Canadian Press
June 11, 2008
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hfiVNDm58qC2q778Ymu1xrFgTwzw
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a historic apology Wednesday for more than a century of abuse and cultural loss involving Indian residential schools.
Aboriginal leaders - some in traditional garb - sat in a circle in front of Harper in the House of Commons as he officially said sorry to former students on behalf of the federal government.
"The government of Canada sincerely apologizes and asks the forgiveness of the Aboriginal Peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly," Harper said. "We are sorry."
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| Phil Fontaine, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, speaks to media following a sunrise ceremony on Victoria Island in Ottawa on Wednesday, June 11, 2008. |
"Two primary objectives of the residential schools system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures and to assimilate them into the dominant culture.
"These objectives were based on the assumption aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal. Indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, 'To kill the Indian in the child.'
"Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm and has no place in our country."
Harper walked to the Commons with Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, who wore a full, feathered headdress.
Fontaine and other leaders then ushered aging survivors on to the floor of the Commons where they received a long standing ovation from MPs and cheers from the public galleries.
Many natives who were once forced to attend the church-run schools packed the galleries, while more than 1,000 people listened to a broadcast of the apology on the lawn of Parliament Hill.
Thousands more watched live television coverage at more than 30 special events across the country.
The apology is part of a massive compensation and healing package expected to top $4 billion.
As they prepared for the prime minister's apology, a group of natrives offered sunrise prayers for those who didn't live to hear it.
Elder Fred Kelly of the Onigaming First Nation near Kenora, Ont., was among about 100 people who gathered on an island in the Ottawa River below Parliament Hill.
As the sun rose behind the gothic silhouette of Centre Block - where policies to "Christianize" native kids were hatched generations ago - they burned tobacco and honoured the spirits of those who have died.
"The second part was to turn toward the living school survivors and, hopefully, to move on with their lives," said Kelly.
About 150,000 students attended 130 church-run schools for much of the last century. It's estimated that more than 80,000 are still living.
While many students say they received a good education, Ottawa acknowledged in 1998 that physical and sexual abuse was rampant in the once-mandatory institutions.
Bewildered children, many of whom did not speak English and had been forcibly taken from their homes, were harshly punished and sometimes beaten for speaking their languages.
Others were subjected to the sadistic attacks of sexual predators, some of whom terrorized the youngsters in their care for decades with impunity.
Fontaine, who was himself sexually abused at the Fort Alexander residential school in Manitoba, had high hopes that Harper's statement will help him and others move on.
"We've all waited a long time for this," he said. "This is going to be a very emotional time for a lot of people. It's going to trigger a lot of memories, and these people are going to need support."
The assembly worked with Health Canada to ensure counsellors would be available on Parliament Hill and at the many gatherings planned in most provinces.
A 24-hour, toll-free crisis line can be reached at 1-866-925-4419.
A statement of reconciliation offered by the Liberal government under Jean Chretien in 1998 was rebuffed in some native quarters as an overly legalistic attempt to make amends - and offset liability.
It was followed by a flood of lawsuits and class-action claims, most of which were ultimately settled by a compensation and healing package expected to top $4 billion.
Many former students have said all along that a sincere apology from the heart of a prime minister would be worth much more than money. The Conservatives refused such calls for months after they took the helm in 2006, but have since turned about.
Still, Wednesday's statement won't be enough, said Gilbert Johnson. He was among the 18 claimants who went public with horrific accounts of rape and beatings at the Port Alberni residential school on Vancouver Island.
Dormitory supervisor Arthur Henry Plint, now deceased, was convicted in March 1995 and sentenced to 11 years. That ground-breaking court victory gave many others the courage to come forward, bolstering class-action claims that ultimately pressured Ottawa to settle and, finally, apologize.
Johnson, now 54, had no plans to attend or even watch Harper's statement Wednesday.
"If the government had any care, it would have given an apology to us years ago," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, he's a little late."
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