Portal:Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

“ The work of truth telling, healing, and reconciliation was commenced well over two decades ago by the people who, as children, had been victimized by this system. They continue to do the heavy labour of sharing their stories, and, by so doing, educating their children, their communities, and their country. ”

“ Residential schools constituted an assault on Aboriginal families. Residential schools constituted an assault on Aboriginal culture. Residential schools constituted an assault on self-governing and self-sustaining Aboriginal nations. The impacts of the residential school system were immediate, and have been ongoing since the earliest years of the schools. Canadians have been denied a full and proper education as to the nature of Aboriginal societies, and the history of the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. ”

“ The process of reconciliation will require the passionate commitment of individuals and the genuine engagement of society. There are people today who are living with the direct impacts of the schools: the survivors and their families. Specific attention will have to be paid to their needs. The conflicts that have arisen within communities as a result of the school system must be recognized and addressed. Churches have to define their role in this process as Aboriginal people reclaim what is of value to them. ”

“ With tremendous effort, people have sought out traditional teachings and practices, and worked at preserving endangered languages. They want the institutions that invested so much over many decades in undermining their cultures to invest now in restoring them. They want the full history of residential schools and Aboriginal peoples taught to all students in Canada at all levels of study and to all teachers, and given prominence in Canadian history texts. ”

“ People and communities have been left with the burden of pain and the responsibility of healing. It was left to the former students and their families to regain their voice. Thousands of them have launched what they so often refer to as healing journeys.
The Commission heard from proud people, people who asserted they were survivors. They had survived mental abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and spiritual abuse. They were still standing. Many have reclaimed their culture, are relearning language, and are practising traditional spirituality. ”

“ The Commission's overarching purposes are to:
reveal to Canadians the complex truth about the history and the ongoing legacy of the church-run residential schools, in a manner that fully documents the individual and collective harms perpetrated against Aboriginal peoples, and honours the resiliency and courage of former students, their families, and communities; and guide and inspire a process of truth and healing, leading toward reconciliation within Aboriginal families, and between Aboriginal peoples and non-Aboriginal communities, churches, governments, and Canadians generally. ”

“ The government broke up families by sending children to residential school. The people who left the schools said they had not been given the skills needed to keep their families together. They had difficulty in showing love. Having known only harsh discipline, they treated their children harshly. People spoke of incredible anger, the damage it did to them and caused them to inflict on others. The abused often became abusers: husbands, wives, parents, children all fell victim. ”

“ Particularly to those individuals who experienced the tragedy of physical and sexual abuse at residential schools, and who have carried this burden believing that in some way they must be responsible, we wish to emphasize that what you experienced was not your fault and should never have happened. ”

“ In some communities, there may be no such nurse at all. The suicide rates in Aboriginal communities are epidemic in some regions of the country. Many survivors increasingly are angry and outspoken about the need for more long-term help for themselves and their children, including the creation of a specialized treatment centre in the North.
Through its work supporting the Commission's community hearings, Health Canada has been able to assess and refine its approach to providing mental-health support in keeping with its obligations under the Settlement Agreement. ”

“ The Commission recommends that the Government of Canada, through Health Canada, immediately begin work with provincial and territorial government health and/or education agencies to establish means to formally recognize and accredit the knowledge, skills, and on-the-job training of Health Canada's community cultural and traditional knowledge healing team members, as demonstrated through their intensive practical work in support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and other Settlement Agreement provisions. ”

“ The Commission also heard about the fun that children had in school. In the presence of a dedicated teacher, some children experienced the pleasure of learning. While traditional Aboriginal games were undermined, many told of how they survived through their participation in sports or the arts. In some cases, particularly in more recent years, parents had sent them to school to learn the skills needed to make a contribution on behalf of their people. ”

“ The Commission continues to face huge challenges in raising awareness, among non-Aboriginal Canadians, of the residential school history and legacy. This presents an enormous limitation to the possibility of long-term understanding and meaningful reconciliation. The Commission believes the Canadian school system has a major role to play in re-educating the country about this part of our long-term, shared history, with its present-day implications. ”

“ Ideally, Aboriginal health professionals who can combine their Western medical training with knowledge of their own healing traditions and culture should be found to do this work. However, given the lack of sufficient numbers of such professionals, the current ideal formula appears to be a balanced team approach: specially trained cultural supports and traditional knowledge keepers from within the respective Aboriginal communities, working together with academically trained health specialists from the non-Aboriginal community. ”

