Editorial: Not Indigenous history, our history

'While B.C. is the first, hopefully, the other provinces will soon follow because we need to continue to put back these pages in the books of our collective library sooner rather than later.'

 

The Squamish Chief editorial staff | Mar 17, 2022 | British Columbia

Number 62 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action includes making age-appropriate curriculum about residential schools, treaties and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for schools.Paul Bradbury

Soon, all Squamish high school grads who cross the stage will be going out into the world having completed Indigenous-focused learning.

On March 4, the provincial government announced that the Ministry of Education was implementing the new graduation requirement in collaboration with the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC).

It is proposed that Grade 10 students will be the first to complete this new requirement, starting in September 2023.

The requirement applies to students in the province at public, independent and offshore schools.

B.C. is the first Canadian province to implement this requirement, which is disappointing.

This isn’t just a spontaneous altruistic decision. Number 62 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action includes making age-appropriate curriculum about residential schools, treaties and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for schools.

The history of residential schools, treaties and Indigenous contributions to the country does not just belong to First Nations.

This is our collective history, our collective culture.

Previously, our education system was like a book with pages missing.

This created a deficit in our collective understanding that was evident in the reaction of many adults to an archaeologist’s discovery of bodies on the grounds of Kamloops Indian Residential School site in Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc last May.

Elders and knowledge keepers have talked of the atrocities and deaths at these institutions for years, but this knowledge didn’t reach the masses, thus the disbelief and shock of so many.

Of course, over the last few years, First Nations learning has been integrated into what our kids learn at school.

Students can meet the new grad requirement by taking new or existing courses.

“Building awareness and understanding of First Peoples’ perspectives, cultures and histories among all B.C. students will serve as an important step toward reconciliation and an effective strategy to combat racism within the province to the benefit of all British Columbians,” said Tyrone McNeil, president, FNESC in a news release.

An online public engagement period for feedback and further consultation with First Nations is underway.

There are still many questions from teachers and parents about this requirement, but those will be undoubtedly be ironed out.

While B.C. is the first, hopefully, the other provinces will soon follow because we need to continue to put back these pages in the books of our collective library sooner rather than later.

Nothern Lights School Division to use provincial truth and reconciliation grant for language video

by Sam Campling | Mar 15, 2022 | Current News

The Northern Lights School Division will be using a provincial grant geared towards truth and reconciliation education for language preservation.

Alexis McLeod, the school division’s First Nations and Métis education consultant, said she collaborated with her colleague to decide on a worthwhile way to use the funding.

“So I asked her what was done before and what needed to be done,” she said. “So we are going to make a video promoting the Indigenous languages within Northern Lights School Division.”

McLeod said the video will showcase Cree, Michif and Dene and the students will get to be a part of it.

“By doing this project, it will help (students) with their identity and promote a positive identity within their cultures and languages.”

The province made an announcement last week that division’s could receive up to $5,000 for truth and reconciliation education. McLeod explained the video is in response to call #13 in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action.

(PHOTO: The Northern Lights School Division in La Ronge. Photo by Kandis Riese. File photo.)

 

Squamish Nation to Investigate St. Paul’s Indian Residential School for Unmarked Graves

Byron Joseph, Elder, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), who led an opening prayer, called on the crowd gathered wearing orange to come together and help one another through this difficult time, as Squamish Nation begins an investigation of the former St. Paul's Indian Residential School site. Elisia Seeber

Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) has announced it has launched an investigation into the former St. Paul’s Indian Residential School site to find answers about the children who attended the institution but never made it home.

On Tuesday (Aug 10) standing outside the site of the former institution, which once stood on the 500 block of West Keith Road in North Vancouver, Khelsilem (Dustin Rivers), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw spokesperson, said the Nation had embarked on an Indigenous-led initiative, on behalf of its people and in partnership with its relatives, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, to investigate the site for burial grounds and unmarked graves.

“We will begin that work to investigate and gather all information to honour and find those children who might not have gone home that had attended St. Paul’s Indian Residential School,” he said, adding that the work would be done with the support of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese.

Khelsilem said the investigation was just in the beginning stages and the process was still taking shape but would involve an inquiry into the site and a field investigation.

The phases of the investigation will include an interview process with survivors to help narrow down or expand investigation search areas, gathering all records related to the school throughout its history, and remote sensing searches, which may include ground-penetrating radar studies.

The announcement comes after the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation shared the discovery of the remains of an estimated 215 children in unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School at the end of May. Since then, further Nations have announced their own such findings.

As the St. Paul’s site is now home to St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary, Khelsilem said it had unique considerations in comparison to other sites being investigated, which had to be considered during the investigation, including the extensive development that has occurred at the site.

There were 18 residential schools in B.C. St. Paul’s, located next to the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh community of Eslhá7an, was the only institution in the Metro Vancouver area.

It was opened in 1899 by the federal government’s Department of Indian Affairs and was managed and operated by the Roman Catholic Religious Teaching Order, the Sisters of Child Jesus.

