Peter Harrison - Speaking My Truth

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the standards of the time, or of any time: to be hunted down for running awayfrom school; to be put in a cage for several days for all to see; to be humiliatedbefore the entire student body; and to be deprived of nourishment and accessto sanitary facilities during this time. This was not just the strap.Non-Aboriginal people in Canada had similar experiences, so what is sodifferent about this?Unfortunately, there were similar experiences: the Duplessis orphans, 5 theBarnardo children, 6 and Mount Cashel. 7 Even more cases are coming to lightat seemingly respectable educational and religious institutions in Canadaand elsewhere.The fact that there were similar experiences does not simply justify anyof them. Each has to be dealt with in a way that promotes healing andreconciliation based on the circumstances involved. However, residentialschools and their impact were, and are, different. They were created as amatter of national policy and had the express objective of taking the Indianout of the child. This is why a national process of reconciliation and the rolethat the TRC will have in this process are so important.Why can people not just get over it?This opinion is closely related to the perception that residential schools arepart of ancient history and not of the present, and this is usually based onignorance of the gravity of the abuse suffered by former students. How doessomeone come to terms with having been raped on multiple occasions as achild? How can current infirmities and dependencies resulting from previousabuse be overcome, if at all? Where is the hope that has been systematicallydestroyed? While many former students are on a healing journey thatinvolves coping with the past and building for the future, many are not. Thiswill be a major challenge for the TRC as it tries to dispel the myth in civilsociety that somehow this whole matter was an aberration while at the sametime promoting reconciliation through healing.This whole thing is not fair to the many good people involved …The Settlement Agreement came into being because of the number of classaction suits for alleged abuse being brought against the defendants—Canada and the churches that ran the schools. It came into being to rightmany wrongs, not to laud the contribution of dedicated people of whomthere were undoubtedly many. So it is not surprising that the dialogue todate has focused on the many terrible things that happened in the schools.This will continue as the TRC begins its work. The challenge will be to hearall sides of the residential school story—the good, the bad, and (equally142 | Peter Harrison
important) the indifferent—while not diminishing in any way the sufferingof former students and the negative impact the schools have had onAboriginal societies.The location and operation of many of the residential schools was such thatthese were isolated entities, often with little outside contact or input. Thisundoubtedly contributed to the flourishing abusive practices. However, surelylittle can remain hidden for long in such closed environments. So, of particularinterest will be any observations and conclusions the TRC will reach as to whymany of those good people were oblivious to the abuse that was happeningaround them. Or, if they were not oblivious, then why did not more of them stepforward and take action to protect the children in their care?Is it not time to just move on and let bygones be bygones?This opinion is dismissive of the trauma experienced by many Survivors ofresidential schooling and underestimates the difficulty of coping with theongoing impact of such trauma. It is the naive view that somehow a pagecan be turned and all will be well—a matter of pulling oneself together andgetting on with things. Anyone who has ever grieved or suffered traumaknows how enormously wrong such statements are and how they reflect afundamental misunderstanding of the human condition.There may well be a time to move on, but only when individual Survivors,families, and communities have the strength and support to cope with theirpast experiences and to deal with the trauma that has been inflicted on them.Each healing journey is different; some are more difficult than others, othershave never begun. The nature and the pace of each journey can only bedetermined by each traveller, but the TRC can be instrumental in helping somany travellers reach their destination.[In October of 2007, I had the privilege of addressing a group of professionals who were tobecome adjudicators in the independent assessment process mandated by the SettlementAgreement. I urged them to remember that those who were abused in a residential schoolwere defenceless little children and that what happened to each of the Survivors they help,whatever their age, happened when they were a child. My message to them was that, as theyadjudicate individual cases of abuse, they have an enormous gift to impart above and beyonda financial settlement, and that is the gift of hope. With institutions such as the AboriginalHealing Foundation continuing their critically important and acclaimed work, and now withthe Truth and Reconciliation Commission beginning its activities, maybe the gift of hope willbe granted to all Aboriginal children—past, present, and future.]Response, Responsibility, and Renewal | 143
Page 1 and 2: Peter HarrisonResponse, From Respon
Page 3 and 4: Dispelling Ignorance of Residential
Page 5 and 6: Toward ReconciliationThere are many
Page 7: children with an education is undou
Page 11: “How would you feel if your child

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