Assignment 1 - Truth and Reconciliation

Please note: This post contains references to a historical publication that contains outddated harmful views and language. The purpose of this post is not to amplify these views in any way, but instead to analyze and challenge these historical prejudices, contributing to ongoing efforts towards truth and reconciliation.

“The Indian Fact in Canada: Liability or Asset?”

For this assignment, I have selected a circa 1977 summary report submitted to the Education and Cultural Development Branch of the Department of Indian Affairs titled “The Indian Fact in Canada: Liability or Asset?“. The report does not name any authors. The title alone is indicative of the time it was written, and given that it was generated for the Education and Cultural Development Branch, it serves as a broad reflection on the views of Indigenous education policy at the time, and within Canada as a whole.

The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development as an institution is a manifestation of colonialist practices and policies. Its Education and Cultural Development branch would have had influence over the education policy decisions imposed upon the Indigenous population at the time, and in turn would have influenced educational history.

To know that this report had influence in the field of education in Canada is saddening. The text reflects a clear othering of Indigenous peoples, is confrontational of their self-determination and desires, and spends considerable effort assessing whether they’re reluctant assimilation would serve as an asset or hinderance to colonial Canadian society.

The question I have regarding the contents of this report is whether it discusses, or even acknowledges the residential school system, which was certainly active at the time and should have been an integral aspect of any conversation on Indigenous peoples and education.

My search terms included the five outlined in the assignment, including Indian, Indigenous, Aboriginal, First Nations, and Native. In addition, I have added residental, abuse, and trust. My assumption is that I will not find any of these three terms, yet each of them inextricably assocatied with the topic of education of Indigenous peoples in Canada.Residential, and its associated terms such as boarding school, will indicate the presence of this discussion in the text. Abuse of the Indigenous population has been rampant through Canadian history, but was this something discussed at the time? And trust of settler colonizers was broken or non-existant.

The results are not surprising. Indian is the predominant term used to describe the Indigenous peoples of Canada in this document, with occassional use of Native. There are no direct references to the residential schooling system. Abuse was also absent from the text. The only evidence in this text of acknowledgement of the abuse that had happened, and was actively happening, against Indigenous peoples by settler colonialism, was in its discussion of trust. More specifically, the text references the state of Indigenous trust towards “white people”, more specifically, distrust and mistrust. Though it acknowledges this lack of trust, it does not explore its source.

Following this search, I wanted a more broad question. Is there any reference to mistreatment of the Indigenous peoples of Canada at all? My new terms included mistreatment, animosity, and violence.

Similar to trust in the previous search, the search term animosity initially seems to reveal some acknowledgement of the injustices commited against Indigenous peoples. Upon closer inspection though, it is used accusatorily, questioning Indigenous animosity towards “white men” and previous descriminatory policy. The term violence is used in a condescending, belittling manner, insinuating that Indigenous peoples’ opposition to assimilation could result in violence.

The results of my keyword searches are unsurprising, though still shocking. “Indian” was the word used to refer broadly to Indigenous groups within Canada at the time, thus its disproportionate presence in the search is expected. There was no effort in the report to use any terms which acknowledge the history or differences amongst the Indigenous peoples of Canada. Similarly, in a report on education, there is not a single direct reference to any harm occuring to Indigenous children.

This search is limited by the specificity of the terms used. Perhaps there are hints of acknowledgement of the injustices committed against Indigenous children hidden in the text, though I suspect that would be giving the report too much credit. The overaching tone of the report is condescending, patronizing, and minimizes the self-determination of Indigenous peoples. Such perspectives being articulated in an official government report is indicative of the views and treatment of Indigenous peoples at the time. This report was written 47 years ago, and though much has changed, we still have an immense amount of work to be done in the Truth and Reconciliation process.

References

Canada. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. (1977). The Indian fact in Canada: Liability or asset? Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.841541/publication.html