The urgency of people to testify about Residential School abuses will continue to overshadow any controversy about the resignation of Judge Harry LaForme as Chief Commissioner of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission and subsequent meltdown of the commission. It's amazing how everybody quit and the road-show closed just when the public proceedings were getting underway and working out the kinks.
A good example was in Prince George, B.C., during the week of Oct. 21 and 22, 2008, when the Indian Residential School Survivor Society (http://www.irsss.ca) hosted a regional gathering on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission looking Into Canada's Indian Residential School System with one of the TRC commissioners Jane Morley (resigned in January 2009) in attendance. In the same week and venue at the city's civic centre, the Prince George based Carrier Sekani Health Services spearheaded a two-day conference Oct. 23 and 24, 2008, called We Lez Du Neeh (Letting Go) and their agenda included a large feast on the Friday, Oct 24, 2008.
Well in fact the controversy at the top began that very week with the resignation of Judge Harry LaForme amid a storm of lateral violence terminology and accusatory language. Despite the obvious setback to the process the Prince George meetings proceeded, and there were many outstanding testimonies given to the IRSSS gathering in the northern B.C. city.
There was an open microphone and serious discussion about the process of healing. "They didn't give us the opportunity to go to the mainstream schools," nor any schooling that would lead to a trade, said one speaker, "At that time it was called Prince George College and they didn't give us that opportunity to go there either. They didn't even let us vote until 1960."
He was followed immediately by a strong speaker, a woman, who began, "How we treat ourselves as First Nations people leaves a lot to be desired. There are many First Nations organizations here in Prince George and all over the province; and most of these place I am never comfortable, because you know what?
"I feel like I'm addressing someone who has authority. And I abhor authority because of the residential school. There is no trust there. How could I relate to these people and how could they relate to me?"
She decried a lack of function in human resources institutions in the field of recovery from all the systemically inflicted damages, "But I am on the healing path. I know that I am dysfunctional. I admit it, I owned up to it, and knowing that I can begin to heal." She alluded to an earlier speaker's remarks "about our people's journey with drugs/alcohol. What about poverty? Another big issue. I live on six hundred and ten bucks a month. I pay $400 for rent. Sometimes $70 for hydro. The rest is my food, my transportation, the odd pack of cigarettes; and for entertainment? I am lucky if I get a 99 cent cone at McDonalds.
"All this brings me to trust. How can I trust a commission that is initiated, yes, by some of my own people across the nation, but the federal government is holding the purse strings. How do we make them realize that, hey, we are important? En Cha S'ay Nuh: 'He too has life,' is on the University of Northern BC crest; that is central Carrier. In other words, you don't treat anybody like that. You don't hurt anybody like that. You don't say anything like that about anybody. And even if you think it you don't say it."
"Don't they realize that we are human beings just like they are? My blood is just as red as theirs. And whose land are they sitting on anyway? To begin with that is still under question. So how can I trust them when I can't even life on my reserve because I don't have a home? Any my reserve is so far up there's no water, no well, no electricity, there's not even a road up there. If I wanted to get up there I'd have to walk or sail up there or find somebody that's got a boat. But there is nothing left up there.
"My mom and dad are gone. My mom just passed away a year ago and she was a residential school survivor. And speaking of her, when I would ask her a question about it she would clam up. She never said a word. She was there from 1922 to 1930 when this Lejac Residential School first opened up. So some of the things that she experienced I can recognize now because they're in me too.
"Trust the government first to go through the ATR process (Aboriginal truth and reconciliation) and they throw a few bones, what did she call it?" (a previous speaker) "Dog scraps? Let's throw a few bones to these Indians. Maybe we'll get rid of a few more of them. You know there's a lot of alcoholics out there, a lot of druggies. They'll spend that little bit of money on whatever they need. And maybe a few more will die off. Still trying to get rid of the Indian, ya know.
"Well how can I trust the government when I see that happening? And I said way back then when they first started this, where in the hell is the healing? I want to be healed first before I get any money so I'll know what to do with it. There is no such thing," as healing services in Prince George.
"Overall when I think about it, yeah, the commission sounds great. I'm for it. It's an opportunity for us to tell our stories our way, each and every one of us; and when I'm ready I'll be there, and I hope you will be too because this is our opportunity to take the reins, to rewrite that history about First Nations people.
