Written by Katy Cottrell 2021
The recent discovery of multiple mass unmarked graves near the premises of Residential Schools in Canada made international headlines. The deaths of these Indigenous children were a product of a colonial policy which separated them from their families and raised
them in boarding schools designed to assimilate them into dominant Canadian culture. But what is less frequently discussed in the media is how this boarding school system, which has been described as a cultural genocide, was inspired by institutions in the United States.
The Carlisle Indian Residential School in Pennsylvania was founded in 1879 by General Richard Henry Pratt whose notorious motto was ‘kill the Indian, save the man’[i]. At Carlisle School every step was taken to force children to forgo their Indigenous culture and traditions. Students were forced to speak English, cut their har in Eurocentric styles and change their names, with corporal punishments being issued for any defiance of these rules. Living conditions at Carlisle school were poor and death rates were high, with children suffering from disease, neglect and malnourishment[ii].
In 1879 a Canadian lawyer named Nicholas Flood Davin visited Carlisle school. He returned to Canada, either unaware or unconcerned by the school’s poor conditions and mortality rate, to recommend that the government establish their own residential school system. Thus, the Canadian system was modelled on existing institutions in the US[iii].
Despite this, the disparity in today’s media attention and public narrative around the topic of residential schools is evident between the two countries. According to the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, only 10% of Americans were aware of the boarding school program that operated in their country, compared to 70% of their Canadian counterparts[iv].
If there is a remarkably similar in which both countries carried out cruel practices designed to assimilate Indigenous children, why aren’t the American public aware of their country’s history? And why has the media not brought their attention to this narrative?
Various hypothesise have been suggested to answer these questions. Some have suggested the American public does not want to think about all the awful things that happened to Indigenous communities’ and their children. Others have suggested that similar anti-racism movements such as Black Lives Matter have overshadowed Indigenous advocacy[v]. I would suggest it is more convincing that the American narrative has been given so little attention because once the public and the government recognise their countries’ past, they will face more pressure to address the historic cruelty and brutality.
Between 2007 and 2015 the Canadian government spent $72 million dollars supporting a Truth and Reconciliation Commission which established a historical record of the residential school system.[vi] The Canadian Prime Minister has issued a formal apology and has committed to paying up to $598 million in compensation to those who were forcibly removed from their communities as children[vii]. Annually the 30th of September marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a federal statutory holiday to recognise the harms of residential schools and remember it victims. This day is also known as Orange Shirt Day, and all Canadians are encouraged to wear orange shirts to honour the survivors of the residential school system and the families of those who died.
In contrast, the closest Native American victims have come to receiving an apology was in 2009 from Barack Obama, though this was watered down and buried within a defence spending bill.[viii] Furthermore, on multiple occasions US courts have rejected lawsuits filed by survivors of residential schools. Fortunately, the US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (who is the first Native American to serve as cabinet secretary) announced in response to media attention concerning Canadian unmarked graves, that the US government will investigate its oversight of the Native American residential schools, locating possible burial sites and uncovering the names and tribal affiliation of victims.
It is crucial that the United States comes to confront its past and the long-lasting trauma residential schools have inflicted on Indigenous communities. In the past Canada took inspiration from the US to establish the residential school system, today the US should look to its northern neighbour to make steps toward recognition and reconciliation with Native American communities.
[i] http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/4929 [ii] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/a-century-of-trauma-at-boarding-schools-for-native-american-children-in-the-united-states [iii] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/a-century-of-trauma-at-boarding-schools-for-native-american-children-in-the-united-states [iv] https://boardingschoolhealing.org/ [v] https://nationalpost.com/news/why-residential-schools-in-u-s-have-remained-part-of-the-countrys-buried-past [vi] https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1450124405592/1529106060525 [vii] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/06/decades-after-government-seizure-of-children-indigenous-canadians-will-receive-compensation [viii] https://apnews.com/article/canada-government-and-politics-education-e9440169fde104df6fad6e0ba7128b0e
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