After six years, countless tears and thousands of emotional accountings of residential school experiences, the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission report came down this week.
Rather than making broad-based, sweeping recommendations that are more a state of mind, the report makes nearly 100 specific action points aimed at such things as helping aboriginal people recapture their culture, educating the general population about the countryB次元官网网址檚 aboriginal heritage, and creating government policies and programs designed to enhance our understanding of the importance of that heritage and the distinctiveness of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 aboriginal people.
The phrase B次元官网网址渃ultural genocideB次元官网网址� was used to describe the systematic removal of aboriginal children from their homes and families and the residential school systemB次元官网网址檚 abhorrent strategy of B次元官网网址渢aking the Indian out of the child.B次元官网网址� It was an attempt to sever the cultural connection that saw aboriginal elders and heads of families pass on their language and other traditional heritage to younger generations.
In the 1960s, leaders in Quebec sought to have their provinceB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渄istinct societyB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� its majority French-speaking population, unique culture and civil law tradition B次元官网网址� officially recognized by the government of Canada. Two attempts to entrench such uniqueness in the Constitution, the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords, failed, as have subsequent referendums on separation.
Nonetheless, Quebec and its uniqueness in this country are today recognized as an integral part of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 heritage and cultural makeup.
The same recognition must be afforded CanadaB次元官网网址檚 First Nations. Fortunately, work has begun, little by little, to acknowledge aboriginal distinctiveness in Canadian life. We see it on the West Shore, where schools have offered aboriginal education initiatives for some time. The student population at Shoreline middle school, for example, contains a significant number of young people from the Songhees and Esquimalt nations. As such, their unique culture and heritage is acknowledged frequently and celebrated with the entire school on a regular basis.
Righting past wrongs will take more than simply throwing money at the problem of residual anger and shame over residential school abuses. It will take further inclusionary practices and action by individuals just as much as by governments.
Rather than asking, B次元官网网址淲hat does this have to do with me?B次元官网网址� or stating, B次元官网网址淚t wasnB次元官网网址檛 my ancestors who did that,B次元官网网址� we all need to ask ourselves, B次元官网网址淲hat can I do personally to change the way I feel about and interact with aboriginal people in my community?B次元官网网址�
It starts with systemically re-imagining the relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people on a personal, individual level. ItB次元官网网址檚 about treating all people as fellow human beings, free of judgment, with respect and compassion.
ItB次元官网网址檚 something we can all do, regardless of what government policies may be enacted in the wake of the Truth and Reconciliation CommissionB次元官网网址檚 work.
