OTTAWA
With the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission complete and its final report released Dec. 15 in Ottawa, commission chairperson Justice Murray Sinclair welcomed a new era while recognizing it will take generations to enact change in the relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians.
Truth and Reconciliation commissioners Chief Wilton Littlechild, left, and Marie Wilson, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed and commission chairperson Justice Murray Sinclair at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's release of the five-volume final report in Ottawa Dec. 15. - photo courtesy of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami |
From his home in Taloyoak, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) vice-president James Eetoolook welcomed the release of the final report. He said NTI acknowledges the Inuit and other indigenous survivors from across the country who shared their stories, "without which this process could never have happened."
"We are hoping the findings of the report are a call to action," said Eetoolook, who also expressed the hope that all Canadians will embrace this aspect of history.
"We are looking forward to working with the federal government, who committed to full implementation of the recommendations. We need to make sure we review this report and make sure that government adheres to their promise of full implementation."
Sinclair addressed the gathering in Ottawa, which included Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, members of cabinet and indigenous leaders.
"Over the time of our mandate, the commission heard statements from survivors, gathered documents and worked to create a number of calls to action aimed at addressing the damage done," said Sinclair.
"The recommendations are centred around a core challenge in Canadian society - a broad lack of understanding of the unjust and violent circumstances from which modern Canada emerged and how the legacy of Indian Residential Schools is part of that history and of our country today."
The commission's work was one element of the 2007 Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, the largest settlement in Canadian history at $5 billion, which also saw individual settlements for survivors. That process is set to be completed in 2016. At the heart of the settlement and the commission's work are all the survivors who spoke out with their stories - almost 7,000 survivors, family members and others.
Two empty chairs on stage at the event was a reminder of those who did not survive.
Documents show more than 3,000 of approximately 150,000 school children died, but those are just the documented deaths. Fifteen Inuit children from Nunavut reportedly never returned home.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed spoke at the Ottawa event.
Pointing to the five volumes of the report, Obed said, "We now have in these volumes the truth that had been said over the course of this entire process. It should change us. It should reach our heart. We also recognize that part of the truth is the way we are today, our society, our communities, is affected by the truth of the residential school era."
Volume 2 of the more than 3,000-page report is titled Canada's Residential Schools: Inuit and Northern Experience. It outlines in great detail the realities for Inuit - the residential school system, government policies and consequences.
For example, "Residential schooling in the North also played a major role in the rapid transformation of the region's traditional, land-based lifestyles and economies. The tremendous distances that Inuit and some First Nations and Metis children had to travel to school meant that, in some cases, children were separated from their parents for years," the report states.
Sinclair and fellow commissioners Marie Wilson and Chief Wilton Littlechild crafted 94 recommendations intended to achieve reconciliation and narrow the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous people in Canada, including in the areas of education, health and justice.
Eetoolook said he would like to see healing for survivors and their family members, including where Canadians and Nunavummiut see it most - addictions, family problems, crime and mental health.
"Social problems are a big issue and hopefully the healing process can begin now so the survivors can be in good spirits in raising their families, and their grandchildren."
As Eetoolook notes, and the report states, children were forcibly removed from their parents at a young age, breaking the parenting cycle.
Premier Peter Taptuna weighed in on the report's release.
"The legacy of residential schools has left lasting impact and trauma for indigenous people across the country, and its effects are seen daily in Nunavut.
"Inuit have shown over and over that we are strong and resilient. Now is the time to resolve the issues of the past, and embrace hope for the future," stated Taptuna in a news release, adding the history of residential schools will continue to be taught in Nunavut schools "so our students understand the full extent of this period in our territory's history."
Trudeau announced on the day of the report's release that the federal government would take reconciliation even further.
"We recognize that true reconciliation goes beyond the scope of the commission's recommendations. I am therefore announcing that we will work with leaders of First Nations, Metis Nation, Inuit, provinces and territories, parties to the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, and other key partners, to design a national engagement strategy for developing and implementing a national reconciliation framework, informed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's recommendations," he said.
Fact file
Testimony
Towkie Karpik recalled to the commission that a federal government representative came to Pangnirtung to recruit children for the hostels.
"When he came to get the children he was so aggressive and intimidating. I had no choice but to let him take them. I had no choice but to say yes, even though I didn't want them to go. Who would want that?
"No one had ever taken our small children from us before. When they took them all of the mothers began to grieve as if our children had died. Believe me it's the most terrible thing in the world to have someone take your children away and there was no way to stop it.
"The white man was so intimidating and he came to take our children, our innocent children that we had every expectation of raising ourselves. We thought they would stay with us until they were grown.
"It was so horrible to be left behind by our children because we weren't meant to be separated from the children when they were small. They were meant to stay with us."
Source: Canada's Residential Schools: Inuit and Northern Experience
Fact file
Advice to
parents
A handbook prepared for the Churchill Vocational Centre advised, "There must be able acceptance on the part of both the parent and the child that the learning of English and its associated acculturation is a very necessary factor in this further education.
"The child, when he returns home, will certainly not be the same individual who went to school. He will have a different outlook and might not readily accept what he finds upon his return."
Source: Canada's Residential Schools: Inuit and Northern Experience
