Stephen Harper’s
Stephen Harper’s
On May 10th, the speaker, Aqua Nibii Waawaaskone, an indigenous singer, songwriter, storyteller, artist and activist, illuminated the aspects of the Indigenous community in the city of Toronto. She discussed the shortcomings that the Indigenous community had experienced throughout the history and development of Canada, specifically Toronto. Toronto has a long and intricate Indigenous history, in which most Torontonians are not cognisant of. Aqua referred to Toronto as Tkaronto, which was quite fascinating. When Aqua discussed the topic of residential schools, I did not react as much as I was exposed to this topic in other courses.…
In the article “Improve Aboriginal Health through Oral History,” which was published in the Toronto Star on Sunday, May 2, 2010, the author Nicholas Keung discusses the childhood of aboriginal in residential school and its effect on the healthy relationships.…
Series of traumatic events occurred while residential school were running, but it left a scars on aboriginal people forever. As an aboriginal women I get a lot of understanding from Pauline Johnsons “As it was in the beginning”, growing up on the Six Nation Reserve and having meet people who have experienced the same things as Pauline. Residential schools were open between the 1980’s and the 1990’s and the last school did not close until 1996, the year I was born. Pauline writes, “No more, no more the tepees; no more the wild stretch of prairie, the intoxicating fragrance of the smoke-tanned buckskin; no more the bed of buffalo hide, the soft, silent moccasin; no more the dark faces of my people, the dulcet cadence of the sweet Cree tongue”…
Over the past few decades, there has been many distinct perspectives and conflicts surrounding the historical context between the Indigenous peoples in Canada and the Canadian Government. In source one, the author P.J Anderson is trying to convey that the absolute goal of the Indian Residential School system in Canada has been to assimilate the Indian nation and provide them with guidance to “ forget their Indian habits”, and become educated in the “ arts of civilized life”, in order to help them integrate into society and “become one” with their “White brethren”. It is clearly evident throughout the source that the author is supportive of the Indian residential school system and strongly believes that this system was beneficial to the integration…
The children were taken away to these schools for most of the year (Arnold, 2000, p.209). The people who took them away (often Indian agents assigned to the school) were luring the children into doing a fun activity However, in reality, they were being kidnapped. When the children were studying, the books which they used referred to First Nations people as savages (Arnold, 2000 p. 209). The books also taught the children that the beliefs of non- Aboriginals were better than the beliefs of any other society. The children were often beaten badly if they misconducted themselves or if they spoke their native languages (Pittman, 1989). In 2008, the Canadian government issued a statement of apology to the First Nations people of Canada. This is a first step in preventing any more harassment to the First Nations people and to provide a better quality of life, for not just the First Nations people, but for all…
Governments are obligated to respond to the impacts of events that have taken place long ago for it is accountability they need to attain. Prime minister Stephen Harper demonstrated this when he formally apologized to the first nations in 2008 for their residential school experiences. It is tricky to embrace historical globalization without re-inflicting devastation so the government and churches today refer to residential schools as an “sad chapter in our history.” The aboriginal children were forcibly taken from their homes and placed within an residential school. They were abused sexually, physically and emotionally. For this, the modern day government has given out millions of dollars in compensation money. There are still many people today that live in constant fear, and suffer from many other things such as depression and the feeling of being…
Thesis: The government’s failure to adequately support the Indigenous peoples of Canada is highlighted in how poorly the following three cases or events were handled: residential schools, the Harper apology, and the current living conditions on reserves. The federal government excused and participated in the abuse in residential schools, failed to take action against the pain inflicted upon residential school survivors and family, and continued to allow current Indigenous peoples to live in terrible living conditions. Residential schools were a collaborative effort between the federal government and Eurocentric religious institutions to assimilate Indigenous children into the Euro-Canadian culture but had resulted in causing long-term…
