A TRAGIC DISCOVERY

     A few days ago in Canada they discovered the bodies of 215 indigenous children who were at a residential school . This school operated by a church, from about 1890 to 1980 .  The bodies were on the school property

     Churches made an aggressive effort to get aboriginal children to their school. Children were forcibly taken from their parents. Many times the parents did not know where their children were. Just think what a trauma it would be if your young children were taken away from you? 

     The churches idea was Christianity , make the kids into little white men and beat the aboriginal culture out of them. Along the way there were many tragedies. Children were mistreated badly. In many cases they were beaten and assaulted. Living conditions were poor and many children died. Tuberculosis was common and at that time they didn't know much about treating it. Kids were crammed into small quarters so any germs could spread rapidly.

    But 215 kids? Come on. There should have been some kind of communication. In many cases parents were not told of the death of their child.

    Kids went back to their communities and were not able to cope in their home community. The original culture was gone. 

    In 1968 , when I  was a local administrator in a small Innuit settlement, a child was murdered. The police came in and took the body out for forensic examination. About a year later one of the elders asked me where the child's body was. I couldn't tell him. I regret that I did not write and ask where the child's body was. So in the 1960's the authorities still played fast and lose with the way aboriginals were treated. 

     Now begins the sad task of identifying the bodies and telling families what happened to their ancestors.

    Will we ever learn?

BETWEEN A ROCK AND HARD PLACE

      In Canada there are several very serious aboriginal protests going on at this time..

      Historically there are a multitude of reasons for aboriginal grievances. Europeans came and stole aboriginal land. Treaties were made with the aboriginals. The treaties were poorly written and have caused problems ever since. The government didn't hire the best lawyers when treaties were written. 

     Reserves of land were given to aboriginals. Many times parts of reserves or all of a reserve were taken back without aboriginal consent.. Promises were made and never kept. Education is a major issue. The governments idea was to take   away aboriginal language and customs by education. That education destroyed a whole generation of aboriginals.

     Anyway, I think I've made my point that there are solid reasons for grievances. What's going on today is not productive. There are a series of protests which have shut down railroads. What sparked the issue were some hereditary Chiefs in British Columbia who were protesting a gas pipeline that was to go across their territory. The RCMP began removing the protesters. Other aboriginals from far away decided to support the gas line protesters. Things boiled over.

    Now the aboriginals and government have dug their heals in and neither side is willing to back down. Some politicians are also trying to use the situation for their advantage.

    So I am sad about this situation that has become an impasse. Most of the aboriginals do not support the blockades and protests. Most aboriginals are hard working people trying to make a living. Aboriginal governing is a mess. There are elected band councils and then there are hereditary chiefs. Many times these two groups do not agree. The government set up the elected band councils The hereditary chiefs follow traditional ways. 

   The situation has become more complicated than it needs to be.

   Now many readers will not know what I'm talking about or not care but I guess I had to write this for myself.

Truth and Reconciliation Commision

      The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) gave its report to the Canadian government last week.

       What's the Truth and Reconciliation Commission you say? Well, it is a commission that was to discover the facts about the sad education system our government ran for aboriginal people

in Canada.

      More than 100 years ago an education system was established for first nations people. The government gave a pittance for funding and farmed the work out to churches. The system took aboriginal kids away from their families and put them  in residences. The goal of this system was to take their language and culture away from the kids so that they would become good little white kids! They took much more than that away from the first nations people. Kids did not grow up in a family and as a result did not get the family experience and became ostracised from their relatives. There were many very cruel teachers and residential supervisors who destroyed these kids forever. Physical and sexual abuse was common.

     So the TRC was set up to find out as much information as possible and then hopefully set about trying to right the wrongs of the system. Thousands of people told their stories. 

     I was a teacher who spent five years teaching  Inuit and first nation's children. For three years a very large residential facility was  with the school. The churches ran the residences and the government ran the school.

    I went north as a young teacher looking for adventure and bigger money. I was given in service about what I was supposed to do. Yes , we  were to teach English. Yes, we were to discourage kids from speaking their own language. Yes , we were to encourage kids to join another culture and leave theirs behind. I did what I was told and didn't question the administration. 

    It wasn't until years later when I was talking to a pilot who picked the kids up in their settlements and brought them into the residence that I realized the horrors that took place. He told about kids being taken from their parents and how awful it was for both. 

     Now the teaching experience was excellent and my contact with aboriginal people changed my life forever. 

