Truth & Reconciliation

2022 Award Winning Essay by Elijah J Lawrie Glen Eagle Secondary Grade 9

As a first person of Canada, I still feel the pain from my ancestors through the stories and generational experiences from years before. First people have been oppressed and silenced under the weight of the Canadian Government and early settlers starting back to the earliest of arrivers in the16_th Century. Since then they’ve been exploited, segregated and erased from history; seen as savages and wild beasts meant to be tamed by Settlers.

John A. MacDonald, the first Prime Minster of Canada and prejudice being the reason in the early1880’s we saw residential schools start popping up coast to coast to try and eradicate these people from the inside. Some other ways they used to kill off the Indigenous population was through the Army and RCMP formed to patrol the lawless Rockies and prairies. They poisoned buffalo to starve the Metis, fur traders gave alcohol to communities and destroyed families with the addictive substance, even as far as biological warfare; smallpox, and measles. More laws and regulations came in making it harder for them to make ends meet (Pemmican Proclamation).

The residential schools started in order to convert and destroy the Native inside these children. Starting from a young age of 3 to 5, native America children would be subjected to egregious acts: molestation, starvation, beatings and manual labor. Mentally the kids were broken down. As soon as they arrived the children would be given English names –along with the cutting of their hair usually to buzz-cut length.

This removal of their cultural identity crushed the kid’s spirit. Socially these children had nothing to help them cope with this environment. Not allowed to connect with fellow children nor speak their language they had a circuit reboot. Conversion through torture and psychological methods wore these children down and along with it, their culture, changing everything less than skin color to the “white man’s beliefs”.

Catholicism was the religion being fed to these hungry children and with it came an existential crisis of clashing faiths within.

A mental genocide through breaking the link to their identity and parents leaving a void of trauma, self- hate and nowhere to belong these children couldn’t become anything more than children in their head.

Over the 160 years that the schools operated, at least 150,000 children were forced to attend these schools. Diving deeper into the school’s “education” program, life in the walls was harsh, cruel, and isolating. Many new children weren’t accustomed to the rules such as: No speaking Native Language, No conversing with peers, No breaking conduct, etc. Etc’. Breaching any of the rules would result in extreme punishment, usually physical violence. However, the children had many more things to do during their almost year-long stay. Learning English beliefs and values progressing up the skill level, chores involving physical labor were mandatory for all – all while the children were malnourished, tired, and cold. Fatigue was common with the cold Canadian climate and lack of healthy food.

The abuse from the schools resulted in death or “success” in the Governments eye. With nothing in common to the culture and being shunned from white culture they were taught to praise and embrace, usually lead to substance abuse to ease the pain from the past. These schools were designed to kill the identity inside these kids and strip away everything and replace it. Most outsiders (non­ Government people, non-military) have never heard of the schools or knew about them – early media portrayed the schools as lovely camps for these children that were raised in unfit environments. But inside, it was total generational assimilation.

For years this community and their problems went unnoticed by all, having a day to finally acknowledge the hardships and struggles that stemmed from the past. In the last 30 years recognition has skyrocketed with the closing of the last school in 1996 only 26 years ago, orange shirt day and many books and people coming out about it to people that will listen. Prime Minster Justin Trudeau acknowledges the problems on reservations and promises to fix them.

Groundbreaking movement has already been achieved – just last year the Pope apologized to the Indigenous community for the promotion of the acts committed in the past – an historic moment in history. Having a major figure, head of the church, apologize for the wrongdoings brought closure to many after 200 years of torment. Many survivors share the pain with those from the past and/or themselves. Many find it hard to talk about, holding their stories deep within.

Having this day will bring the community closer, Indigenous and non- Indigenous. With days like these a light gets shined on their needs and the past wrongs and lies. Finally, having people care about their problems such as third world conditions on reserves, generation prejudice, turning a blind eye to the past.

…,,

Many indigenous people don’t feel like they belong, having been raised in the schools and lost the culture but also being shunned away from the culture they were taught to embrace along with the Sixties Scoop. But money alone can’t cover the pain, isolation from bands and society and racism. This is just the start of making things right.

My hope for the future is that indigenous peoples get the rights to the land back; if not all, some as a gift from Canada and that people understand our history. My hope is that the racial bigotry will end. My hope is that people know the truth from the past and will stop listening to the forced narrative. These are my hopes for Canada.

My people were not savages roaming the land with no human traits. We had our own gods, understandings, laws and systems. We survived twenty thousand years with this system, from coast to coast, and pole to pole.

That is the truth about my people.

Respect & Reconciliation must come from you – the people reading.

Canada is a great country, but like all places it has a dark past. Moving forward we need to remove these old-fashioned laws to create a perfect country. It’s been nearly 200 years since these laws were made and still people show no sign of removing these hateful laws from a time so long ago. I see Canada as having the potential to be the greatest place on earth but first we need to fix the problems underlying First Nation communities, the prejudice in society and the poverty in the Indigenous communities. Many reservations still have no clean water, many can’t afford the cost to leave, many don’t get good education – all because of choices made 200 years ago that have gone nearly unnoticed and invisible to people outside of the loop. To move forward Canada must reconcile with the indigenous peoples and fix their father’s wrongs. In the greatest country on earth how are we supposed to have people segregated to land outside the community and live in horrific conditions.

To this day most indigenous people are still suppressed and still face racism from all walks of life, in schools, online, and even within the government.

Personal  Experiences

My mom is a child affected by the Sixties Scoop whe.nthe Canadian government, in another act to destroy Indigenous heritage, made native mothers give their child up for adoption to white families.

My mom was one of the few Indigenous children in the Sixties Scoop to not run away from her new family or attempt suicide. She was in the small percent of children who got a loving family, no abuse, neglect or unfair treatment from the new parents. It doesn’t mean she hasn’t experienced racism before, in fact, her life has been full of it: teachers putting her in special classes because she’s native even though she was top of her class, peers assuming things about her.

The Scoop made the child fit in nowhere, too Brown to be White and too White to be Brown. Her and I have no connection to our band or biological family.

We are the children affected by the Canadian Government.

Ever since I was little my mom tried to show me that I was special and I had something that many did not, a cultural history going back millennia. No matter how hard I tried I was different from the other native kids and non- native.

Through the years kids have asked what my biological makeup and I stare at them with a blank, empty gaze- people look at me and assume I’m from the Middle East or Mexico but when I tell them I’m native they say “Nice, what tribe are you from?” “Can you speak the language?” and that same empty gaze shines through. My history has been taken from me. The native learning groups my mother brought me to have just cemented the fact I don’t fit in wherever I am. I can’t speak my language, I don’t know where I’m from, I don’t fit in with either group.

Canada has taken my identity but, more importantly, my history.

I feel the pain of my ancestors.