Over 2,000 Indigenous children, representing six generations of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ Nations, and other Indigenous communities, were institutionalized there from grades one through eight until it closed in 1959.

Children in the school were segregated by age group and gender, often not permitted to visit other family members, stripped of their culture, and punished for speaking their native languages or taking part in their cultural traditions.

Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw says oral histories told by St. Paul’s survivors include stories about children who disappeared.

“According to public records, 12 unidentified students died while attending St. Paul’s between 1904 and 1913,” the Nation said in a release, adding that the goal with the investigation is to find the location of each of these children and “bring them home to rest.”

Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw held a private gathering on Monday (Aug. 9) to tell members that the work was beginning at the site.

“This work is really sacred and really important to our people and, first and foremost, this work is about protecting and helping our survivors,” Khelsilem said. “They’re first in our minds, as we begin this work.”

James Borkowski, the archbishop’s delegate for operations for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver, who spoke on behalf of Archbishop Michael Miller, said the work to uncover the truth had already begun over the past two months, and “continues as an urgent priority.”

Earlier this summer, the archbishop shared an apology and a firm commitment on behalf of the local Catholic Church, to provide immediate supports and co-operation in ensuring that all documents related to residential schools be made available and accessible.

“We have much to learn and act on, as we hear from the Nations, and community members in this journey of truth and reconciliation related to the church’s historic and damaging role with residential schools,” Borkowski said.

“Our hope as Catholics is that our Creator will give us the courage and strength to follow the truth wherever it takes us.”

On June 28, the B.C. government allocated $12 million to support First Nations throughout the province with investigative work at former residential school sites, as well as cultural and wellness supports.

Each caretaker community can receive up to $475,000 for each site.

The province has also appointed First Nations liaisons to support communities through the work.

On Aug 10, the federal government also announced a further $321 million in additional support for Indigenous-led initiatives.

Chief Jen Thomas, səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ, whose father is a survivor of St. Paul’s, said she was “grateful for the work that’s going to be done” saying it was the “start of our healing journey for our survivors.”

Chief Wayne Sparrow (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) added on behalf of his community that “we’re going to work with each and every one of you to get to the truth.”

He acknowledged all Nations involved, both the federal and provincial governments and the Catholic Archdiocese for stepping up to do the work.

“The only way that we’re going to heal is doing it together,” Sparrow said.

Elder Byron Joseph of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw, who led an opening prayer, called on the crowd gathered wearing orange to come together and help one another through this difficult time.

“This is a time where our people come forward,” he said. “The ones that have been forgotten. Those are the ones we have to honour. Those are the ones these prayers are for.

“Keep a strong mind and strong heart as we go through this together.”

**By Elisia Seeber

**Source

Justice For Our Stolen Children | Squamish Nation releases powerful video (Canada)

Teepees at the Legislative grounds return, with a permit this time

One of the organizers of the Justice For Our Stolen Children camp looks back on the protest during National Indigenous Peoples Day.

Alec Salloum | Jun 21, 2021 

North and west of the Saskatchewan, Canada and United Kingdom flags flying at the Saskatchewan Legislative Building on Monday sat two teepees, one flying the Kahnawake Warrior Society flag.

On National Indigenous Peoples Day (NIPD), Prescott Demas was in Wascana Park near two teepees and a musician playing songs on an acoustic guitar to a crowd of spectators.

It was a marked difference from NIPD in 2018, when, three days after being removed by force from the Justice for Our Stolen Children Camp by the Regina Police Service, Demas and his fellow activists returned to the park to continue their protest.

The teepees were set up on the West Lawn of Wascana Centre following the new bylaws brought in by the Provincial Capital Commision on June 21, 2021. Photo by TROY FLEECE /Regina Leader-Post

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Headlines

'215 empty chairs': North Van schools create touching displays after Kamloops discovery

Squamish Nation survivor of Kamloops residential school shares her story

Healing circle held for Tsleil-Waututh Nation Elders following Kamloops discovery (PHOTOS)

 

'In their silence, they woke the world': Squamish Nation releases powerful video

“We are the original caretakers.

"We are still here.

“We are the children and grandchildren of stolen lives. And we will not be buried." 

The video ends with Squamish Nation Elder Jackie Gonzales saying, “In their silence, they woke the world" and 215+ appearing on the screen. 

The short but impactful video was produced by Ayás Mén̓men team leader and filmmaker Calder Cheverie, along with McReynolds and Hailey Jacobs in youth services, with the support of other team members.

There were 139 residential schools in Canada including 28 in B.C. where thousands of Indigenous children were forced to attend, stripped of their culture and language, and subjected to brutal treatment as part of a program to assimilate them into Canadian society, which began in the late 1800s. It wasn't until 1984 that all residential schools in the province were closed down; the last one in Canada didn't close until 1996.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission says the exact number of children who died "may never be known, but the death rates for many schools, particularly during times of epidemic or disease, were very high." Through its work with survivors and Aboriginal organizations on the Missing Children Project, the TRC has identified more than 4,100 children who died at institutions across Canada so far. 

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