Policy & Law of Residential Schools in Canada Agapi Mavridis Speakers Bureau for Human Rights Robson Hall – Faculty of Law – University of Manitoba January 15, 2016

Today we are discussing… Residential Schools Residential Schools Brief history Brief history Government policies and laws Government policies and laws Decline of the system Decline of the system Reparation and Reconciliation Reparation and Reconciliation

Imagine being taken from your parents at the age of five. Being given a number instead of a name. Being punished for speaking the only language you know. Being cut off from your family. Imagine being a parent, and being threatened with jail if you didn’t give up your children. Imagine being cut off from your children for ten years.

Residential Schools in Canada

“I want to get rid of the Indian problem… That has been the objective of Indian education and advancement since the earliest times… Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic.” Duncan Campbell Scott, Minister of Indian Affairs, 1920

Indian Act – 1920 amendments

“When an Indian comes out of these places it is like being put between two walls in a room and left hanging in the middle. On one side are all the things he learned from his people and their way of life that was being wiped out, and on the other side are the white man’s ways which he could never fully understand since he never had the right amount of education and could not be a part of it. There he is, hanging, in the middle of two cultures and he is not a white man and he is not an Indian.” John Tootoosis, Cree leader and former student at the Delmas (Thunderchild) Indian Residential School, Delmas, Saskatchewan

Policy Responses Decline of the Residential School System

The End of Residential Schools 1940s: recognition that residential schools were ineffective 1940s: recognition that residential schools were ineffective 1969: system taken over by Department of Indian Affairs (ended church involvement), students sent home for part of the year 1969: system taken over by Department of Indian Affairs (ended church involvement), students sent home for part of the year By 1986: most schools closed or turned over to bands By 1986: most schools closed or turned over to bands The last residential school in Canada closed in 1996 (Saskatchewan) The last residential school in Canada closed in 1996 (Saskatchewan) The last residential school in Manitoba closed in 1980 The last residential school in Manitoba closed in 1980

Need for Reconciliation and Reparation Call for compensation by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples Call for compensation by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples Inter-generational impacts: loss of culture Inter-generational impacts: loss of culture On-going severe traumas: domestic abuse, substance abuse, poor educational attainment On-going severe traumas: domestic abuse, substance abuse, poor educational attainment

Legal and Policy Responses 1980s: Thousands of lawsuits sought compensation and recognition of the abuse suffered by survivors. 1980s: Thousands of lawsuits sought compensation and recognition of the abuse suffered by survivors. Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996 Gathering Strength – Canada’s Aboriginal Action Plan, 1998 Gathering Strength – Canada’s Aboriginal Action Plan, 1998 Class action lawsuits across Canada Class action lawsuits across Canada

Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, 2007 Common Experience Payment Common Experience Payment Independent Assessment Process Independent Assessment Process Truth and Reconciliation Commission Truth and Reconciliation Commission Aboriginal Healing Foundation Endowment Aboriginal Healing Foundation Endowment Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program Commemoration Initiative Commemoration Initiative Government apology Government apology

Government Apology For more than a century, Indian Residential Schools separated over 150,000 Aboriginal children from their families and communities. In the 1870's, the federal government, partly in order to meet its obligation to educate Aboriginal children, began to play a role in the development and administration of these schools. Two primary objectives of the Residential Schools system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture. These objectives were based on the assumption Aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal. Indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, "to kill the Indian in the child". Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Released its final report – December 15, 2015 Released its final report – December 15, ,000+ students attended residential schools 150,000+ students attended residential schools Statement Gathering Statement Gathering Reconciliation is about establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in this country Reconciliation is about establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in this country

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