"No we're not dumb, we're not stupid, we're not lazy, we're not drunks, we're not dirty, we're not savages. We're human beings, we have heart that we used to have for each other, for the animals, for the land; the respect that we showed to every living creature. We treated everything with respect and that we lost."
Rodney Merasty used to live and teach in Pukatawagon Indian Reserve in northern Manitoba, and he believes the TRC has real potential to bring about a healing process that will work, "I think that this is a very appropriate name because it makes you think that there is going to be dialogue followed by action to expose the truth. There should be attempts towards reconciling the wrongs that were done to residential school survivors."
Merasty said, "Exposing the truth may be the easy part of this evolving equation. For true reconciliation to happen there has to be a very deep understanding for the long term effects that residential schools have, including right now on our people. The damages that were done nearly completely wiped out our culture, language and identity. It will take an extremely profound intervention to correct the damages done to the Indian family.
"Let us plan a reconciliation as a process of restoring hope, love for each other's humanity and experiences, respect for each other's parents and siblings. True reconciliation would bring about respect for our government, and respect for all things sacred."
In a true reconciliation, "The respect for our Indian heritage would be returned, respect for our peoples role in society, and a return of Indian self-esteem and pride in ourselves. Let us move towards attempting to restore the 'Indian Family' to what it was before the government confiscated our children. A healthy family is what was taken away from us with the advent of the Residential School System."
Merasty said, "It is not enough to think about reconciliation for just the living survivors of the residential school but reconciliation to correct the damages that are still manifesting themselves today within a very disillusioned and broken down family. In order to do justice to the children of the residential schools we must spend time and money on correcting the long term damage that continues to this day."
He noted, "Our people always communicated and shared history, family values, culture and stories through word of mouth orally. When our children were taken away from us they took away our ability to continue our tradition and culture. Children were no longer around to teach and train in the familiar ways. Then, in turn, children were abused in every way imaginable and too many of them died (by murder) in residential schools."
Merasty said the ones that were 'lucky' enough to survive were left to live in a world where the only thing they had to share with their children (generations of today) was an inheritance of dysfunction, "so this vicious cycle continues in many ways."
He said, "So you can see and understand why reconciliation is so much more then doling out money to survivors and their families; reconciliation is looking at the long term damage that was done; and instituting measures and steps that will at the very least reverse the trends of dysfunctional living by many of our people in our little Indian reserves."
Merasty asked, "If we were to create a successful formula to restore the Healthy Native Family I wonder what it would be? The biggest one is to address the basic needs of nuclear families to live a normal life." He added, "A healthy family is a family that doesn't live in poverty, has their own home, and has values and cultural traditions, A healthy family speaks their Native Language and has time tested and true ancient medicines to heal themselves; a healthy family lives in hope for the future."
He said, "With the creation of the Indian Reserve System came the purposeful intent to remove the 'Indians' from the rest of the population, thus creating the 'Indian Problem." Indians, he said, were neatly put away so that any positive contribution they might have on their families and people would be stopped by removal from any meaningful participation in government, church and economy in the 'outside world.'
A governing authority showed no respect for existing First Nation government and forced an unworkable scheme (of two year terms for Chief and Counsels) for First Nation governance. "Without a reasonable share of the Gross Domestic Product in these jurisdictions we can only fight with each other (committing auto genocide) for scraps from the government, and even then, those can be eaten only if your family is connected to the chief and counsel."
These are the basic issues facing the next commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, "The creation of the Residential School system came with atrocities and all the ingredients that make up a holocaust. Murder was the order of the day from the Indian Affairs; it was murder that was perpetrated in every way imaginable." We may have trouble getting to the truth and thus the reconciliation."
FOOTNOTE: At first there was speculation that Ed John of the First Nations Summit was a possible contender for next Commissioner. The necessity of finding a replacement of Ed John's caliber is recognizable.
As early as November First Nations Canada was informed that the TRC was in disarray and rudderless. First Nations people in Canada have to hope the issues of leadership at TRC get sorted out immediately so testimonies as seen above can find an audience and be heard.
This article is dedicated to the memory of Sherman Merasty.
