Question #4: Memorable Truths

[[deleted user]]

“Truth” in “Truth and Reconciliation” has been said to refer to telling the stories as they really happened in Canada’s Indian Residential Schools. Have any stories that you have heard or read been particularly memorable to you, either in The Reason You Walk or from elsewhere?

[Emily]

I remember being in a third-year university English class that focused on indigenous lit in Canada, and the professor had assumed that the class knew what residential school was. At least 20 out of 30 students had never heard of it. It was a well-kept secret for many years.

This isn't a recollection of a particular story, but I don't think I'll ever forget first seeing the new Heritage Minute from Historica Canada. You can see a writeup about it, and the video itself, here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/new....

[Maureen]

Actually this whole topic has brought up a lot of memories for me. When I lived up north, the oil companies and the American military had departed, leaving behind a small population of people who had always lived in Fort McMurray. It was a harsh life--jobs were scarcer than gold and it was especially hard for aboriginal people who had relied on trapping and hunting in earlier generations.

I didn't understand at the time why everyone just didn't leave and go south to look for work in Edmonton. It took me a while to understand that it was scarier to live in The City and deal with the discrimination than it was to live hand-to-mouth in a community where people knew and understood you.

[Allison]

Emily wrote: "I remember being in a third-year university English class that focused on indigenous lit in Canada, and the professor had assumed that the class knew what residential school was. At least 20 out of..."

Emily, it is unfortunate that so many of your generation missed this chapter of our history. My generation did get some of the information, minus the abuse stories which weren't out at the time, and my children's generation got a more fuller perspective (but maybe this was a reflection of the courage and honesty of their teachers, rather than curriculum). Certainly, the TRC reports have been instrumental in creating a wave of "teaching the truth" as this article indicates (school curriculums are expanding the content of this topic, which is awesome): http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonto...

Thanks for linking the Heritage Minute ...I heard that Joseph Boyden was responsible for penning it: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto...

[Allison]

Maureen wrote: "Actually this whole topic has brought up a lot of memories for me. When I lived up north, the oil companies and the American military had departed, leaving behind a small population of people who h..."

Maureen, you make such an important point about the helpless situation of those living on a reserve: it's bad if you stay, but may be far worse if you leave. As a youngster, I also wondered why our indigenous peoples didn't just leave their reserves. Now I understand that discrimination and assimilation would have been major concerns for band members. Thank you for sharing this memory.

[Susan]

I can't recall when I first learned about residential schools, but it was certainly not in school. The education I received about indigenous peoples was so basic. When I started to see what my sons learned, starting around 2002, I was astounded. It is so much richer and more respectful than what I learned. As librarians, we help a lot of young children in grades 3 and 6 with their native peoples research. It's hopeful to see so many young Canadians receive a good grounding in indigenous history.

Regarding the question of whether people should move out of their home communities, I have come to view this as so unfair. We shouldn't expect people to leave their homes and start anew somewhere else. In many cases, the problems experienced in northern communities stem from problems caused by their native way of life being taken from them.

The new Heritage minute is indeed striking. I hope it encourages people to learn more about the history of residential schools.

[Susan]

One of the most memorable moments for me in The Reason You Walk occurs in the second chapter. Wab describes what happened to his father, Tobasonakwut, at the burial of his father. This passage broke my heart:

"During the funeral, Tobasonakwut insisted on standing next to his father's coffin, in accordance with Anishnaabe tradition, instead of kneeling as his Catholic keepers had taught him." After the service, Tobasonakwut is strapped repeatedly in front of an assembly for his transgression. He would not cry.

"He would take the tears he wanted to shed for his dead father and bury them deep inside, somewhere out of reach of the priests and nuns. He would take the anger at the unfairness of being beaten while the earth on his father's grave was still fresh and use it to push his emotions down even further. There was stress and grief, and the realization that his one true protector was gone. Now there would be no one to save him from this place. All of this was buried. Perhaps his heart hardened. Maybe his spirit petrified. That is what little children did in order to survive residential school."

Who cannot understand the torment this must have caused Tobasonakwut? To be strapped at a time of great grief? To be prevented from grieving as you wished?

I have read many accounts as well, about friends who disappeared, such as Tobasonakwut's friend, Miigoons. Today in the library I came across an entire volume in the report of The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada entitled, "Missing Children and Unmarked Burials." An entire volume. Reading just the first page of the executive summary of this report is heartbreaking. A sample:

The Commission has identified 3,200 deaths. For 32% of these deaths, the name of the student who died was not recorded. For 23% of the deaths, the gender was not recorded. For 49% of the deaths, cause of death was not recorded. "For most of the history of the schools, the practice was not to send the bodies of students who died at schools to their home communities."

How can we read this and not be changed?

[Emily]

Susan wrote: "One of the most memorable moments for me in The Reason You Walk occurs in the second chapter. Wab describes what happened to his father, Tobasonakwut, at the burial of his father. T..."

Reading your words, Susan, has confirmed for me something that I've been thinking of doing recently... completing the TRC Reading Challenge.

There is so much that we don't know, and there is so much to learn, but this information is available now. There is no excuse now not to learn about this very painful history of the country we occupy.

[Allison]

Susan wrote: "One of the most memorable moments for me in The Reason You Walk occurs in the second chapter. Wab describes what happened to his father, Tobasonakwut, at the burial of his father. T..."

Susan, my eyes are filling with tears as I read your post. The scene in which Tobasonakwut was not permitted to grieve for his father in his own way, and then to be strapped for it, is unthinkable. I cannot understand such cruelty.

The report on missing children is also absolutely devastating... Thank you for quoting the statistics in the report.

[Allison]

Emily wrote: "Susan wrote: "One of the most memorable moments for me in The Reason You Walk occurs in the second chapter. Wab describes what happened to his father, Tobasonakwut, at the burial of..."

Emily, I hadn't heard about the TRC Reading Challenge, so thank you for linking it. I have read chunks of several of the reports, and none of the content is easy to read. Then again, nor should it be.

[Susan]

Many of the stories that are emerging are heart-wrenching. Your question, however, struck another chord with me - one that isn't all that pleasant. I grew up just outside Montreal in a city called LaSalle. Just across the river was the reserve we called Caughnawaga, now known as its Mohawk name Kahnawake. As a kid in the 1960s, we never heard anything positive about our neighbours - when they were bussed into our town for school, we heard they destroyed the school buses. My brother and his friend cycled across the Mercier bridge and were attacked by several girls as they set foot on the reservation. Such animosity between white and indigenous neighbours. Were all the stories true ... probably exaggerated (although my 16 yr old's brother's bike was wrecked). My current understanding of the residential school system (where these kids' parents' must have gone to school) gives a very different context for my memories. Clearly we were part of the problem. Perhaps that explains my interest in the TRC now.

[Allison]

Susan wrote: "Many of the stories that are emerging are heart-wrenching. Your question, however, struck another chord with me - one that isn't all that pleasant. I grew up just outside Montreal in a city called ..."

You couldn't have said that more powerfully, Susan. Clearly we were part of the problem. And maybe, we still are. I think we have a long way to go yet, but this is a very important start and I am most grateful to the courageous and inspiring indigenous peoples who are sharing these stories and affecting a change in all of us.