The demolition of the decrepit St. Michael鈥檚 Indian Residential School building in Alert Bay does not erase the wrongs that were done, but it鈥檚 an important step in the healing process.
While physical evidence of the school will be removed, it and others like it should not be forgotten. They symbolize what can happen when a sense of ethnic or cultural superiority is allowed to flourish. They serve to remind us that basic human rights should not and cannot be extended selectively.
Residential schools were operated in sa国际传媒 before Confederation, but the system began to grow after the passage of the Indian Act in 1876. An amendment to the act made education compulsory for First Nations, M茅tis and Inuit children, and often, residential schools were the only choice. The federal government funded the system; churches operated the schools.
Education should have been a noble pursuit, but the residential school system fell far short in that regard.
The official policy was to remove children from the influence of their families, to purge them of their culture and languages, and to assimilate them into the mainstream culture. The system was based on the assumption that the European culture was superior, that aboriginal peoples needed to speak English or French and that they should be Christians.
Even setting aside the bigotry and arrogance of that attitude, the assimilation went only so far. The education was substandard, the schools underfunded. Students spent half a day in classes, and half a day working, ostensibly to teach them skills and trades, but often to help the schools meet expenses. They were pulled from one world and not allowed full entry into the other.
The aim was to 鈥渒ill the Indian in the child,鈥� and in some cases, that happened too literally. Of the 150,000 students who went through the residential school system, 4,000 died 鈥� mostly from disease 鈥� while attending the schools. Parents were not always informed about their children鈥檚 deaths. To this day, there are former students who cannot be accounted for, whose families know nothing of their fate.
While most people look back on their education and often describe themselves as graduates or alumni, those who attended residential schools refer to themselves as survivors.
Living conditions were often poor, meals were often meagre. During the first half of the 20th century, federal-government scientists used residential-school students for experiments in nutrition and knowingly kept some students undernourished as a control sample.
Verbal, physical and sexual abuse of students was all too common.
Not every student who attended residential schools was mistreated; not every staff member was evil and many were dedicated and caring. But imagine being a five-year-old dropped off at a school that would be much like a prison for the next 10 years. Imagine being forced to live in a strange place with strange people, not knowing their language and being punished when you spoke your own.
The experience damaged families, stole cultures and injured lives. The hurt is felt not just by those who attended the schools, but also their children and grandchildren. The system has been dismantled, apologies rendered and compensation paid, but the wounds will be a long time healing.
Tearing down St. Michael鈥檚 won鈥檛 restore lost heritage or bring back forgotten languages, but it can be part of the reconciliation process, a disavowal of the 鈥渢hem and us鈥� attitude that one culture used to justify dismissing the values and traditions of another.
