Prejudice In Boarding Schools

As detailed in the literature, there is significance given to the historical experiences of Indian children victimized by the boarding schools. At the same time, there is agreement by all scholars that the BIA built the boarding schools on the clear policy agenda of assimilation into the dominant white culture. Deutsch (2006) calls this cultural imperialism, which happens when a dominant group foists its “values, norms, and customs” (p. 45) upon ‘inferior’ groups. Accordingly, there is no doubt that Deutsch’s definition is relevant to this conflict. Moreover, Coleman (2006) goes further by saying that prejudice is at the root of many intractable conflicts. Consequently, prejudice and cultural imperialism go hand in hand, and there is no
doubt that the United States government has discriminated against the American Indian has a whole.
The literature portrayed the impact of the boarding schools on their victims as damaging. However, articles written by American Indian scholars, such as Brave Heart and De Bruyn (1998), and Corntassel, Chaw-win-is, & T’lakwadzi
(2009), tended to be more pragmatic in offering solutions rather than merely dwelling on the past. Whichever solution is best will require a prolonged investment in communication and problem solving (Erbe, NCR 537, Personal Lecture Notes, September 21, 2015). In general, it is through the research and writings of the literature, the best practices provided by The Handbook of Conflict Resolution, and knowledge attained from NCRP courses that I would find a satisfactory solution.
Government Intervention is an Unsatisfactory Solution
The BIA has closed the boarding schools, but the U.S. government continues to harm American Indian culture. In Minnesota, where the White Earth Indian Reservation is located, American Indian children make up only two percent of the state’s general child population, yet they represent 12.2% of the children in the state’s foster care system ("Truth and reconciliation," 2015). In several other states, the rates are even more appalling (see Table 1). Consequently, Native authors believe that this demonstrates that discrimination against Native persons still exists within the government (2015). In the meantime, they argue, Canada has introduced its truth and reconciliation commission to tackle the injury sustained in the residential schools by its Indigenous people (Park, 2016; Dawson, 2012). The U.S. has done nothing to introduce a similar plan.
In the event that the government did engage in some form of restorative justice for boarding school victims, it would be vital that they be emboldened within the process. Such empowerment would restore to these victims a feeling of their worth and control and their own ability to make choices and manage life’s difficulties (Churchman, NCR 504, Personal Lecture Notes, November 7, 2014).
Investigations into the results of breaches of trust regularly demonstrate that breaches cause a decrease in later confidence and collaboration (Lewicki, 2006). Although, Deutsch (2006) suggests that distrust is normal when a conflict becomes destructive; it may be too late for the government to gain back any trust it has lost with American Indians. For well over 200 years, the U.S. has misled them, given them false promises, and provided them with disinformation, so it is unsurprising that Native persons distrust government institutions. As a result, these types of behaviors make the damaged party realize that they cannot trust the other’s communications to be truthful or useful (Deutsch, 2006). Given these points, government intervention is an unsatisfactory solution to the question.
Reparations are a Partially Satisfactory Solution
As detailed in the review of the literature, the Boarding School Healing Project (2008) has appealed to the federal government for reparations for American Indian boarding school victims. Deutsch (2006) says that reparations in the shape of restitution might act to support victims to recuperate from the losses and damages suffered. Table 1
States with Greatest Disproportionality of American Indian and Alaska Native Children in State Foster Care
State Percent of Indian American children in the general child population Percent of Indian American children in foster care
Alaska 20% 50.9%
Idaho 1% 6.6%
Montana 10% 33.6%
Nebraska 1% 9%
North Dakota 9% 26.4%
Oregon 10% 11.3%
South Dakota 15% 52.2%
Utah 1% 5.7%
Washington 2% 8.4%
Note. Data gathered by the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (as cited in Pew Charitable Trust, 2007).
Table 1
Reparations are not simply about restitution in the form of compensation, in fact, as stated by the United Nations General Assembly (2005), reparations should also include rehabilitation, satisfaction, and agreements of non-repetition. In the belief that human rights are immutable to all people, each person who has experienced severe human rights abuses ought to have equal rights to reparations. However, it does nothing to speak to the deep troubles created by the legacy of the boarding school system (Llewelyn, 2002). For this reason, reparations do not truly ‘repair’ future generations who have been physically and mentally harmed.
