Montreal Gazette
June 11, 2010
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Significant+changes+needed+between+First+Nations+government+chief/3141187/story.html
| Two years after the Canadian government issued an apology for Indian residential schools, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations says there's still work to be done. |
Two years after the Canadian government issued an apology for Indian residential schools, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations says there's still work to be done.
"As we confront the legacy of the past, we look also to the future with the understanding that reconciliation today requires significant changes in the relationship between First Nations and governments," said national chief Shawn A-in-chat Atleo, in a written statement.
"The historic apology to residential school survivors was an important moment in our shared history. The apology was a statement by all of Parliament that colonialist policies and attitudes that undermined First Nations governments and denigrated First Nations families and cultures were wrong, caused great harm and have no place in Canada today."
Starting in Canada in the 1870s, residential schools were government-funded, church affiliated institutions where Aboriginal children were forbidden from speaking their own languages and practicing their culture. The last one closed in 1996.
On June 11, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered an apology on behalf of the government.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, which has a mandate to document what happened in residential schools, will hold its first national meeting in Winnipeg next week.
"As the commission embarks on its truth telling process, we must all work to ensure survivors have the cultural and emotional support they need to tell their stories," Atleo said.
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