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Tag Archives: Residential Schools

Pope Francis apologizes for the Residential School Tragedy in Canada

06 Saturday Aug 2022

Posted by michelinewalker in Amerindians, Indigenous People, Pope Francis

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

An Act of Charity, Colonialism, Genocide, Phil Fontaine, Pope Francis, Reconciling for the Future, Residential Schools, Sir John A. Macdonald, The Indian Act, The Pope's apology

Pope Francis
Pope Francis visits the Lac Ste. Anne pilgrimage site in Alberta, Canada, Tuesday, July 26, 2022. Pope Francis travelled to Canada to apologise to Indigenous peoples for the abuses committed by Catholic missionaries in the country’s notorious residential schools. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) (america.magazine.org)

—ooo—

Confederation

  • The Indian Act of 1876
  • Reserves and Residential Schools 

Pope Francis was in Canada for six days on a reconciliation mission. He has now returned to the Vatican.

In 1876, a few years after the Canadian Confederation (1867), the government of the Dominion of Canada passed the Indian Act (1876). Amerindians had to live on Reserves, and their children were forcibly taken to “Residential Schools.” The goal of Residential Schools was to assimilate native children into Euro-Canadian society, which, according to Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, required withdrawing them from the Reserves where their parents, “savages,” lived. The children were to be put in “central training industrial schools.”

When the school is on the reserve the child lives with its parents, who are savages; he is surrounded by savages, and though he may learn to read and write his habits, and training and mode of thought are Indian. He is simply a savage who can read and write. It has been strongly pressed on myself, as the head of the Department, that Indian children should be withdrawn as much as possible from the parental influence, and the only way to do that would be to put them in central training industrial schools where they will acquire the habits and modes of thought of white men.
Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future, Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (Introduction, p. 3) 
(Wayback Machine.)

—ooo—

Origins

  • Missionnaries in New France: conversions & acculturation
  • Canadian Confederation
  • The Indian Act of 1876: no negotiation

According to the documents I have read and supplied, the story of Residential Schools begins in New France. At first, I did not understand how residential schools originated in New France. I now believe the reference to New France is about its missionaries. Conversion to Christianity was a form of acculturation. But the French married Amerindians.

So, to my knowledge, there were no Indian Reserves before Canadian Confederation and children were not forcibly removed from their parents to attend Residential Schools. These events unfolded after the passage of the Indian Act of 1876. Residential Schools dated to 1880 and were not closed until the last quarter of the 20th century.

However, legislation transforming Amerindians into Euro-Canadians precedes the Indian Act of 1876, but it was not implemented. A list of relevant legislation is included in the Indian Act of 1876 (precursors and amendments). Therefore, by 1876, after Canadian Confederation, the ground was laid for the Indian Act. The Province of Canada (1841-1867) passed the Gradual Civilization Act of 1857, but the Gradual Enfranchisement Act of 1869 followed Canadian Confederation (1967). The Indian Act of 1876 differed from earlier legislation because it was imposed rather than negotiated. Treaties were negotiated.

Assimilation & Abuse

  • Devaluation
  • Neglect
  • Programmed assimilation as genocide

Children who lived in Residential Schools were to be assimilated into the dominant Euro-Canadian culture. First, they were not allowed to speak a native language. If they did, they were punished. As a result, they viewed their language as inferior to Euro-Canadian languages, mainly English, which was a devaluation of their person.

The assimilation of native children into Euro-Canadians was objectionable, but abuse, including sexual abuse, was devastatingly harmful. These children had been separated from their parents and had no one to go to, so it was all too easy for the staff of Residential Schools to use their wards to gratify sexual urges unpunished and remorselessly. Sexual abuse is an egregious invasion of one’s privacy.

In fact, neglect alone can cripple a child. No one looked after these children if they had a headache, toothache, flu, or chapped lips. Many died and were buried in unmarked graves as though they had never lived.

The Science of Neglect, Harvard University


Genocide

  • Residential Schools
  • The Indian Act of 1876 itself
  • Neglect

On the plane taking him back to Italy, Pope Francis spoke of a “genocide.” The Pope had not used the word “genocide” when he was in Canada, but on the plane, looking back, the word came to his mind. There had been a genocide, and most schools were administered by the Catholic clergy. Children were born in Residential Schools. What happened to these babies? As noted above, neglect during childhood may harm a child permanently. Moreover, after Confederation, many indigenous women were forcibly sterilised. It also became easy to lose one’s status as an indigenous. A list of policies can be found under the Indian Act of 1876. However, the Indian Act itself aimed to eliminate Amerindians, and many died.

