Nov
16
By Jim Gerwing
Just when we thought we had heard all of the evils of the Indian Residential Schools of Canada new revelations have been hitting the media. Many articles and commentaries have appeared on the experiments conducted by government-sponsored medical teams on the effects of starvation, using the "ready-made" populations of "guinea pigs" in the schools and in some First Nations communities.
A generation ago it took media stories to prompt the churches which ran the residential schools to make public apologies for their part in the system whose avowed purpose was to "take the Indian out of the Indian children" and thus force assimilation into the dominant culture.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has a mandate to uncover the truth of the experience from all sources. The commission has held hearings all across the country in a setting of acceptance of all the views, all the stories from all the sources available. They have also attempted, not very successfully, to secure all the documents in government files under freedom of information guidelines. Nor have they been entirely satisfied with the lack of cooperation on the part of the RCMP or the churches to hand over their files.
The stated purpose of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is to lay the groundwork for reconciliation through truth-telling in non-judicial, non-threatening listening sessions. What is essential in the process is that all the stories be told. Alongside the stories of horror are tales of incredible courage in the face of almost unendurable hardship by so many youngsters.
What happens is that the tendency is to focus too much on the bad things that happened. After all, those stories are more vivid, more dramatic, more sensational.
I keep telling people of the relationships formed between the fur traders and the First Nations back in the nineteenth century. The entire world-wide enterprise depended on honest and fair dealings between the key players in the trade: the First Nations trappers and the fur traders, whether the Hudson Bay Company or the Northwest Company. Very often the relationships ended in marriages between the men of the companies and First Nations women. These unions produced not only smooth trading practices, but also healthy families. Unfortunately, when the fur trade died, these relationships invariably died with them.
The misunderstandings, and this is a euphemism of a high order, between the First Nations and the dominant culture are alive and thriving still today. We do not need to seek some idyllic and cloying view of the "noble savage," but I do see a need to develop a stronger understanding and appreciation of the gifts all of us have to offer.
I witnessed one of the essential elements of this during the hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission here in Victoria in April 2012. Through the tears and anguish expressed by the victims of the abuses experienced in the residential schools, came the soft-spoken words of pride, "We are still here." I see in the Idle No More movement a hope that this country will gain a balanced and positive vision of cooperation with the people within this land, which can only come from sincere listening to each other. We owe a great debt of gratitude to the media for keeping us informed. Social media have also been helpful in this regard.
Throughout my life and work I have met many wonderful First Nations and Métis people. I am also ashamed to say that I have witnessed too much incredible prejudice and deliberate blindness. It is still prevalent today. Yeah, in my family too.
Is there a quick solution? Hardly. We are coming to the end of a century and a half of deliberate attempts on the part of our government and those who cooperated with them of trying to kill the culture and pride of our First Nations. Will it take an equally long time to undo this? A few "hugs and parties" will accomplish very little if our basic attitudes remain unchanged. Back I go to the experience of the fur trade. Perhaps the road to understanding lies through intermarriage! The intimacy of respectful family life creates an atmosphere of forbearance like no other institution. But I refuse to stop dreaming.