“ Survivors have told the Commission repeatedly of their urgent need for specialized health supports available near where they live. This need is especially acute in the northern and more isolated regions of Canada. In those regions, the per-capita number of residential school survivors and the critical need for health support are higher than in the rest of the country. In many cases, a single mental-health nurse in the North is expected to service a region that is the geographic size of an entire province. ”

“ Survivors described what happened after they left the schools. People no longer felt connected to their parents or their families. In some cases, they said they felt ashamed of themselves, their parents, and their culture. The Commission heard from children who found it difficult to forgive their parents for sending them to residential school. Parents told the Commission of the heartbreak of having to send their children away, and of the difficulties that emerged while they were away and when they returned. ”

“ There are an estimated 80,000 former students still living today. Because residential schools operated for well more than a century, their impact has been transmitted from grandparents to parents to children. This legacy from one generation to the next has contributed to social problems, poor health, and low educational success rates in Aboriginal communities today.
The 1996 Canadian Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and various other reports and inquiries have documented the emotional, physical, and sexual abuse that many children experienced during their school years. ”

“ Former students who attended schools or residences not included in the Settlement Agreement have told us they underwent the same deprivation of language and culture, imposition of religious practices, and physical and sexual misconduct by teachers and boarding-home parents or supervisors as experienced by students covered by the Settlement Agreement. Because the schools they attended are not on the list, they are not eligible for compensation under the Settlement Agreement. They say that, once again, they are being abused, injured, or traumatized because they have been left out and isolated. ”

“ They also said that, in addition to missing records, school-imposed variations in their names or spellings of their names have prevented them from being compensated for all their years at school. They want support for the work they have begun in healing. For too long, communities were left to shoulder this burden on their own. In many of the remote communities that are home to former students, health services of any kind are scarce, and there are virtually no mental health services available. They want support to allow them to improve parenting skills. ”

“ Over the past two decades, more than forty truth and reconciliation commissions have been struck following civil conflicts in countries such as South Africa, Peru, Colombia, and Sierra Leone. Canada's TRC is unique in that it is the first commission to address human-rights violations that span over a century and focus on the treatment of Indigenous children. ”

“ As each succeeding generation passed through the system, the family bond weakened, and, eventually, the strength and structure of Aboriginal family bonds were virtually destroyed. Given the high mortality rates that prevailed for much of the system's history, many parents spent their lives grieving, never having been given a proper description of how their child died or where they were buried, and not being able to hold an appropriate ceremony of mourning. ”

“ There can be no movement toward reconciliation without an understanding of the rationale, operation, and overall impact of the schools. Through its work, the Commission has reached certain conclusions about the residential school system. The truth about the residential school system will cause many Canadians to see their country differently. ”

“ Residential schools suppressed Aboriginal language and culture, contributing to the loss of culture, language, and traditional knowledge. Even when those direct attacks came to a stop, culture remained devalued. There is a need for the recognition of the continuing value to communities and society of Aboriginal traditional knowledge, including spiritual, cultural, and linguistic knowledge. ”

“ For this reason, many former students take greater comfort and strength from those health support workers who come from within their own culture and community, and who can help them through the use of traditional cultural methods or languages that value that part of their lost identity.
Long-term efforts will be needed to address the deep and prolonged community impacts of government policies that sent generations of Aboriginal people to residential schools. The Commission believes in the value of investing in the long-term capacity of Aboriginal communities. ”

“ The National Events provide the Commission with its greatest opportunities to reach out and connect with Canadians of all cultures and backgrounds. Intended to focus national attention on the residential school issue, they stimulate public engagement and education. Former students, families, and communities have been able to share their experiences in a context that allows for serious examination of the issues associated with residential schools. ”

“ In response to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Canada created a healing fund, administered primarily by Aboriginal peoples, that would specifically address the residential school legacy and assist former students who were physically and sexually abused. ”

“ The system's impact does not stop with the survivors; it affects their interactions with their children and grandchildren—the intergenerational survivors. The impact of the schools is felt in every Aboriginal community in the country. ”

“ The disruption of family relationships exacerbates the impact of high mortality rates and high birth rates in the Aboriginal community. There is a need for the development and provision of workshops aimed at reintroducing wise practices for healthy families, and to compensate for the loss of parenting knowledge experienced by generations of children raised in institutional settings. ”

“ Some people still find themselves reliving the moments of their victimization. For them, residential schools are not part of the past, but vivid elements of their daily life. Sights, sounds, foods, and even individuals can trigger painful memories. ”

“ People spoke of how the residential school left them hardened. People were determined not to cry or show emotion, not to react to discipline. People said that the prospect of going to jail had been of little consequence to them because they had already been through hard times at residential school and were familiar with the feeling of being locked up and isolated. ”