Documents, including hundreds of photographs, implicating the Oblates have been found at the Vatican.

https://www.msn.com/fr-ca/actualites/quebec-canada/des-centaines-de-photos-li%C3%A9es-aux-pensionnats-sont-retrouv%C3%A9es-chez-les-oblats-%C3%A0-rome/ar-AA10bHtC?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=51654cc330aa4291862db15ea9c3f229

Phil Fontaine, Assembly of First Nations (Wikipedia)

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission

  • Phil Fontaine
  • Royal Proclamation of 1763

Phil Fontaine has been a leader in the movement that ended Residential Schools. Phil Fontaine negotiated a massive settlement for the victims of a major violation of human rights. Canada’s Indigenous population used the Royal Proclamation of 1763, the appropriate document. When Nouvelle-France fell to Britain, citizens of the Thirteen Colonies and would-be settlers rushed west with land grants. Chief Pontiac and other Amerindians push them back. Pontiac’s War was merciless and understandably so. Jeffery Amherst was attempting to spread smallpox, and disease that could have eliminated North America’s aboriginals. George III of England created a large reserve to protect Amerindians and settlers. Canada’s natives are using the Royal Proclamation of 1763 to validate their claims. That document is entrenched in the Constitution of 1982.

Phil Fontaine is

[a]n advocate for human rights, and a survivor of residential school abuse, Fontaine’s crowning achievement to date is the residential schools settlement. At $5.6 billion in individual compensation, Fontaine negotiated the largest settlement in Canadian history – for the largest human rights violation in Canadian history – arising out of the 150-year Indian residential school tragedy. (See National Speakers Bureau.)

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established to compensate survivors and initiate a new and healthy relationship between natives and the nations that settled in Canada.

Between 2007 and 2015, the Government of Canada provided about $72 million to support the TRC's work. The TRC spent 6 years travelling to all parts of Canada and heard from more than 6,500 witnesses. The TRC also hosted 7 national events across Canada to engage the Canadian public, educate people about the history and legacy of the residential schools system, and share and honour the experiences of former students and their families. (See Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Canadian Government.)

Pope Francis in Canada

  • An Act of Charity

Although most Residential Schools were administered by Catholics, Pope Francis did not have to come to Canada on a penitential mission. Residential Schools were created by John A. Macdonald’s government. However, Phil Fontaine and other Amerindians went to the Vatican to invite him, and Pope Francis, who understood the importance of travelling to Canada, accepted the invitation. He recognised the wrongs committed by the Catholic administrators of Residential Schools. He apologised everywhere he travelled and used the word “genocide” to describe a tragedy.

The Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church, yet he spoke directly and informally with people who have suffered immensely. He mingled with Canada’s Natives and its Métis people, which was more than a formal apology. Pope Francis may have played the most significant role in a process favouring a dialogue that would lead to reconciliation. It was to that end that Canada established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. There simply could not be a more exemplary gesture than Pope Francis’s visit in a process called Truth and Reconciliation. The Pope, an older gentleman losing his mobility, apologised humbly in the name of the Church and he showed compassion. We witnessed an act of charity.

Conclusion

  • Colonialism
  • A throwback to the Age of Discovery
  • Imperialism

In the 19th century, many Euro-Canadians would have looked upon North American natives as “savages” who should be civilised. However, Canada did not begin in 1867. The French would not have survived without the help of Amerindians. They provided snowshoes and canoes to the legendary voyageurs. The French could not otherwise harvest furs, New France’s gold.

The way Sir John A. Macdonald implemented Confederation was a throwback to the Age of Discovery. He acted like a conquistador. Canada’s indigenous population, its “savages,” were sent to Reserves, and their children were forcibly taken to Residential Schools. However, Sir John A. Macdonald lived in the 19th century. At that time in history, the British Empire was the mightiest. Britain’s might led to concepts such as the “rights of Englishmen” and considerable self-entitlement. Cecil Rhodes wanted to paint the world “red,” the Empire’s colour and India‘s Thomas Babington Macaulay favoured instruction in the English language. It was called Macaulayism. (See An Analogue, at the foot of this post.)

