Where are the Children?

In 1763, King George III of Britain signed the Royal Proclamation that was to be a binding document on the colonists and settlers in North America. The primary intent of this Proclamation was to protect Aboriginal people and the lands in which they lived. Under the Proclamation, all land west of the Appalachian Heights was for the sole use of the Indians. Indian people had sovereignty over these lands and expansion into them by colonists was strictly forbidden. After the British North America Act and the passing of the Indian Act in Canada, the good intentions and the protection of the Royal Proclamation was turned against the very people it was designed to protect and an era of horrific abuse, neglect, and forced assimilation began.

For the next nearly 150 years, the residential school system in all its guises was the primary force in separating children from their parents, families, and communities in an attempt to assimilate them into the dominant culture through education. The education they received, however, had nothing to do with learning and everything to do with living in fear and learning to hate the people they were.

"The survivors of the Indian residential school system have, in many cases, continued to have their lives shaped by the experiences in these schools. Persons who attend these schools continue to struggle with their identity after years of being taught to hate themselves and their culture. The residential school led to a disruption in the transference of parenting skills from one generation to the next. Without these skills, many survivors had difficulty in raising their own children. In residential schools, they learned that adults often exert power and control through abuse. The lessons learned in childhood are often repeated in adulthood with the result that many survivors of the residential school system often inflict abuse on their own children. These children in turn use the same tools on their children."

Today the schools have all been closed and much has been done to try and repair the damages caused to generations of Aboriginal peoples. Healing agencies and government support have been provided. Both the church groups who ran the schools and the government of Canada have offered apologies for the damage that they knowingly inflicted on the innocent children in their care. Monies have been made available for compensation for the victims of abuse.

As the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People stated in 1991, "The future must include making a place for those who have been affected by the schools to stand in dignity, to remember, to voice their sorrow and anger, and to be listened to with respect. With them Canada needs to pursue justice and mutual healing; it must build a relationship, as the Manitoba leader and much decorated veteran Thomas Prince encouraged the government to do in his appearance before the joint committee of the Senate and the House of Commons in 1947, that will bind Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people "so that they can trust each other and . . . can walk side by side and face this world having faith and confidence in one another."

Thus a conclusion of sorts comes to the dark era in Canadian Aboriginal history known as the Residential School system. Though it will be many years before the healing is complete, it is important that all Canadians see that this is an era that will never be repeated and that for the future, Aboriginal people take their rightful place among the founding nations of this country.