Though Canada's Residential Schools may have been started with noble intentions, they are now, over 100 years later, a black mark on Canada's history. The process of righting the wrongs associated with the schools is a long one, in part because the damage they caused was extensive and long-lasting.
Many of the 150,000 children who went to residential schools were forced to abandon their culture, their language and their family. Many had no semblance of a normal upbringing, moving to the large, poorly-funded schools that separated them from their family. The training and education they received was substandard, leaving many graduates in an uncomfortable position. Many were ashamed of their culture, or what little they knew of it, but they had too few skills to live or work anywhere else.
Though the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is new, the truth and reconciliation process is a long one. In 1986, the United Church issued an official apology to First Nations people within its congregation for "imposing our civilization," without specifically mentioning residential schools, though they would release an official apology in 1998 for its role in the administration of residential schools. In 1990, Phil Fontaine, then the leader of the Association of Manitoba Chiefs, met with representatives of the Catholic Church demanding an apology. In the next four years, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the Anglican and Presbyterian churches all offered apologies. Stephen Harper's official apology came in 2008. Finally, in 2009, Pope Benedict expressed "sorrow" for the abuse and "deplorable" treatment of students at Catholic-run schools.
The truth and reconciliation movement has also produced a large number of lawsuits throughout Canada, over forced assimilation, physical and sexual abuse. When litigation first started in British Columbia, out of 127 litigants, all had suffered sexual abuse, 90 per cent had suffered physical abuse, more than three quarters had abused alcohol, half had a criminal record and all but two had at least one mental disorder, with a majority diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. A class-action lawsuit, the largest in Canadian history, produced a settlement for victims for a total of $2 billion.
The money will not just be paid to the victims. Though victims have received lump sums, the government also created a Commemoration Initiative, consisting of events, projects and memorials on a national and community level. Money from the settlements has also been directed to healing projects around the country, and created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission itself.
But legal settlements will not ultimately heal wounds that often run deep. Psychologists who have worked with survivors have described "residential school syndrome ," similar to post-traumatic stress syndrome, as something that has affected residential school attendees regardless of whether they suffered a specific instance of abuse. Because so much of the abuse involved a lack of parenting, much of the damage caused is intergenerational.