I cannot think of a nobler and more charitable mission than Pope Francis’s visit to Canada. Canadians were blessed.

RELATED ARTICLES

  • Aboriginals in North America (a page containing several posts) ⬅️

Sources and Resources

  • “The Most Profound Images …” (america.magazine.org) SJ ⬅️
  • Vatican News (images) (go to YouTube and type Vatican news)
  • Pope Francis Apology
  • The Royal Proclamation of 1763, Indigenous Foundations, Arts, UBC
  • The Indian Act of 1767, Indigenous Foundations, Arts, UBC Foundations, Arts, UBC
  • Reserves, Indigenous Foundations, Arts, UBC
  • Residential Schools, Indigenous Foundations, Arts, UBC 
  • The Constitution Act, Indigenous Foundation, Arts, UBC
  • Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future, Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (Introduction, p. 3)
  • Wayback Machine

Image(s) from Vatican News (go to YouTube Vatican News)

Love to everyone 💕

Pope Francis in Canada (go to YouTube and type Vatican News)

_________________________

An Analogue

In India, Thomas Babington Macaulay (1900-1859) advocated a system of education consistent with Britain’s in nearly every way, including the training of teachers and the use of English as the language of instruction:

India's Macaulayism, by which indigenous Indian educational and vocational customs were repressed, included the replacement of the Persian language with the English language as the official language of instruction in all schools, and the training of English-speaking Indians as teachers. (See Macaulayism, Wikipedia.)

England had a “civilising mission.”

We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect. To that class we may leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of the country, to enrich those dialects with terms of science borrowed from the Western nomenclature, and to render them by degrees fit vehicles for conveying knowledge to the great mass of the population.
(See Macaulayism, Wikipedia.)

According to professor Kapil Kapoor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, India‘s educational system still “marginalise[s] inherited learning.”

Kenojuak Ashevak‘s Dog

© Micheline Walker
6 August 2022
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July 1st: Confederation

01 Thursday Jul 2021

Posted by michelinewalker in Canadian History, Confederation, Indigenous People, Quebec history

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Benjamin West, Cecil Rhodes, Imperialism, Indian Act of 1876, Indian Reserves, Manifest Destiny, Pensionnats, Residential Schools

Amérindien et Habitant (ameriquefrancaise.org)

—ooo—

the remains of 182 children…

The remains of 182 children have been found in British Columbia. The school was a Catholic Residential School. A total of 1,148 bodies have been found during the month of June.

This is the message I received:

J’ai pensé que vous seriez intéressé par cet article que j’ai trouvé sur MSN : Une autre communauté autochtone de C.-B. dit avoir découvert des restes humains (http://a.msn.com/01/fr-ca/AALCWls?ocid=se)

I added a Conclusion to my last post. It reads:

“The native depicted in the image at the top of this post does not look powerless. As for Benjamin West’s native, he is a ‘Noble savage.’ Did Canada need the Indian Act? Canada Day, a celebration of Confederation, is fast approaching. But Confederation led to the creation of Indian Reserves and Residential Schools. Moreover, Quebec became the only Canadian province where the language of instruction could be French or English. The British Empire was at its zenith.”

Imperialism is very much to blame. Cecil Rhodes wanted to paint the world red, the colour of the British Empire. So, I suspect the architects of Confederation also wished to paint Canada red. Besides, they feared Manifest Destiny, an American form of imperialism. Manifest Destiny alone invited the federation of Canadian provinces and the purchase of Rupert’s Land. Unfortunately, unity dictated uniformity. To this end, Amerindians were to be stripped of their identity. The events that followed Confederation were brutal and genocidal. The French could not leave Quebec. Why?

The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West, 1770
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Conclusion

I suspect more bodies will be found. However, the comforting thought is that other Canadians will help pull Amerindians out of this nightmare. They are in schock, but so are other Canadians. As you know, I have Amerindian ancestry. In the early years of New France’s history, its motherland was slow in sending women across the Atlantic. “Survival” is the keyword in Canadian literature, in both French and English. Margaret Atwood‘s book, entitled Survival (1972), is insightful and it has remained popular and informative reading.