The government needs to help repair these reserves to create better living conditions as well as create programs to assist the survivors of residential schools with their emotional and psychological issues that were created from the human rights abuses they faced. The aboriginal people of Canada are owed more than an apology for what was done to them for generations. A number of broken families and lost lives cannot be fixed from the monetary compensation they received. The Canadian government has not done enough to ensure the rights of aboriginals are protected. With the signing of the Declaration of Rights of Indigenous, there is hope for the future improvement and protection of these rights. Allowing for the past and current issues to be corrected and never repeated. It is the responsibility of Canada to recognize the abuses and create changes to protect these rights. It is up to future generations to understand the human rights abuses of the past and ensure that the future will never hold similar conditions for any group of people. The Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission set forth by Harpers government will provide this opportunity as it seeks to educate all Canadians of the Human…
June 11 2008. Stephen Harper, offered an apology to all Aboriginals who had to attend residential schools in Canada and face horrific living conditions as well as physical and mental abuse . The government also began a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Its mandate was to acknowledge the impacts of residential schools, to provide former students with compensation and a safe environment to heal, and to educate the public about residential schools in hopes to never repeat the same mistake again.…
The Canadian government has been treating Aboriginal as the “Other”, for hundreds of years and trying to assimilate them in the Euro-Canadian culture, lifestyle and Christianity. The reason why they never stopped can be due to syncretism which is the as the meddling of different religion (). That the Canadian government cared so much for a hundred of years, is that they felt that Aboriginal never truly assimilate into Christianity, that they only took the benefits and re-integrated into their beliefs systems of the Aboriginal religion. Causing the government to punish the Aboriginal even more with these laws, such as the Indian Act which were the final act which that made sure to stop Aboriginal to take part in their religious ceremonies and…
A vast majority of modern societies around the world view Canada as an accepting nation that embraces a variety of different people, and hosts many diverse cultures. For instance, in the 1920’s not all Canadians were free from discrimination, and although most people were embracing this time of prosperity with new inventions and exciting lifestyles, others, such as the Indigenous peoples of Canada, were struggling to avoid the the overbearing push of extreme cultural discrimination. The residential schooling system isolated children from their culture, causing great humiliation and pain. For example, the policy of assimilation was introduced to merge young Indigenous children into the Euro-Canadian culture. The residential schooling system…
Bethel School District Vs. Fraser 1986 is about an ASB President of a school who used sexual innuendos during a speech in front of the school, in order to try and help his friend become ASB Vice President in the upcoming year, and therefor got suspended. Seventeen years earlier Tinker vs. Des Moines 1969 is about siblings who wore armbands to protest the Vietnam War. They were sent home and were told they couldn't come back until they agreed to remove the armbands. These two compare well because both are about students who attended public school, and one was about someone who exercised their free speech, got suspended, went to the supreme court and lost, while the other is about a pair of students who exercised their free speech, got suspended,…
The need to escape from these conditions was overwhelming to some. Children died trying to escape their horrible life at these schools. The attempt to track their way back home to their families was what killed many Aboriginal children. One incident included four young boys under the age of ten who were trying to make it home to their families, and tragically froze to death on their journey home (The Canadian Press).The formation of these residential schools resulted in so many children braving a journey so difficult and bitter, solely because they thought it would be a better alternative to their current situation. The schools caused so much pain, and sorrow in these Native children that they thought their only way out, was either death or the worst journey of their…
When it comes to Canadian elementary and secondary schools money has never been a problem. Both public and catholic schools get equal findings.However, it is in the best interest of Canadians to abolish the catholic education system and give that funding to the aboriginal schools. By having both a public and catholic education system, it creates a separation between all the Canadian citizens. Canada is known for being a multicultural country, therefore, catholic members of the nation should not be glorified by given money to host their individual schools which excluded members of other religions, especially when they money given as funding happens to be the citizens tax money.…
The First Nation people have a proud and long history that combines rich culture and spiritual traditions. For a century, from the 1880s until 1980s more than 100,000 First Nations children in Canada attended residential schools. The placement of residential schools for the First Nations children has led to serious amount of damage. At the schools, they were banned to practice their beliefs, culture and speak their language. The children suffered from emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Due to these events the First Nations in Canada suffered a significant loss of their culture and traditions, and suffered a negative affect in their future.…