    One year I taught in a temporary classroom between the school and residence. Many days when I left the classroom the little boys were playing around my portable. I received cheerful greetings that  I will never forget. They always called me Mr McKline. I observed their play. They would play dog team. I'm sure I had as much fun watching them as they had playing. Sometimes I went to the residence. Several times I went in the dormitories after the kids were in bed. I'll never forget the sight 40 little boys in one room on cots. There was some light left on for the supervisors. Most kids were asleep but there was always somebody who was awake. There was much moaning and groaning.

     I've thought many times of how these six year old boys were a thousand miles away from home and how horrible it was for them, their parents and their community.

    Now back to the TRC. Our government almost completely ignored the report. The next step is to right the wrong. It won't happen unless the government participates. 

    I'm one of the pessimistic people on this topic. I think the government will throw some beads and trinkets at the situation and leave it to continue causing damage and heartache to the aboriginal people of Canada.

Solid Statements

    Sometimes art pieces make a very strong statement.

    We recently had a creation put in a major park that depicts aboriginal culture. The creation was long in the planning and aboriginals were in the loop from the beginning. 

     So the piece is to depict native elders telling stories to other members of the group. So how did they depict people ? With huge boulders. Why boulders? Arrangements of stones have been found a various places on the prairie. For some of these stone arrangements aboriginals still remember the meaning. Other arrangements have been there for so long that nobody knows the meaning. So in this piece the elders are sitting in the center of the circle in a haphazard order. The listeners are sitting around the elders in a circle.

I hope you can make out the elders in the center.

The elders sit in no order

    It's hoped that younger aboriginals will see the creation as part of their culture and feel good about how they were taught. For the rest of us we can appreciate how aboriginal culture, history, behaviors and technology were taught to their people.

    It's a strong statement about where we fit in.

This was hard to photograph as it should be shown from above. 

A personal Rant.

    Usually I'm fairly upbeat and see the glass as half full rather than half empty.

    A decision our city council took recently saddens me because it did not support a group of people who not only need support but deserve it.

    For some time native individuals and groups have been talking about establishing a Friendship Center. Many other cities have aboriginal friendship centers and many different groups have established friendship centers. A friendship center sounds like a good deal to me.

    So the group set up a plan as to what the Friendship center would do. They set up a business plan. They researched funding. 

    Next came finding a site for the center. This is where the wheels fell off the bus. 20 sites were considered. Of course, a site was chosen. But could they have chosen any worse site. A site was found in an industrial land which also encroached on some park land. Now this site is away from other groups and transportation would be a problem . Buses don't run to industrial areas in this town. This would be a lose lose situation. 

    So my take on this is that it's the same nonsense as John A. Macdonald practiced when aboriginals were put on reserves. Find the poorest , junkiest land and make it a reserve. If it's got stones...give it to the Indians. Make sure there's lots of bush and sloughs. Throw in a little alkali. So our city is behaving like governments of 150 years ago.

   I believe the Center should be in a main part of the city. It allows easy access for friends to gather and also go to other facilities. Other friendship groups have very suitable sites. Elks, Moose, Foresters, Legion, Masons  all have centers. They earned and deserved good sites and have made good use of them. None of them are put a way in an industrial area. 

   Sometimes there is just a right thing to be done. Forget about all the whiners and NIMBYs. Something needs to be done right. Let's just suck it up and do it. Quit worrying about getting elected to council again . Just do what has to be done.

National Aboriginal Day

        June 21 was National Aboriginal Day in Canada. I wanted to post on June 21 but a number of other posts got in the way. June 21 st was summer solstice. I had written a post  about Brenda's blog and wanted that to be out. So here it is , better late than never, National Aboriginal Day.


       National Aboriginal Day is meant to celebrate Aboriginal culture. For a culture to survive it has to be practiced, appreciated and grow. That can be done when people get together and show off aspects of culture.


       I hope that sometime this year you will take some time to look at some aboriginal art. There's much to choose from. I particularly like bead work. Bead work was done long before the white man came and cheated aboriginals out of their furs for a few beads. They used cut up porcupine quills. Many aboriginals are fantastic artists using modern media. One of my favorite painters is Allen Sapp. Take a good look at some of his work.


      I hope you will take time to look at some aboriginal Dance. With colorful costumes and movement it becomes a ballet.


       I hope you will take some time and listen to aboriginal music. They had many songs that told stories. Each person had songs for various occasions. Drums were used to emphasize parts of the song. None of the original songs were written down . They were passed on orally. Today , many of those songs have been written down and will become permanent. Songs are still being made today and fortunately by young people. Many aboriginals have been able to do well in modern music. I particularly like Kashtin


      I hope you will listen to the aboriginal language. We still have areas where Cree is mainly spoken. Now young people are trying to learn Cree and keep the language active and living.


     We all must celebrate National Aboriginal Day. We learn something. Aboriginals  gain some self confidence so that they can  proud of their culture.