We are returning to Les Anciens Canadiens where the myth of the Noble savage is well and alive. We will read The Good Gentleman, Chapter IX, Le Bon Gentilhomme, Chapitre X. In Les Anciens Canadiens, monsieur d’Egmont depicts Amerindians as more civilized than the white.

RELATED ARTICLES

  • La Saint-Jean-Baptiste & Canada Day (6 July 2015)
  • Jean-Vincent d’Abbadie, baron de Saint-Castin (11 Septembre 2011)
  • Canada’s Residential Schools (26 June 2021)
  • Alexis de Tocqueville & John Neilson: a Conversation, 27 August 1831 (13 May 2021)
  • Canadiana.1 (page)
  • Canadiana.2 (page)

Sources and Resources

Les Anciens Canadiens (ebooksgratuits.com). FR
Cameron of Lochiel (Archive.org ), Sir Charles G. D. Roberts, translator. EN
Cameron of Lochiel is Gutenberg [EBook#53154], Sir Charles G. D. Roberts, translator. EN
Une Colonie féodale en Amérique: l’Acadie 1604 – 17 (Rameau, Google Books)

Love to everyone 💕

Residential Schools (TRC means Truth and Reconciliation Commission)

Cecil Rhodes and the Cape-Cairo railway project. Rhodes aimed to “paint the map red” (red representing the British Empire).
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
30 June 2021
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Canada’s Residential Schools

26 Saturday Jun 2021

Posted by michelinewalker in Amerindians, Canadian History, First Nations, Racism

≈ Comments Off on Canada’s Residential Schools

Tags

Amerindians, Canada, Imperialism, Residential Schools, The Indian Act of 1876, the Noble Savage

Amérindien et Habitant (ameriquefrancaise.org)

The picture above is not related to Les Anciens Canadiens, except indirectly. Aubert de Gaspé refers to noble savages in his chapter entitled The Good Gentleman.

I published this photograph in a post about Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont‘s visit to Lower Canada (1831). We may be looking at an Amerindian selling fur to an habitant. Amerindians loved blankets and, as we can see, haut-de-forme (high) hats. These were made of beaver skin. In Nouvelle-France, Amerindians often wanted alcohol in exchange for their pelts, which quickly led to addiction. Amerindians could not tolerate alcohol. François de Laval (1623-1807), the Bishop of Quebec, threatened to excommunicate persons giving alcohol in return for pelts. This picture is entitled Habitant and Winter Sleigh, which suggests art produced after the “conquest.” Is our habitant holding a bottle?

Residential Schools for Amerindians

A few weeks ago, the remains of 215 Amerindian children were found outside a residential school (un pensionnat) in Kamloops, British Columbia. At Marieval Residential School, in Saskatchewan, 751 bodies have now been found in unmarked graves. These children cannot be identified. Canadians will continue to dig and investigate. Both the Kamloops and Marieval residential schools were operated by Catholic orders.

Canada: Remains of 215 children found buried near Kamloops Indian Residential School – CNN

‘We will not stop until we find all of our children’: Discovery of 751 unmarked graves only the beginning, say Saskatchewan Indigenous leaders | The Star

This happened at a time in history when Amerindians were not considered “civilized.” A Gradual Civilization Act was passed in 1857, but it was not active until the passage of the Indian Act in 1876. Would that we could say that viewing Amerindians as uncivilized has ended.

Conclusion

The native depicted in the image at the top of this post does not look powerless. As for Benjamin West’s native, he is a “Noble Savage.” Did Canada need the Indian Act? We are nearing Canada Day, a celebration of Confederation. But Confederation led to the creation of Indian Reserves and Residential Schools. Moreover, Quebec became the only Canadian province where the language of instruction could be French or English. The British Empire was at its zenith.

—ooo—

Love to everyone 💕

Marc-André Hamelin plays Mozart
The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
26 June 2021
updated 27 June 2021
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Confederation Reconsidered

06 Monday Jul 2020

Posted by michelinewalker in Canadian History, First Nations, Fur Trade, Indigenous People

≈ Comments Off on Confederation Reconsidered

Tags

Canadian Confederation, Indigenous Canadian, Louis Riel, Red River Rebellion, Residential Schools, Sir John A. Macdonald

45.409621
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Rupert’s Land: Amerindians, Métis, and the Red River Colony

14 Sunday Jun 2020

Posted by michelinewalker in Aboriginals, Canada

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Louis Riel, Métis, Red River Rebellion, Residential Schools, Rupert's Land, Sir John A. Macdonald, The Earl of Selkirk, the Hudson's Bay Company, the Orange Order, The Royal Canadian Mounted Police

a man wearing a microphone

Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation

Above is a picture of Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. Mr Adam claims he was the victim of police brutality, which is unacceptable. However, although they may be the very devil, I would hesitate to put The Royal Canadian Mounted Police on trial. In my life, they have done what the police is supposed to do: to protect and to serve.

