Where are the Children?

The Healing Journey
Since the first school was opened in the early 1830s until the last school was closed in 1998, thousands of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children were forced to attend, in an attempt to assimilate them into the dominant culture, the church-run schools that took away their language, their culture, and their personal identity. Those children suffered abuses of the mind, body, emotions, and spirit that were so far beyond the expectations as to be almost unimaginable.

Now the stories of the survivors of the residential schools are starting to be heard, and all Canadians need to be made aware of the experiences of Aboriginal people within this ineffective and corrupt system. The devastating long-term effects of these experiences must be recognized, so that everyone - victims, victimizers, bystanders, and everyday citizens - can connect the challenges the survivors face now with the events that took place in the schools.

The children who were lost to malnutrition and disease, the children who died of poor health shortly after being released from the schools, those survivors who sought to forget their experiences, and those who sought to deny who they were because of shame and hatred; all these need the recognition that their pain and suffering was real and that they deserve restitution and healing on their own terms. As well, all the people of Canada need to know about the time in this country's history where people were abused simply because they were different.

Since the 1980s, Aboriginal people and organizations have begun to document the need for healing for the survivors of the residential school system. Within the need to help survivors heal, it is recognized that one method will not be sufficient for everyone. A variety of promising healing practices has been identified that can be effective in healing not only residential school trauma, but prior and subsequent traumas to which Aboriginal peoples have been subjected.

The need for healing does not stop with the school survivors. Intergenerational effects of trauma are real and pervasive and must also be addressed before all Aboriginal people can be free from the wrongs of forced assimilation.

Beginning in 1980, the years of silence about the abuses that children suffered in the residential schools have ended, with survivors stepping forward to tell their stories, the world finally hearing the truth about how these children were treated. Mental, physical, and sexual abuse was revealed to be rampant in the schools and those conditions spilled out into the communities and families of the victims.

More than just the telling of stories occurred, however, as the survivors started working together to form support groups and healing circles. Abusers were taken to court and found guilty of the atrocities they had committed in the schools. A chain reaction of similar events occurred from coast to coast in Canada. The churches responsible for the running of the schools apologized to the survivors and petitioned the government for strong action to "address the legacy of residential schools with greater vigour."

Agencies such as the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, were created to organize and provide healing assistance to the survivors. Today, healing initiatives "are taking place in every region of the country, in cities and small towns, on reserves and in rural, remote and isolated communities."

Cultural Reclamation
Among the most profound effects of the residential school system is the loss of language and culture. The insistence of the schools on speaking only English (or English and French in Quebec) and the outlawing of Aboriginal ceremonies created a profound gap in the retention of cultural knowledge. There are almost certainly losses of cultural components that will never be regained because the ones who carried the information had no one to pass it on to due during the turbulent years of the residential school system.

However, the time has now come where the survivors of the abuse and miseducation of the residential schools are speaking out about their experiences and the rest of the world is now listening. A resurgence has begun across the country that shows Aboriginal culture, traditions, and language being resurrected from the ashes of the dark days of attempted assimilation. Activities "aimed at renewing and reviving Aboriginal cultures contribute to individual and community healing."

Elders, as the primary source of cultural knowledge, are sharing their memories of the ceremonies and dances that never truly disappeared, but were hidden for a time. The oral tradition of storytelling is finding renewed popularity among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal groups alike. In this way, young people can learn about the past, about the old ways, and about how people are connected to each other and to the world they live in.

The importance of these connections is paramount in Aboriginal world views, and they are used in relation to the holistic approaches to healing that are taking place across the country. According to an Aboriginal Healing Foundation report, "youth are finally interested in learning about culture and the Elders have an audience and most important, play a vital key in our community."