In contrast, restorative justice seeks to repair and bring peace rather than retribution against offenders (Lewicki, 2006). In criminal cases when speaking of monetary reparations, the central idea behind it is compensatory justice. In other words, that the perpetrator should pay damages to the victim to resolve the issue and make a fresh start. Reparations for boarding school victims would certainly help to alleviate economic suffering, but it would not resolve the issue, nor allow the victims to have a fresh start. Reparations may provide a partial solution, but they cannot be the primary form of justice-seeking for the White Earth victims.
A Truth and Reconciliation Commission Might be a Satisfactory Solution Maria Simpson (NCR 508, Personal Notes, 2015) taught that the test of good communication is reframing, which offers another way to process new facts.
Deutsch (2006) discusses reframing a conflict as one of the most important implications of conflict resolution theory. A core purpose of a TRC is to restate the conflict as a shared problem. On the condition that the government would be willing to create a TRC, such a method could reframe the boarding school issues. These characteristics of a TRC are why some of the literature supports it.
Llewellyn (2008) argues that TRC Canada was vital to realizing the holistic and complete answer required through the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. Further, Llewellyn (2008) states that the range of the TRC’s mandate was vital to safeguarding an adequate response to the abuses of the residential schools. Specifically, it was the instrument through which the voices of victims of or affected by the residential school system could be
heard.
The Lakota ("Truth and reconciliation," 2015) argue that the formation of a truth and reconciliation commission must be the primary mechanism for providing effective redress for harms caused to American Indians by previous government policies. This has been the case in a small number of countries where government policies harmed its citizens (Deutsch, 2006). A truth and reconciliation commission’s main goal is to work through damages from the past, but more importantly, it is to build a better future based upon a new relationship between the government and the Indians rooted in shared respect and recognition.
A significant benefit of a TRC is that the government takes responsibility for past actions. Thus, an important first step in any restorative justice process is that the offender acknowledges the past behavior (Lindner, 2006). Healing is long, slow work; if it begins with unvarnished truth-telling where both sides participate in a comprehensive examination of the conflict, American Indians could start to transmute and move forward toward reconciliation.
A TRC might very well be a restorative justice method that could heal and transform the victims of the boarding schools. However, it certainly is not under my control to create such a massive program for the White Earth community. Therefore a TRC is not a satisfactory solution for this project.
Community-Based Restorative Justice is a Satisfactory Solution
Nancy Erbe (NCR 541, 2015) once said that it is crucial to the success of any restorative justice method that there is an emotional component to the process.
More importantly, there should be a shared emotional component. Community-based restorative justice offers such a component because it is a personal process.
Coleman (2006) endorses a peacebuilding method that might work well in the White Earth community with its local BIA office, which he calls an ‘elicitive’ approach. This is where the participants use local cultural skills so that all involved work together to plan mediations suitable within the particular cultural setting (2006). Additionally, an elicitive approach empowers the participants to value, accept, and adapt to the opinions of local people (2006). It can also promote abundant dedication to the healing process by all
involved.
The White Earth Indian community uses restorative justice philosophy and practice of healing to reintegrate people into their community when dealing with crime. These methods include victims, offenders and their supporters to work through a problem. While contrary to traditional American justice, this parallels the philosophy and processes of the restorative justice movement (Lindner, 2006). In the American Indian worldview, there is a deep connection between justice and spirituality (Park, 2016). As a matter of fact, it is essential for them to maintain and restore harmony and balance. Since the White Earth community already uses these approaches in criminal cases, it is a natural progression to use similar methods to transform and heal individuals affected by the Indian boarding schools.
In essence, it is reasonable to infer that the White Earth community can understand and resolve its problems better when using their own traditional mechanisms and institutions rather than large-scale government mechanisms. I have, therefore, eliminated government interventions, truth and reconciliation commissions, and reparations as a means to heal the wounds of the White Earth Indian boarding school survivors. Since the community understands its own traditions and methods better than any large-scale operation could, community-based restorative justice is the best solution to heal and transform its boarding school victims.