—ooo—

In fact, the killing of George Floyd has led to accusations, resignations, dismissals, or a form of revisionism. Some of these are convincingly justifiable, others, less so. There can be no doubt that there are rotten apples in nearly every basket, but although racism is a serious problem in the United States, I could not extend the term “racist” to every American. Too many Americans oppose racism for me to generalize. Moreover, Barack Obama, an African-American, was elected to the Presidency of the United States and proved one of its finest presidents.

Macdonald, Sir John A.

Sir John A MacDonald (The Canadian Encyclopedia)

 

cbb299c8-c0b7-460c-add9-2e245342dc9b (1)

The Métis provisional government (Wikipedia)

Aboriginals in Canada

  • Rupert’s Land
  • The Royal Charter of 1670
  • Aboriginal title
  • What of the Red River Colony?

I nevertheless researched the topic of Aboriginals in Canada and Blacks in Canada. However, this post is about the indigenous people of Canada. It cannot go further. It is about Amerindians after Confederation and the “purchase” of Rupert’s Land from the Hudson’s Bay Company, chartered in 1670. In Wikipedia’s relevant entry, by virtue of the Royal Charter, Rupert’s Land, which was bought by the first four confederated provinces of the future Canada, could not include territory already settled and inhabited by the indigenous people of North America.

However, this did not settle the issue of Aboriginal title over the land. At the time the Royal Charter was granted in 1670, the Crown did not have the authority to give jurisdiction of sovereignty over the territory already settled and inhabited by the indigenous people of North America.
(Rupert’s Land, Wikipedia)

Therefore, it appears that, by virtue of the Royal Charter of 1670, the “purchase” of Rupert’s Land by the first confederated provinces precluded settling land that was settled by the indigenous people of North America.

For that matter, could the first four provinces of the Canadian Confederation resettle the Red River Colony? The Red River Colony was established by the Earl of Selkirk who purchased and settled the Colony to give a home to dispossessed Scottish crofters (See Crofting, Wikipedia). However, the Red River Colony was soon home to retired voyageurs, and to several members of the disbanded Régiment de Meuron and De Watteville Régiment. These were Swiss mercenaries and veterans of the War of 1812. The Red River Colony was multicultural and bilingual. It was also home to English-speaking Métis and French-speaking Métis. It was Louis Riel’s Canada, officially bilingual and bicultural, and eventually described as multicultural. But it wasn’t so until the Official Languages’ Act was passed, in 1969. The Red River Colony was bought and settled land.

There are times when “officials” act too quickly, but under the Royal Charter, could the Red River Colony be part of Rupert’s Land?  This is questionable. Yet, after the purchase of Rupert’s Land, descendants of United Empire Loyalists rushed west to get land. But it was not a Wild West.

Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald first began planning a permanent force to patrol the North-West Territories after the Dominion of Canada purchased the territory from the Hudson’s Bay Company.
(See The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Wikipedia.)

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police was established in 1873 and was first named the North West Mounted Rifles and renamed the North-West Mounted Police. Although Quebec and Ontario have their own provincial police corps, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is Canada’s national police force, so, as soon as it was appointed, settling west in Canada was policed. But, in a policed Canada Amerindians were nevertheless sent to reservations and French-speaking Canadians had to live in the Province of Quebec because of the Orange Order. Sir John A. MacDonald and three other Prime Ministers of Canada were members of the Orange Order.

In an earlier article, I quoted the Canadian Encyclopedia:

Its members generally viewed Roman Catholics and French Canadians as politically disloyal or culturally inferior.
(See Orange Order in Canada, The Canadian Encyclopedia.)