Sharing circles, healing circles, smudging, Sundances, the Potlatch, Pow-wows, and many other ceremonies have been revived in the last few decades, providing a multiplicity of positive models not only for healing, but for people to reconnect with their cultural roots. Reconnecting with culture provides a very empowering focus in life. People who have a strong sense of their culture have a concomitant sense of self. Survivors are strong and confident in who they are and what they stand for when they reclaim their culture and, for many, have that sense of completeness for the first time.

Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement
While the strides that have been made in the healing process for school survivors are extensive, it must be remembered that healing does not stand as the only action being taken. Compensation for the suffering is also a component of the restitution that is being made to survivors and their families.

The Government of Canada established both the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement's Common Experience Payment (CEP) in order to move ahead in addressing the long-standing and destructive legacy of the Indian Residential School System, which includes lateral violence, suicide, poverty, alcoholism, lack of parenting skills, weakening or destruction of cultures and languages, and lack of capacity to build and sustain healthy families and communities.

The Common Experience Payment provides direct compensation to all former students of Indian residential schools. In essence, its purposes are to avoid decades of legal confrontation and to provide a timely, symbolic out-of-court settlement. However, this payment in no way makes up for the pain and suffering of the victims of residential school abuses.

The Assembly of First Nations, in assisting survivors to understand the settlement agreement and the common experience payment, created a succinct document in May 2006 (Appendix A) that outlines the agreement and the process by which payments will be distributed. The agreement-in-principle set in place a comprehensive approach that would include: a lump sum payment for all survivors; a more efficient and effective process to deal with serious claims of abuse; a national "truth-telling" commission to bring greater understanding and awareness of this issue; expedited compensation payments for the elderly; and healing and commemoration.

Apology by the Government of Canada
By the year 2008 most of the church denominations that were responsible for the operation of the residential schools in Canada had publicly apologized for their role in the neglect, abuse, and suffering of the children placed in their care. Most of these organizations apologized through their national offices, except for the Catholic Church who left it up to individual dioceses to make apologies.

In June of 2008, the Federal Government of Canada also apologized for their historical role in the residential school system (Appendix B). By saying "we are sorry," Prime Minister Stephen Harper acknowledged the Canadian government's role in a century of isolating native children from their homes, families and cultures.

Harper called residential schools a sad chapter in Canadian history and indicated that the policies that supported and protected the system were harmful and wrong.

In order to make the apology as public as possible, Parliament stopped regular proceedings and the galleries were filled with school survivors. Many more people listened from outside the Parliament buildings and across the country through a live television broadcast. Native leaders entered the House of Commons with Harper and sat to hear his speech, wherein he took responsibility on behalf of the federal government for cultural loss and patterns of abuse that resulted from the schools' policy.

After Harper spoke, leaders of the other government parties replied, as well as responses from Native leaders. Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief, Phil Fontaine (Appendix C), spoke about the need for equality between racial groups. "Brave survivors, through telling their stories, have stripped white supremacy of its legitimacy," he said. "Never again will this house consider us 'the Indian problem' just for being who we are. What happened today signifies a new dawn in the relationship between us and the rest of Canada . . . We are all part of one garment of destiny. The ties that bind us are deeper than those that separate us. We still have to struggle, but now we are in this together."

For the thousands of survivors watching from across Canada, the government's apology was an historic occasion, though the response was mixed. The Aboriginal leaders who heard the apology from the floor of the House of Commons called it a "positive step forward" "even though the pain and scars are still there."

Most believe there is still much to be done. "The full story of the residential school system's impact on our people has yet to be told," said Grand Chief Edward John of the First Nations Summit, an umbrella group of B.C. First Nations."

In Winnipeg, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs hosted an event that featured performers who are children or grandchildren of residential school students. Outside of Edmonton at the River Cree Resort, people gathered to watch the apology at an event that featured an aboriginal comedian, singing and hoop dancing, as well as grief counsellors.

Abuse survivor Charlie Thompson watched the apology from the House gallery and said he felt relieved to hear the Prime Minister acknowledge the horrible legacy. "Today I feel relief. I feel good. For me, this is a historical day."