The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC)
The word “insightful” is the best way to describe my experience during the TRC events hosted in Vancouver and on the UBC campus. The purpose of the TRC is to learn the truth about the mistreatment of Aboriginals during their days in residential schools with the intention for assimilation; from that, it helps the population of Aboriginals in Canada to heal and move on to a journey of rediscovering their identity as First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. At first I was unaware about the purpose of the TRC, as I always felt that Social Studies in high school did in fact educate us about the history of Canada and the role of Aboriginals, often associated with the terms: assimilation, residential schools, and reserves. Now that I have participated in various TRC events and learned the truth about the horrors and injustices done to the Aboriginal children at residential schools, I feel that the education aspect of Canadian history does not fully cover the significance, truth and harm done to Aboriginal population. Through the TRC planned events, I gained a valuable perspective towards understanding interconnections between the terms listed above. Except now I do not simply see them as terms but as restrictions to freedom and to their cultural identity.
Hearing about the long history of abuse that Aboriginal children suffered at residential schools is heartbreaking. On the other hand a visit to the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery exhibition of “WITNESS: Art and Canada’s Indian Residential Schools” was overwhelming with mixed feelings of anger, helplessness, depressed, and on some levels confusion. I expected to walk into a sea of silence with artworks displayed around the gallery. That was not the case at all; instead there was music the video, Savage, 2009 (Lisa Jackson). The singing of an Aboriginal mother in her native language sets the overall atmosphere within the walls of the gallery. While the dance performance in the classroom is the perfect contrast to the mother’s singing. It shows the lack of freedom and the silence of their language. To overcome that restriction they dance and using body language to show their discontent with residential school system.
Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Portrait of a Residential School Girl, 2013
Savage also shows the transformation that the Aboriginal little girl undertook, from long hair to cutting it short, a hairstyle identical among the girls at the residential schools. In Free Your Mind, 2007 (Tania Willard) the haircut process from what I perceive to be is to get rid of the girl’s identity as an Aboriginal. The birds flying out of the girl’s hair symbolizes the loss of spirituality and value that the hair once had when it was uncut. Directly it is the hair that gets cut, but indirectly it takes her identity away as well. However, Portrait of a Residential School Girl, 2013 (Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun) speaks truth about identity. The Aboriginal children may have their appearance re-adjusted to look no longer like an Aboriginal but the fact is that they still bleed the blood of an Aboriginal, carry, and embody a spiritual aspect of Aboriginal life that can’t be replaced. Their spiritual belief gives them the ability to survive through the residential schools and become better than those who put them there in the first place. The loss of their native language was another common struggle as shown in the video Apparition, 2013 (Rebecca Belmore). Punishment was the result of any attempts to speak their language and once again shows the oppressive nature of residential schools. The silence that many of them either encountered first-hand or heard from a relative seems to of paid off as their artworks speaks for them, educating all Canadian to acknowledge the sufferings that the Aboriginal people had had to deal with during their experience in Indian Residential Schools
Children at St. Michael’s Indian Residential School. Photograph a033900, Beverley Brown fonds, Audrey & Harry Hawthorn Library & Archives, UBC Museum of Anthropology.
The lesson continues on when I land a visit to the Museum of Anthropology, and walked through the exhibition-Speaking to Memory: Images and Voices from St. Michael’s Residential School. There were photographs of the interior of present-day St. Michael’s Residential School, which were useful as a visual context of what residential schools looked like. As well as photographs of students at St. Michael Residential School, combined with statements from various students, I was able to piece together everything and get a better understanding. The most admirable aspect for me was that friendship was an important part to the students there. The photographs from E. Beverly Brown, St. Michael’s Indian Residential School at Alert Bay 1940-1944 had this quote: “Their photos give voice to students who were often silenced or made invisible. They are testament to the strength and courage of the girls and boys who attended Indian Residential Schools, and whose friendship became lifelines for one another”. Some of the statements also mention friendship through the shared activity of storytelling.
Most statements from the Aboriginal students are similar to the experiences the artists expressed through their art, which were mostly negative such as physical and sexual abuse. What surprised me was that some statements commented on their experience at residential schools to be positive such as enough food to eat, educated to read and write. These positive statements makes me wonder where residential schools would be if they took a positive route and made a positive impact towards educating Aboriginal children. From this, I made a connection to the schooling we as students receive in present day, where freedom seems to be unlimited, from course selection to dress codes to programs that help students who are different to fit in. In some ways, I feel that as Canadian students we are living the dream educational system that Aboriginals children should have got during their time in residential schools. Furthermore, the TRC events seem to of emphasized the importance of education and what I got out of it, is to not take the education that I have for granted. As I feel that it is every Canadian’s duty to use the education that they have gained into real action, and eventually give back to the global community.
Walk for Reconciliation participants filled both the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts; photograph by: YOLANDE COLE
The TRC walk on Sunday was what I consider to be the physical experience of actually being part in progress of healing and to move towards a brighter future. The weather of pouring rain definitely wasn’t pleasant to walk in but it perfectly symbolizes that there needs to be struggles, and darkness in order for people to see light. The most memorable part of the walk was the speech delivered by Dr. Bernice King, who not only inspired us to change our perspective but her words were so powerful that it made me realize how much time we spend thinking about wanting to take action for change to happen, when we should just go for it. Just like the walk itself, once I made the decision to go there was no stopping and that was my first step to actually “taking action” and be part of an incredible journey, which I believe will continue on for years to come. Not only is violence not the best way to solve problems, it is not a way to heal. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the other hand is an alternative to what non-violence change is all about. That’s why each of the individual events that I went to outlines the process to a better tomorrow; starting from the truth delivered through the visual past of Aboriginals, and then comes the apology statements, and finally the physical walk to signal us, Canadians to move on. Thank you, Truth and Reconciliation Commission for this valuable experience, and the lesson that even nations have to learn from their pasts in order to progress into the future.
-Emily K.