I will close by stating, once again, that the purchase of Rupert’s Land was not consistent with the Royal Charter. Officials may not have read the details or may have reached an agreement that ignored the Royal Charter. Land was taken that belonged to Amerindians. They were not given a word to say, nor were the Métis. As for the use of French outside Quebec, the Orange Order (Wikipedia), Orange order (The Canadian Encyclopedia) would not allow it. They had no tolerance for the French and despised Catholics. Four Prime Ministers of Canada were Orangemen. Louis Riel’s Canada was born in 1969, when the Official Languages Act was passed, but Amerindians have lived on reservations, and I wonder whether this arrangement was the best. Confederation was followed by sending children to Residential Schools. Canada’s aboriginals were compensated for the harm inflicted on children who attended these schools.

During the years I taught at Saint Francis Xavier University, a young woman came to talk to me. She was taking a course I taught. She told me she was Amerindian and that she would therefore pass the course. I could not understand what she wanted. In the end, I had to tell her that I did not base grades on race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, religion, etc., but on the quality of one’s performance. She could, however, come to see me, if she experienced difficulties with the subject matter. She could also phone me at the office or at home. I would help.

Before closing, I should note that there is confusion concerning the word “race.” In French, race means “breed” and “race.” In l’abbé Lionel Groulx’s L’Appel de la race (The Call of the Race) race is breed or roots. I never included L’Appel de la race as necessary reading in my classes on French-Canadian literature. However, it is central to what is called “la question des écoles,” French-language schools outside Quebec, an issue one cannot remove from the discussion.

A discussion of the War of 1812, is relevant to both the Amerindian and Métis populations. Individual Amerindian chiefs negotiated treaties with the White. The famous Tecumseh opposed these treaties. He favored a centralized body of indigenous people. Tecumseh was killed on 5 October 1813, at the Battle of the Thames during the War of 1812.

There is/was racism in Canada and there were racial wrongs. Many Chinese died building a rail road across ranges of mountains. Moreover, the Japanese were sent to camps. As for the Indigenous people of Canada, they had a right to their land, and French-speaking Canadians should have been allowed to move west. They faced the school question, la question des écoles, which takes us back to Louis Riel. It is possible that the Royal Charter was amended officially, but I doubt it.

I must read further, but for the time being, I would urge demonstrators to be extremely careful. Covid-19 could kill millions. Demonstrations are very dangerous.

RELATED ARTICLES

  • Aboriginals in North America (page)
  • Racism in Canada: Notes (8 June 2020)
  • Gabriel Dumont, a Métis Leader (10 May 2018)
  • The Métis in Canada (4 June 2015)
  • The Red River Settlement (30 May 2015)
  • Canada’s Amerindians: Enfranchisement (24 May 2015)
  • Residential Schools for Canada’s Amerindians (21 May 2015)

Sources and Resources

The Canadian Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
Britannica
Newspapers
http://nationtalk.ca/story/featured-video-of-the-day-joseph-boyden-on-louis-riel-and-gabriel-dumont

Love to everyone 💕

© Jean-Marc Philippe Duval, studio Spinner, Nancy – SACEM, Paris.

BB1568zS

Theresa Tam, Canada’s Top Doctor

© Micheline Walker
Micheline Bourbeau-Walker, PhD
14 June 2020
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Residential Schools for Canada’s Amerindians

21 Thursday May 2015

Posted by michelinewalker in Aboriginals, Canada

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

French Régime, Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, Phil Fontaine, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Récollets and Jesuits, Residential Schools

800px-Cloitre_recollets_Saverne(Bas_Rhin)

Former Récollet Cloister, Saverne, Alsace. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The story of residential schools for Canadian aboriginals has two beginnings. The first is the missionary zeal of Récollets and Jesuits under the French régime. As for the second, it is the establishment of Residential Schools, which began in the 1880s. The very last of which closed its doors in 1996.

In 1966, the Canadian Government opened its Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, first known as the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and, after a fiasco, the White Paper, Amerindians who had been placed in Residential Schools were slowly but progressively rehabilitated and compensated, as per the Royal Proclamation of 1763, their Magna Carta. The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement is the largest ever paid by the government of Canada: 1.9-billion.

The French Régime

  • Récollets
  • Jesuits
  • Jesuit Relations (1632 – 1672)
  • The Canadian martyrs
  • Black Robe

Our narrative dates back to the French Régime, when France deployed priests to New France, Récollets (c. 1615) and Jesuits, from 1632 to 1763. The Récollets were displaced by the Jesuits. In the case of missionaries, there was no settlement, but martyrs: the eight Canadian Martyrs.

