1. Identify a significant corpus (body of texts, or singular text) of searchable educational history-related documents in your own locale or one you are most interested in (i.e. B.C., Ontario, South Africa). You can choose a fictionalized account, non-fiction narrative, historical text, a set of related documents, a report, etc. Briefly explain why you selected this as ‘raw material’ to search for how Indigeneity and Indigenous people are represented in texts that make up our knowledge about and understanding of the history of education in the locale you chose. Explain how this text might have impacted either educational history or Teacher Professional Development.
This assignment led me on a Truth and Reconciliation journey that is, and will continue to be, important for me to continue long after this assignment is complete.
For this assignment, I originally intended on choosing The Indian Act of 1876. I thought it was a good opportunity for me to read the original piece of legislation passed to control First Nations people. The Indian Act is still in effect today, so I became curious to learn more about the amendments made over the years, hoping that I could educate myself on the root of the Canadian government and Indigenous Peoples’ conflicts. This led me on a journey to learn more about the history of the Residential Schools and I became more and more enraged at how adults chose to treat the children who attended these schools.
As I read through information about The Indian Act of 1867, it became clear to me how little I knew about the oppression of Canada’s Indigenous People. After reading through information about The Indian Act, listening to videos from Indigenous voices regarding the Act, and the revisions it has gone through over the years, I learned a small part of what the Canadian Government has done in the past and realized there is so much more for me to learn. This had me continue wanting more information about the present day and how we are where we are now. I wanted to hear from the people who this affects.
As a former school teacher, I am drawn to learning as much as I can about the Residential Schools and the history of how something so horrific could have happened to so many young children. The scale of the abuse is horrendous. Furthermore, the abuse did not happen in one location, it was nationwide.
I continued learning about the Residential Schools and became curious about how UBC is decolonizing and how they, as an educational institution, are honouring their Truth and Reconciliation process. I read through the Truth and Reconciliation information on the Faculty of Education’s website and found a report entitled “What We Have Learned: Principles of Truth and Reconciliation”. The report reflects on the Truth and Reconciliation process written by The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2015, by authors Justice Murray Sinclair, Chief Wilton Littlechild, and Dr. Marie Wilson. The report calls on all Canadians to commit to reconciliation and they define reconciliation as well as provide a set of principles that provided the foundation for the 94 calls to action in the final report from the TRC.
I chose this text because it is an example of a recent report that describes how horribly First Nations children and their families were treated by the Canadian government, focusing on the abusive treatment in the Residential Schools. Thanks to a few brave people who spoke up about their experience in Residential Schools. This allowed others to come forward and share their experiences in the Residential Schools and brought their truth to light.
2. Identify a specific question you want to answer by selecting and searching this text. What is your search intended (or hoping) to illuminate?
I am hoping that my search educates me about the reality of the lived experiences of the children who attended the Residential Schools. The specific question I want to answer by selecting and searching this text is, “What have we learned about the experience of First Nations children since The Indian Act of 1876 was created and how are these learnings shaping future legislation in Canada?”
3. Identify and explain the search terms you will use.
The search terms I will use for the first part of this assignment are Indian(s), Indigenous, Aboriginal, First Nation(s), and Native(s). “Indian” references the legal identity of a First Nations person who is registered under the Indian Act. Indigenous included a variety of Aboriginal groups. Aboriginal people include First Nations, inuit, and Metis people, who are the first people who occupied Canada. First Nations is the ethnicity of people who are Aboriginal but not Metis or Inuit. Included the plural variations of the words Indian and Native to the search would include Indians and First Nations. I excluded the lowercase variation of “native” as that did not refer to specific Aboriginal ethnicity, rather referred to a person or thing from a specific place.
Here is a summary of the terms used in my first inquiry and how many times they appeared in the document:
Indian / Indians = 773
Indigenous = 74
Aboriginal = 452
First Nation / First Nations = 126
Native(s) = 43 / 8
4. Create a new question, and any additional search term/terms you think might be illuminating.
In researching Canada’s history and the roots of the Indian Act, I began to get a better picture about how the Canadian government is moving towards reconciliation. My new question that arose from this assignment was “If the Indian Act is so archaic and discriminatory and based in cultural genocide of the Indigenous Peoples, why can’t we just abolish the Act and allow Indigenous people to no longer be governed by it?
It is clear that the Indian Act, and more specifically residential schools, were created to create cultural genocide. So why then can’t we make things right by removing these oppressive laws? Why is giving self-governance, self-reliance, and self-determination to Indigenous Peoples so difficult and complicated?
5. Search and document what you find.
I’ve learned that completely removing the Indian Act would do a huge disservice to Indigenous Peoples.
There would need to be a transition period to allow for autonomous, self-governed living by Indigenous Peoples. This would create a “policy vacuum” (TVO Today, 2021). Where would the right to self-govern and be a self-reliant society fit in?
The term “residential schools” was referred to 481 times, specifically to the children’s experiences and abuses at the school. The words “Indian child” were referred to 13 times. This implied the children were “othered” in schools, telling the children that they needed to be more like the white people running the schools. Abuse was referred to 86 times, including references to sexual and physical abuse. Trauma and its various forms were referenced 13 times, mostly speaking about the children’s experiences or intergenerational trauma that these schools have caused. Genocide was referenced 9 times, mostly referring to cultural genocide.
Here is a summary of the terms used for my second inquiry and how many times they appeared in the document:
Residential Schools = 481
Indian child = 13
Abuse (including sexual and physical abuse) = 86
Trauma / Traumatizing / Traumatic / Traumatized = 13
Genocide = 9
6. Report the results (and limitations) of your search and your analysis of those results.
This report speaks from the perspectives of the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada. Their voices are represented through telling their community’s stories about what we have learned through the Truth and Reconciliation process that is currently going on in Canada. They speak about the trauma that has been experienced by children and families who attended residential schools. The government is referenced and referred to through the experience of the Aboriginal experience. The document took a look at the trauma the government inflicted in the past so that we can use this information to guide us to make things right for Indigenous Peoples in the future. The limitations of my search included stories from the voices that chose to come forward. Not all residential school survivors and family members chose to share their stories, or that they were not able to live to tell their story.
It is through education in the residential schools that Aboriginal people lost their culture, language, traditions, and ways of life. It is through education that all of us can learn about the harms of the residential schools and the truth and reconciliation process. Through education, I am hopeful that Canadians and our government can restore the damage that was done.
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References
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. (2019, Feb 7). TRC Mini Documentary – Senator Murray Sinclair on Reconciliation [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjx2zDvyzsU
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). What We Have Learned Principles of Truth and Reconciliation. https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Principles_English_Web.pdf
TVO Today. (2021, July 6). What Should Been Done About the Indian Act? | The Agenda [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns5Cgn1pREE
University of British Columbia. (2023). Truth and Reconciliation 2023. Faculty of Education. https://educ.ubc.ca/truth-and-reconciliation-2023/