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| Tony Stevenson |
Which, I might add, were also the generations that made treaties with our First Nations families. Without getting into the lengthy details of these agreements — treaties — I will put it into a couple of sentences for you the reader. When your great-great non-Indigenous grandfathers came to this country from Europe, my forefathers agreed to share the lands with them, but this came with an understanding that both would agree to terms of this arrangement. A treaty was negotiated and signed. This agreement was to be honoured for as long as the grass grows, the rivers flow, and the sun shines. Which means in perpetuity. Forever.
My First Nations grandfathers were thinking of their children and the children not yet born. They knew that this European way of life was going to be a new way of living and the only way that they could give our generations a chance to survive was to learn the ways of their neighbours. The statement that was recorded in the treaty records by one the chiefs negotiating with the government officials was “to learn the cunning of the white man.”
This meant that the Europeans would have to provide a school on the reserves to educate our First Nations people. Among several other clauses that were agreed upon, this proved to be the most detrimental to the First Nations people because of the harms that follow to this day.
Once Canada’s government took over and had these treaties signed, they interpreted the agreements to their own advantages. The residential schools were administrated by sadistic individuals who were given the mandate to beat the Indian out of the child. Make the First Nations child be ashamed of who they are and where they come from. That was the direction of John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, and his trusted associate Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin accomplished that by giving the administrators carte blanche in running these schools.
These residential school administrators sexually/physically abused and psychologically tortured both the children and parents, and murdered our most prized natural resource. Many of these First Nation survivors then passed on their harmful ways to our generation. After the schools were closed in Canada, the harmful legacy continues to wind its way through our First Nation communities in so many ways.
I sat with many elders and listened to stories of the abuse they had to endure as a child. The sadness, loneliness, and the disbelief of what happened to them in this environment was overwhelming. These elders had not ever spoken of these stories with their children. They wanted to protect them from hearing what happened to them. Most of all, they were sorry they never got to show affection to their own children and that was a chance in life that would never come again. The residential schools had profoundly changed the way their bodies and minds function at this age. I had recognized some were mentally stuck in this era of soul-destroying experiences and that they would never get to enjoy the simple joys of life. Most have made their journey home and I take some comfort in knowing their Spirits will be safer in that world. But the irreparable harm is passed on to our generations. Unknowingly we have accepted those teachings as our own.
In my own generation, I have lost so many residential schoolmates who were innocently made victims of this legacy. The potential, kind loving, free-spirited human beings who were taken and continue to be taken at an early age through no fault of their own is overwhelming. Beautiful, talented, intellectually and athletically gifted lives go wasted because of what our First Nations people have to endure because of this “European” mindset. This is the foundation for the racism we must live with. Suicide and addictions are the greatest escape.
To those non-First Nations who continue to share your unfounded opinions of Canadian history — namely how Canada was discovered as fact — that façade can no longer survive the truth of the First Nations history that is being relearned by this country. The belief that your race and religion is superior to others’, namely my own First Nations traditions, must stop. I am more than happy to visit your community to create healthy, respectful and meaningful dialogue with you. The sanctity of the treaties your grandfathers and my grandfathers signed has been lost in translation. The interpretation of a cohesive existence should have been in the schools and universities, but many teachers felt they were not qualified to teach that subject. It is never too late to learn.
My full respect goes out to those non-First Nations who have taken the time to learn that truth. There are many of you who do understand. I know many of us do recognize your actions and efforts as you certainly do not go unnoticed. Thank you!
I also share this because I don't need the services of an underground radar sonar to verify how many of our First Nations residential family have made their journey far too soon. In our First Nations communities, this cycle is very much alive and continues to flourish.
Tony Stevenson is a member of the Anishnabec First Nation in the Treaty 4 Area in Saskatchewan who attended the Qu’Appelle Indian Residential School in Lebret, Sask. He worked extensively with the independent assessment process, preparing and representing peers and elders for compensation hearings. He was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and recognized by both the Saskatchewan and Regina chambers of commerce for creating a cross-culture work project at the Conexus Credit Union. He travels to schools, universities, businesses and labour organizations to give presentations on truth and reconciliation. Learn more at MJ’s Ole Skool Crew.
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