The Jesuit Relations: Martyred missionaries

The Jesuit Relations, the yearly report Jesuit missionaries sent to New France, from 1632 to 1673, tells the story of 8 missionaries tortured to death by Iroquois, except for Noël Chabanel, killed by a Huron. They are René Goupil, Isaac Jogues, Jean de Lalande, Antoine Daniel, Jean de Brébeuf, Noël Chabanel, Charles Garnier and Gabriel Lalemant. All died between 1642 and 1649. Amerindians had their own spiritual beliefs, but were being told otherwise.

Cover of the Jesuit Relations, 1632 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cover of the Jesuit Relations, 1662-1663 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Black Robe, directed by Bruce Beresford

Black Robe, directed by Bruce Beresford (Photo credit: Google Images)

The best 0f intentions

This is a sad story because Récollets and Jesuit missionaries were convinced their religion was the only true religion and that it alone could redeem mankind, guilty of the original sin. In their eyes, they were therefore saving Amerindians.

In 1991, Bruce Beresford  directed a film entitled Black Robe.  It was based on a novel by Irish-Canadian author Brian Moore. It shows ambivalence on the part of Father Laforgue as to whether or not Amerindians should be converted. I had inserted a few minutes from the film, but the video has been removed. You may never find the time to see this film, but it has to be mentioned. Black Robe is an Australian and Canadian production, filmed in Quebec.

http://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/31/books/the-ordeal-of-father-laforgue.html

The Red River Colony

Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, who settled the Red River Colony, also had the best of intentions. He wanted to find land for Scottish crofters who were being displaced by their landlords and many of whom were in fact homeless. But that is another story. (See Highland Clearances, Wikipedia.)

Residential Schools

“Residential schools were government-sponsored religious schools established to assimilate Aboriginal children into Euro-Canadian culture.” (See Residential Schools, the Canadian Encyclopedia.)

They were established in 1880 by the Canadian government, and, as mentioned above, the last of these schools closed in 1996, several years after the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development was created, in 1966.

The Hope of Aboriginal Leaders

Instruction: forced, assimilative, incomplete

  • poorly-prepared teachers
  • an unbalanced curriculum
  • the hope of Aboriginal leaders

Persons who taught in residential schools were not necessarily trained teachers. Because these were religious schools, the curriculum often reflected the teachers’ wish to convert aboriginals to Christianity and the concomitant denigration of these children’s spiritual beliefs, the beliefs of their tribes. (See Residential Schools, the Canadian Encyclopedia.)

Consequently, by and large, children attending these schools were seldom provided with the balanced curriculum that could lead to their entering a profession. Where would pupils go upon completion of their studies in residential schools?

Therefore, although some Aboriginal leaders “hoped Euro-Canadian schooling would enable their young to learn the skills of the newcomer society and help them make a successful transition to a world dominated by the strangers” (see Residential Schools, Canadian Encyclopedia), pedagogically, there could not be a genuinely “successful transition.”

In other words, this was not lofty interculturalism, vs multiculturalism, aimed at intercultural competence. (See Interculturalism, Wikipedia.) This was acculturation and students were not immigrants to a new land. They were First Nations, Métis and Inuit  students who were on their own land and were not allowed to speak their language among themselves, which was humiliating and could make them feel their language was inferior.

Their education was incomplete. In fact, children spent half the day in the classroom and the other half, working. The Canadian government relied on various Churches (Catholic, Anglican and what would be the United Church of Canada) to fund the schools. In fact,

“[a] First Nations person lost status or ceased being an Amerindian if they graduated university, became a Christian minister, or achieved professional designation as a doctor or lawyer.” (See Indian Act, Canadian Encyclopedia.)

Residential school group photograph, Regina, Saskatchewan 1908

Residential school group photograph, Regina, Saskatchewan, 1908 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Qu'Appelle Indian Industrial School, Saskatchewan ca. 1885. Parents of First Nations children had to camp outside the gates of the residential schools in order to visit their children.

