VICTORIA 鈥� on the proposal to add a mandatory high school course on the effects of Canada鈥檚 aboriginal residential school policy attracted a range of responses 鈥� some of which are printable.
I referred to comments made by B.C. Teachers鈥� Federation vice-president Glen Hansman at , where he insisted that 鈥渞acism is the norm in public schools 鈥� still today鈥� because of a colonial perspective that remains ingrained in our culture.
Aboriginal education has been built into social studies curriculum for years. It鈥檚 come a long way from my high school days, where Mr. Spillers, my Grade 8 English teacher, assigned us an essay proposing solutions to Canada鈥檚 鈥淚ndian problem.鈥�
That was 1972, and it was the only time the subject came up. My lone aboriginal classmate wasn鈥檛 around by then. I never saw him again after we graduated from our rural elementary school.
How are things now? I received a thoughtful letter from a young woman who graduated from high school in the Okanagan last year. She writes:
鈥淭he idea that information about residential schools is not presented to students is entirely incorrect. The social studies curriculum that I went through included a large emphasis on First Nations culture and post-European colonization history.
鈥淔irst Nations studies began in elementary school and continued to the last mandatory social studies course in Grade 11. I can say with no hesitation that if anything, I have been informed too often about the residential schools, and the horrendous things that occurred there.
鈥淚f aboriginal culture courses are poorly attended, I would be inclined to suggest that it is because students are tired of being taught the same limited perspective over and over, and, if of European descent, being made to feel somehow responsible for all possible troubles plaguing First Nations today.鈥�
Another reply I鈥檇 like to share is from Keith Thor Carlson, editor of the St贸:lo Nation historical atlas I referred to last week. Carlson is now a history professor at the University of Saskatchewan, specializing in the Salish people of B.C. and the M茅tis of Northern Saskatchewan. He writes:
鈥淲e do need to teach the history of the First Peoples of this country in our schools, and we do need to keep vigilant about the racism that continues to haunt the hallways and classrooms where our children learn.
鈥淥f course aboriginal history should never be reduced to victim history, and with the St贸:lo atlas we sought to show the complexity of aboriginal history, and we sought to show that not only are there aboriginal people in Canada鈥檚 history, but that Canada is in aboriginal peoples鈥� histories.
鈥淭here were times in the past when aboriginal people were victimized (residential schools being a tragic example), and there were times when aboriginal people showed great agency (retaining the masked dance, and continuing to fish salmon, for example).
鈥淜nowing that native society was not a Utopia when Europeans arrived does not take away from the importance of learning about the full history of aboriginal people and their relationship with Canadian society.
鈥淎nd of course, as Ernie Crey has reminded me many times, let鈥檚 never forget that native rights are not based on race. Rather, they are rights based on prior occupation. And let鈥檚 also not forget that it is British and Canadian law that recognizes aboriginal peoples鈥� inherent rights.
鈥淟et鈥檚 teach good history to our youth so they can understand the complex relationship between settler society and aboriginal society. Through knowledge comes understanding and through understanding can come reconciliation.鈥�
Tom Fletcher is legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Twitter:
