wrong that has been done, the loss that has occurred and the system that is broken (Hogarth and Fletcher, 2018).”
When I saw Manitoba’s new Indigenous relations minister’s comments about residential schools, I was a bit shocked! Is he a product of the same education system that I experienced? Does he really believe that residential schools had good intentions?
“Residential schooling was intended to root out and destroy Indigenous knowledge, languages, and relationships with the natural family to replace them with Eurocentric values, identities, and beliefs that ultimately were aimed at destroying children’s self-esteem, self-concept, and healthy relationships with each other and their families (Battiste, 2017, p.56).”
Therefore, I am validated in the importance of reworking my practice to be inclusive of Indigenous knowledge. I would like to expand my practice to be more inclusive to all my students. Historically, teachers are the ones that have been used to try to assimilate Indigenous peoples (Jones Brayboy & Maughan, 2009) so we can be the ones to make a change in a positive direction, one that is more inclusive.
References:
Battiste, M. (2017). Decolonizing Education: Nourishing the Learning Spirit. Purich Publishing.
Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate IV, W. F. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education. Teachers College Record, 97, 47–68.
Hogarth, K., & Fletcher, W. L. (2018). A space for race: Decoding racism, multiculturalism, and post-colonialism in the quest for belonging in Canada and beyond. Oxford University Press. (Read Chapter 1- Race, racism and antiracism in Canada– pp. 1-23).
Jones Brayboy, B. M., & Maughan, E. (2009). Indigenous knowledges and the story of the bean. Harvard Educational Review, 79(1), 1-21.
When you click Xwexwa’ls Xwe’Ilsolem precontact there are areas that educators can explore with their classroom. In this section there is the Skwolkwelt Sememlat anchor resources, Kwoles Ye Selyolexwe elder’s corner, and the Lhe’a Kw’e Slilsleqalqel tour. In this area, there is an inquiry question (What are the many ways we can acknowledge the history and knowledge of the land pre-contact and work to share the knowledge with each other?) that educators can pose to their students and open the floor for discussion. Then there are videos of storytelling that can be watched, audios that can be heard, and a visual tour of Lhe’a Kw’e Slilsleqalqel. There are also five digital resources that teachers can use to to learn about different Indigenous cultures.
When you click Staleta Skwul Residental Schools, there are also anchor resources, an elder’s corner, and a tour. Educators can learn and teacher their students about residential schools by starting with an inquiry question (What are the many ways we can acknowledge Mission’s own part in the residential school experience by giving voice to our Elders and members of our community?), using lesson plans that are provided, listening to an elder’s experience at residential schools, and then there is a tour of a residential school.
When you click Shxwyayametel Reconciliation, there are anchor resources and an elder’s corner. The inquiry question in this area is What are authentic ways we can honour the reconciliation process in our hearts, thoughts and deeds? Students can then watch videos of students who participated in acts of Reconciliation at a site of a residential school. There are also lesson plans that teachers can use for Orange Shirt Day for K-12 students. Then in the elder’s corner, an elder discusses how Reconciliation occurs today and how Sq’ewlets are learning about their history, their own people, and their significance to the Sto:lo People.
Finally, when you click Shxwi’Aylexw Saliwes Worldviews, there are anchor resources and the elder’s corner. The inquiry question is How can our exploration of Aboriginal values across the globe promote change and create a positive learning environment for ourselves, our students, our families and our land? Teachers can show their students two videos: one is a documentary of Sto:lo Peoples in the past and present and the Seven Sacred Teachings. In the elder’s corner, elder’s share their stories, knowledge, and advice with youth.
This resource would be a great addition to add to the content I teach students each year.
When I came across this article, it made me pause and consider the long-lasting effects trauma can have. Residential schools did not work, they were shut down. However, this is not the end of this story. The effects of trauma resulting from residential school will be around for a long time. This article by Mary Cuttler (2021) on CBC outlines how trauma can affect six generations.