Qu’Appelle Indian Industrial School, Saskatchewan ca. 1885. Parents of First Nations children had to camp outside the gates of the residential schools in order to visit their children. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Abuse

  • isolation
  • mistreatment
  • physical, emotional and mental abuse
  • sexual abuse

Residential School, with possible exceptions, were second-rate institutions Aboriginal children were forced to enter. Many were kidnapped and once they were in school, they could not see their parents, nor members of their Reserve for long periods of time. Parents camped outside these schools in the hope of seeing their children. In many residential schools, children were not allowed to go home for the summer holidays. Being separated from their parents and community must have crippled many of these children.

Moreover, pupils were assigned dangerous menial tasks and slept in crowded dormitories. Consequently, the mortality rate among these children was alarmingly high (tuberculosis and influenza [including the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918-19]). They were poorly fed and poorly dressed. Their clothes could not keep them warm when it was cold and cool when it was too warm, which is possible even in Canada. They were physically mistreated and sexually abused, an ignominy from which very few children could recover.

Some Amerindians have fond memories of their years in Residential Schools. There are exceptions to every rule. However, former First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine does not have fond memories of the residential school he was sent to. He has yet to recover fully from mistreatment and sexual abuse. He even approached Pope Benedict XVI  regarding this matter. One wonders how Chief Fontaine survived his schooling and grew to prominence. The following link takes you to a short but very perturbing interview.

http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/phil-fontaines-shocking-testimony-of-sexual-abuse

The Location of these schools

These schools were located in the central provinces of Canada, the Prairies, as well as Northwestern Ontario, Northern Quebec, and the Northwest Territories. There were no residential schools in the Maritime Provinces where natives had already, though not forcibly, been acculturated. But, although they were not status Amerindians, Métis and Inuit were also locked up in Residential Schools.

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, an estimated 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children were kept in residential schools and, at its peak, in 1930, there were 80 such schools.

The Royal Proclamation of 1763

So what had happened to the Royal Proclamation of 1763?

You may remember that future Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, nicknamed “the little guy from Shawinigan,” proposed assimilation in his White Paper of 1969.

If enacted, the White Paper would have abolished the Indian Act of 1876 and, by the same token, the Proclamation Act of 1763 which still protected Amerindians. Therefore, Amerindians availed themselves of their special status and the then Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development was haunted for years. At any rate, the White Paper was never signed into law.

After the Oka Crisis of 1990, a Royal Commission on Aboriginal Affairs was established.

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau made sure the Canadian Charter or Rights and Freedoms was included in the Patriated Constitution of 1982. In the case of Amerindians, it was and it wasn’t. (See the Constitution Act 1982, Section 35, Indigenous Foundations, UBC).

Section 25 reads as follows:

25. The guarantee in this Charter of certain rights and freedoms shall not be construed as to abrogate or derogate from any aboriginal, treaty or other rights or freedoms that pertain to the aboriginal peoples of Canada including

(a) any rights or freedoms that have been recognized by the Royal Proclamation of October 7, 1763; and

(b) any rights or freedoms that now exist by way of land claims agreements or may be so acquired.

Section 35 reads as follows:

35. (1) The existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada are hereby recognized and affirmed.

(2) In this Act, “aboriginal peoples of Canada” includes the Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada.

(3) For greater certainty, in subsection (1) “treaty rights” includes rights that now exist by way of land claims agreements or may be so acquired.

(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the aboriginal and treaty rights referred to in subsection (1) are guaranteed equally to male and female persons.

Note the Notwithstanding and, for clarification, See:
http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/government-policy/constitution-act-1982-section-35.html

As noted above, the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement of 2007 is the largest to be negotiated in Canadian history: $1.9-billion. Prime Minister Stephen Harper also presented a formal public apology to Chief Phil Fontaine in 2008. “Nine days prior, the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established to uncover the truth about the schools.” (See Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, Wikipedia.)

I am sorry our Canadian Aboriginals were practically imprisoned in Residential Schools and that it happened in my lifetime, but Canada has apologized and all is well. Would that the suffering of Amerindians did not go beyond Residential Schools, but there is more to tell.

With kindest regards to all of you. ♥

Prime Minister Stephen Harper presents the government's official apology for residential schools to then-Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine on June 11, 2008.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper presents the government’s official apology for residential schools to then-Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine on June 11, 2008. (Photo credit: the Winnipeg Free Press)

Residential Schools

images© Micheline Walker
21 May 2015
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