Tag Archives: apology

Module 2: Post 5 – Apology by Prime Minster Stephen Harper to the Residential School Survivors

In June 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper officially apologized to the Indigenous peoples of Canada for removing children from their homes and forcing them to attend residential schools in an effort to assimilate Indigenous children into the dominant culture.

In his apology Harper acknowledges that the residential school system was created on the assumption that Indigenous languages and culture were inferior to the dominant culture. He noted that this assumption/belief was wrong and had caused harm to Indigenous communities.

Harper also includes in his apology statistics regarding the number of schools, locations of schools as well as the involvement of various Christian churches in the running of the school.

What is curious to me is Harper’s statement that ‘some’ of these children died whilst attending residential schools. In many reports the death rate at residential schools was of serious concern. It has been noted that due to poor sanitation, hygiene, and access to medical care, death rates at residential schools was on average around 25 – 30%. Often times, the practice was to send children who were critically ill home. In some schools the death rate of students who returned home was as high as 74%.

Harper goes on to recognize the damaging effects of the residential school system on individuals, families and Indigenous communities. He then apologizes for ‘Canada’s role in the Indian Residential Schools System.’

Harper ends his speech with a discussion of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its role in educating all Canadians on residential schools and forming a new relationship between Canada’s Indigenous peoples and Canadians.

Module 2: Post 4 – Apology by the Prime Minister to the Stolen Generations

Leave a reply

In February, 2008, Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia, apologized to the Aboriginal peoples of Australia for the government’s policy of removing children from their homes and putting them into care in an effort of assimilate the Aboriginal children into the dominant culture. This apology was one part of the healing process for the thousands of people who had been affected by this policy that existed for nearly 100 years.

On the occasion of the Prime Minister’s apology, Lola Edwards, one of the Stolen Generations, shares her memories of being taken from her family at the age of 4 and then reunited with her mother decades later when she was an adult. Edwards has an interesting statement near the end of the interview where she does not seem concerned with the reaction of Australia to the apology, rather she is more concerned that all citizens are aware of the Stolen Generations – that they know this part of Australia’s history. She notes that she could feel ‘bitter and twisted’ because of what happened, but that she doesn’t. She goes on to say, “This is the history of Australia. This is the real history of Australia. This is what happened in Australia.”

Module 1

Leave a reply

Like many of us, my elementary school in New Brunswick had a number of aboriginal children in attendance. At the time, my feelings toward my aboriginal classmates were dictated by the actions of the aboriginal students towards myself and others in the class/school, and we were mostly afraid. The aboriginal students didn’t want to be there (I realised later) and it showed.

I have often thought back to those days and I have an interest in finding out more information about school and education systems that were put in place (or attempted) for the aboriginal children in my area. Thus, I am looking at researching into the history of residential schools in Canada.

1. The CBC has an article that is a pretty good starting point for information on the residential school history. This page is from 2008 but contains an archive of links for further information.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/a-history-of-residential-schools-in-canada-1.702280

2. Wikipedia, though certainly not always a reliable source, contains a list of residential schools in Canada.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_residential_schools_in_Canada

3. UBC has an indigenous foundation with a wealth of information on residential schools and includes a good list of recommended resources, from books to websites and different organisations.

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

4. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) has the following mandate “The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada has a mandate to learn the truth about what happened in the residential schools and to inform all Canadians about what happened in the schools.”

The organisation’s site has a wealth of resources and artefacts that will prove useful in a better understanding of what happened in these schools and the Canadian government’s role in their development and forced attendance.

http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=4

5. Just recently media reported findings that over 3,000 aboriginals died in dormitories in residential schools in Canada. The majority of deaths were due to the spread of disease. From the Spanish Flu to the spread of TB, the dorms were apparently a perfect breeding ground for disease.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/at-least-3-000-died-in-residential-schools-research-shows-1.1310894

Module 1 – Post 3 – A Sorry State

Leave a reply

I strongly recommend taking the time to watch this documentary by Canadian filmmaker Mitch Miyagawa. With a Japanese-Canadian father, an Aboriginal step-mother and a Chinese-Canadian step-father and three official Canadian government apologies to his family, he asserts that he has the most apologized to family in the country. His exploration of his family history and the meaning of an apology is at times funny and light and at others very moving and heart wrenching.

http://ww3.tvo.org/video/184814/sorry-state

A couple of the conclusions he comes to are:

There is a difference between an apology and acknowledgement. Sometimes, the acknowledgement is more important than the apology.

Apologies are more about the future than about the past. It’s about much more than just saying something.

Apologies, acknowledgement, stories and all the memorials and other ways we have of dealing with the mistakes of our past, they aren’t about endings, they’re about beginnings.