A vast number of people know little about our residential school history, he said.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/canada-can-learn-from-south-africa-96545839.html

I find the above statement pretty much impossible to believe. Do we know exact details of each and every case? Nope, but I would be willing to argue close to 100% of Canadians know that at least some abuse took place.

Do we need to know exact details? Nope.

Every time I read a Lindor Reynolds column, brain cells die.

Abuse, as we now define it, was prevelant in all schools at the time I believe. It was common practice to strap and hit kids. I still have sore knuckles from Sister Mary's ruler. (Just because I patted her on the ass for a nice catch.lol).

JTF wrote:I still have sore knuckles from Sister Mary's ruler. (Just because I patted her on the ass for a nice catch.lol).

Hmmm, sounds like a little fantasy thing going on there.

Not sure if it's true that a most people don't know about residential schools. Maybe some people don't, but I learned all about it in schools. Watched videos, wrote papers on what happened end the lasting effects, etc. Maybe in the 80s they didn't teach that stuff but I would think anyone who's taken Canadian History in the past 15-20 years would have a pretty clear idea of what went on.

one thing I am wondering about. They throw around the statement of the last residential school closing in 1996. But there are still residential schools existing.

Kids are still required to go to school and we cant afford to put a K-12 school on every reserve so often the older grade kids are "shipped out".

So, why the lie about them all being closed?

I think what they will say about the kids being "shipped out" now is they are not forcibly being made to go to other locations to school, it is a choice. And it is high school kids that are being sent to other towns/cities to go to school, not the little ones in the early and middle years. As well the residential schools were similar in nature to a boarding school in that the students lived there as well as went to school. The kids who come to the high schools here in Winnipeg from the most northern reserves are placed in homes that are chosen by the school division that is sending them here (for the most part Frontier School Division). The folks at Frontier like to place the kids with family members as much as possible (aunt, uncle, grandparent, cousin) but if that is not possible then it may be another family from the same reserve who is living in Winnipeg for whatever reason. The very last resort is to set up a group of kids, same sex, similar age, in an apartment that is strictly monitored by Frontier but this scenario is very rare.
Dean you are right that not every reserve has a school, those that don't however are close enough to a town or hamlet that has a school that the kids can attend and the school bus will transport them there.

oh I totally know that my school bus stopped at 4 different reserves every morning on the way to school ( and the place I lived in was probably 15% kids from a further away reserve )

Nor are they forced to be assimilated into white society. Good post holly.

finally I see some good in the TRC

"Led by Trent University historian John Milloy, the TRC's research boss, a
team will spend the next four years making an inventory of every child
who died and how they perished -- tuberculosis, drowning, the 1919 flu
pandemic, neglect, nefarious doings or myriad other tragedies."

$300,000,000 pays for a lot of closure eh....and one hellava party....but still a big waste of money.

Pavolo wrote:Nor are they forced to be assimilated into white society. Good post holly.

Actually...THAT'S not true.

The whole planet is being forced into "white" society.

If you look around the world at the various societies to choose from, the one that dominates the world is based on the "white man's" perception of what society is.

The democratic, rule-making, courts, jails, etc. Those are all applied by the "white man".

The "cruel & unusual punishment" thing...another "white man" control.

I could point out thousands of examples...but here are some highlights:
Asia - very "class" system with slave labour (still in place) and forced abortions, castrations, etc.
Africa - steal something, have your hand chopped off.
Natives (tribes from all over) have their own rules, including torture, scarring, etc.

One of the first things told to me (by a native) when I moved here, was that "nobody owns the land here...so I can do what I want, where I want". That was while he was standing on my property hitting my house with a stick...and I accused him of trespassing!! (the stick changed hands quickly and he left)

So yes...everyone on the planet is being FORCED to the "white man's" ways, whether they want to or not.

Plus our TV is better.

So yes...everyone on the planet is being FORCED to the "white man's" ways, whether they want to or not.

Then why should that be is it morally right or are we better then all else . I do not say that the natives are perfect but some of their culture is . Their is less importance on material goods and more on the good of all stead of the one . To bad that way has been so badly corrupted

This past few days has shown me how true the tittle to this thread really is , have taken the time to hear and listen to all side's in this question .

We've been hearing about this stuff for 40 years already.

If people don't know about this, then it is, indeed time to move on eh.

If you keep picking a scab, the wound will never heal.

so sick of having to hear about this stuff already. Can I please have my evening news back now?

Ya'know....after seeing what Harper has been doing (and hasn't been doing) I'm coming to believe that he did have a secret agenda....that he really was a spendthrift Liberal.

Pavolo wrote:So yes...everyone on the planet is being FORCED to the "white man's" ways, whether they want to or not.

Then why should that be is it morally right or are we better then all else . I do not say that the natives are perfect but some of their culture is . Their is less importance on material goods and more on the good of all stead of the one . To bad that way has been so badly corrupted

I haven't been hearing about this for 40 years. (1, I'm not 40...yet...2, I haven't been here that long)

So...I'll add my observations:
There's NO such thing as "morally right" for anything.
Morals are values based upon a societies acceptance of certain tolerances.

If you look at history over the past thousand years, society has changed so significantly as to the "morally" acceptable from each generation.

Using your own comment about the Native "less importance on material goods" is a prime example...cause it's not true...anymore.
It might have been...200 years ago. It might even have been 100 years ago, but TODAY'S Native is interested in the same possession of goods the same as the "white man"...is it a "white man" influence? Probably not...it's just the evolution of the Native "culture".

The same as the millions of Chinese in Hong Kong who do not embrace the communist views of the political leaders...instead follow one of the purist forms of capitalism.

Morals...are based upon someone else's beliefs imposed upon enough people, for enough time as to make it acceptable.

Only a few hundred years ago, artists would paint and sculpt nudes and present them to the public, even in their churches. But some priest/prophet/pope decided that was "offensive" and commissioned other artists to defame the original works by painting over them, or covering the "private parts" with ornaments.

Today, I heard some idiot on CBC claiming that sexual activity was wrong. Why? It's a natural thing. Everyone does it (and those that don't want to). Yet "morals" have driven everyone undercover and behind closed doors.

The RARE exception to the "moral code" would be murder/violence. Even lower animals show grief and despair over the loss of a companion. Yet even a dog will eat its owner to stay alive if that's what's required.

Is everyone being "forced" into a specific culture. I'd say yes. Eventually (and we're talking probably THOUSANDS more years), there will be a "world culture" where everyone on the planet will be following the same "morals" (aside from a few renegade extremists).

Unfortunately, the culture that survives will be the one that's the most dominant, and issues the most control over the masses. Which may indicate it will be the most violent as well.