Consider a child that was taken from their parents and forced to attend one of the residential schools. They are forced to speak a language that is foreign to them, practice traditions that are not familiar, and most heart-breaking, not get the love and affection only family can bring. A child in this situation will not have the skills to raise a child of their own. They will have no knowledge of how to care for a child because they never experienced it for themselves, they never had a chance to be part of a family. This will result in another generation of children from broken families and the cycle will continue until someone has the courage to break the cycle.
Childhood trauma even has physiological effects that can last a lifetime. Chronic stress can trigger: depression, mental illness, lowing resilience, and immune function while consistently high cortisol levels can cause: hypertension, diabetes, chronic pain, and heart attacks.
Therefore, the lingering effects of trauma are going to lead to a host of new problems that could potentially trigger even more problems that all started with residential schools.
Reference:
Cuttler, M. (2021, June 4). How residential school trauma of previous generations continues to tear through Indigenous families | CBC News. CBCnews. https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/residential-schools-intergenerational-trauma-kamloops-1.6052240.
In this TED talk, Carolyn Roberts talks about some of the Indigenous history, culture, and how to move forward in Reconciliation.
Roberts discusses the history of her family and how her three sisters and her mom went to residential schools. Her mom is unable to speak any of the languages from where she is from as she was unable to practice her language. Her mother became so shut down that she has never hugged anyone in her life. This made me extremely sad because the residential school robbed her from everything and anything. Even though residential schools are not in session today, Roberts talks about how Indigenous children are still being taken from their families. I did not want to believe it to be true but it is happening TODAY. Indigenous children are being taken from their families and put into the FOSTER CARE system and being placed into non-Indigenous homes. Roberts was put into foster care once she was born. She states that “60% of the children in foster care are Indigenous children” (TED, 2018, 6:52). Wow. Indigenous children are STILL being taken from their families. Roberts also states that “50% of Indigenous people living on reserves live in poverty [and that] 60 reservations across Canada live in boil water advisory, some have been for over 20 years” (TED, 2018, 7:54).
Roberts tells us a story about a coyote searching for his bone needle. An owl comes down to help the coyote. Owl goes in the sky to see if he can find this bone needle but can’t. Owl asks coyote, who was searching near the fire, where he had it last and he points to the bushes which was away from where he was searching. Coyote was searching by the fire because that is the only place that the fire was providing him light to see. Roberts then says, “as Canadians, what we see by the fire are the effects of our colonial system and the effects we see are the alcoholism, the drug abuse, and all that the colonial system has done to our people. We are starting to see a little more language come back but that is the easy thing that we can see by the fire. What’s going to take courage and time is to look over by the bone needle by the bushes there is a thousand piece puzzle that is made up of all that has happened in order to get to where we are today, of what we see the effects of. If I were to go over to this puzzle and take just one piece of the puzzle out. That one small piece would be the residential school system. There are 999 other pieces to this puzzle that we still need to learn about, and that we still need to educate about in order to be able to move forward in Reconciliation” (TED, 2018, 10:30). This made so much sense and it makes me want to discover what else am I unaware of. It is time to get more educated about the other 999 pieces of this puzzle.
Reference
TED. (2018, March 20). Reconciliation in your community [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x0gIYhnCPA
While exploring the BCTF website to see what they had on Indigenous Education, I came across Gladys We Never Knew: The Life of a Child in a BC Indian Residential School. This resource consists of ten lesson plans that educators can do with their students. These lessons will allow students to understand the life and story of this one Indigenous student’s life. Students will be able to understand who and why Gladys is important to us, traditional approaches, comparing Gladys’ and our life today, historical relationships, to connect to Gladys’ experience of going away to Residential school, what was faced at school for Gladys and other children, for students to appreciate their school experience from those who went to residential schools, to understand the importance of Dr. P. H. Bryce, to have students recognize when to speak up when something is wrong, to understand the injustices of the Indian Residential School system, and finally to understand the need for Reconciliation. I plan to use this lesson plan package in my classroom.
