Continuing the legacy of building provincial school systems and schools on the backs of First Nations
The school system that harmed natives must heal them
Les Brost, For The Calgary Herald - September 01, 2008
June 11, 2008 was an important day in Canadian history. That's when Prime Minister Stephen Harper stood in the House of Commons and delivered an apology to Canada's aboriginal people. Harper addressed the serial abuse committed decades ago in the residential schools operating under Canadian government auspices.
It was an apology that was long overdue. The vile abuse that occurred in some schools, compounded by the decades-long cover-up, will forever stain our history.
The prime minister's apology was a balm for the pain that has rolled down the generations of Canada's aboriginal peoples. Yet apologies are only words, and words without a true commitment to change are as empty as a panhandler's pocket. What is changing on today's First Nations reserves?
A cold-eyed appraisal of today's aboriginal experience on reserves leads to one inescapable conclusion -- very little has changed. The residential school system is gone, but ongoing generational cycles of poverty, addiction, violence and despair endure.
It's plain that the past and current strategies for improving the quality of life on reserves have failed, working well only for the buckskin mandarins and the system's custodians and suppliers. We only delude ourselves if we think otherwise, and continue to throw money into the same dysfunctional system while expecting different outcomes.
So how do you truly renovate a broken and dysfunctional structure? Where do you begin? You can begin by focusing on the future -- ironically, with the children. Education is the best hope for breaking the generational cycles of bleak hopelessness gripping too many reserves.
Today's educational system on reserves is not working in the long-term interests of aboriginal people. Given the system's structure, it would be a miracle if it did.
Our federal government provides for First Nations education by transferring funds to bands for the necessary infrastructure and teachers. These band councils have many other pressing issues requiring funding and attention.
Experts estimate that more than 70 federal programs related to life-long learning goals for aboriginal people operate across 15 departments and agencies. Yet the education gap between aboriginal people and non-aboriginal people has widened over the past 20 years. The extent of that gap is difficult to measure, since achievement test results from reserve schools are not readily accessible for public review.
It is very difficult to attract teachers to reserve schools, and even harder to retain them. The hard-working and dedicated teachers and administrators who are working in reserve schools have a minimal peer support network.
Yet school boards that specialize in the business of public education and possessing the necessary resources surround the reserves. Their trustees, teachers and administrators have easy access to ongoing peer and professional support. Their goal is for children to learn in an environment supporting, respecting and honouring achievement.
It's time -- past time -- for our federal government to get out of the aboriginal education delivery business. Ottawa should contract with provincial departments of education for the delivery of public education on reserves. Reserve schools should operate under the auspices of provincial departments of education, and collaborate closely with existing school jurisdictions.
Given the residential school experience, that kind of change would require a huge leap of faith on the part of Canada's aboriginal people. They would have to develop new relationships with provincial governments not always sympathetic to First Nations issues. The change might exacerbate existing fears of cultural assimilation.
That's why non-aboriginal Canadians must play a part. We can acknowledge that the despair and misery on Canada's reserves is not an "Indian problem" -- it's a pan-Canadian problem, and it's our problem. We can begin to bridge that chasm of mistrust.
The process is already underway. Alberta Education's First Nations Métis Inuit Branch has mandated that the aboriginal perspective be embedded in the curriculum across all grades. Our Hutterite schools are another example of successful public education that respects cultural and religious mores.
All Canadians -- aboriginal and non-aboriginal -- want the best for our children. That common interest can form the decking of the bridge to the better tomorrow that First Nations people desire and deserve.
There would be a wonderful irony in starting true healing where so much pain began -- in the schools. Sometimes life gives us a second chance to get things right.
Les Brost is a recovering rancher and proud Old Prairie Dog with deep roots in Southern Alberta. He can be reached at www.lesbrost.com.