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	The Grand Apology By Kathleen Harris Edmonton Sun June 8, 2008 http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2008/06/08/5809546-sun.html OTTAWA — It was nearly 50 years ago and he was just five years old at the time. But Ted Quewezance remembers the day he was ripped from his home and family like it was yesterday. Government officials arrived by car and carried him away crying, forcing him to live in an Indian residential school in rural Saskatchewan with complete strangers who didn't speak his language or understand his culture. "They dragged me away from my grandparents. It's a hard thing to talk about, but it's something I'll never forget," he recalled. "I travelled all day, and cried the whole way." Quewezance remained a student at Gordon Residential School for 11 years. While there were many good people and practices, most positive recollections are overcome by the horrors of chronic sexual, physical and emotional abuse he endured from the first day he arrived. For decades, Indian, Metis and Inuit children — called Canada's "stolen generations" — were sent to these church-run, government-financed schools to learn to assimilate into white society. The students lost their childhood, their communities lost their pride, culture and language; suicide, illness and substance abuse rates for survivors soar above national averages. 'DEFINING MOMENT' Many former students have received federal compensation and formal recognition for the abuse and cultural loss. But this week, in what some are calling a "defining moment" in Canadian history, the survivors will finally get what they've waited a lifetime for: A formal apology from the government of Canada. Prime Minister Stephen Harper will deliver the solemn words of sorrow and regret on behalf of the nation in the House of Commons at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl expects a historic and emotional day for survivors and the broader aboriginal community, and hopes it can bring some measure of peace. He also hopes the public will engage in the profoundly symbolic landmark event. "It will be very emotional for many people who have waited a lifetime, or in some cases, several generations. Listening intently to the words will be important for all Canadians," Strahl told Sun Media. "For many people, it will be the first time in their lives that they will truly understand why the apology is necessary. It is potentially that big a moment." After consultations with aboriginal groups, Strahl said many survivors have long felt they can't look their government in the eye and see the apology as a way to move forward. They don't want to hear excuses or historical justification, but clear, unqualified recognition of the deep, lasting inter-generational damage caused. "They'll be listening for sincerity, and an apology that's anything less is less than worthless, it's harmful," he said. "So it has to be very sincere, and it will be." Rev. James Scott, the United Church's general council officer for residential schools, called it a "defining moment in the healing of our nation." "It's important because it's acknowledging a long, dark chapter of our history which has been hidden, and it's significant because it sets the foundation for a different kind of future," he said. "This apology has the potential to launch a period of reflection and healing that will change this nation." Scott said it has also been a difficult journey for church people, trying to grapple with the role of the institution in such tragic consequences. "That shakes your sense of ministry, your sense of what the church is all about," he said. "We've had to go back to our roots, go back to our values, go back to our faith in our attempt to be responsible in the face of this history." Sharon Thira, executive director of the B.C.-based Indian Residential School Survivors Society, said former pupils are divided on the significance of the apology. Some are cynically asking why it took so long and believe words will ring hollow; others hope this official apology will help the healing process. "This day has the potential to begin a process of acknowledgment and healing for survivors. If it's meaningful and sincere, it could have lasting effect on the lives of survivors and the part that they feel they can play in Canada as a whole," Thira said. "Most of them were four or five or six when they were put on a train or a cattle truck or a steamboat, often not speaking any English, being herded to a place where they were abused, right from the very first day for some, and where they were treated as second-class citizens." ABORIGINAL STEREOTYPE Canadians must understand and recall this history of marginalizing a whole race when they stereotype aboriginal people, she said. Quewezance, who now serves as executive director of the National Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society, estimates there were some 150,000 students, and about 86,000 are still alive today. Like many survivors, he turned to alcohol and drugs to cope and suffered suicide attempts and family problems. Counselling and rehabilitation eventually helped him turn his life around. But the collective anguish has left a painful legacy on aboriginal families and communities with what some have likened to "cultural genocide." "People right across this country ask why are Indians the way they are? Why are Inuit the way they are? Why are the Metis the way they are? Look at what we went through, and today our youth are still paying the price," Quewezance said. "Institutionalization is still here — just look at the jails that are still filled up with the First Nations people. Yet this is Canada, one of the best countries in the world." —- SHAMEFUL HISTORY 1857 — Gradual Civilization Act passed to assimilate aboriginals. 1870-1910 — Period of assimilation where the objective of missionaries and government was to "assimilate" aboriginal children 1920 — Comp.ulsory attendance for all children ages 7-15 years. Children were forcibly taken from their families by priests, Indian agents and police officers. 1931 — There were 80 residential schools operating in Canada. 1948 — There were 72 residential schools with 9,368 students. 1979 — There were 12 residential schools with 1,899 students. 1980s — Residential school students began disclosing sexual and other forms of abuse at residential schools. 1996 — The last federally run residential school, the Gordon Residential School, closes in Saskatchewan. 1998 — The AFN establishes the Indian Residential Schools Resolution Unit. — from the Assembly of First Nations
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