cover image: What we have learned : Principles of truth and reconciliation

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What we have learned : Principles of truth and reconciliation

31 May 2015

In 1953, J. E. Andrews, the principal of the Presbyterian school in Kenora, Ontario, wrote that “we must face realistically the fact that the only hope for the Canadian Indian is eventual assimilation into the white race.”17 In 1957, the 8 • Truth & Reconciliation Commission principal of the Gordon’s Reserve school in Saskatchewan, Albert Southard, wrote that he believed that the goal of residenti [...] In the fifteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church, building on the traditions of the Roman Empire, conceived of itself as the guardian of a universal world order.56 The adop- tion of Christianity within the Roman Empire (which defined itself as ‘civilized’) reinforced the view that to be civilized was to be Christian. [...] The English argued that a claim to ‘discovered lands’ was valid if the ‘discoverer’ was able to take possession of them.60 Harman Verelst, who promoted the colonization in the eighteenth century of what is now the southern coast of the United States, wrote that “this Right arising from the first discovery is the first and fundamental Right of all European Nations, as to their Claim of Lands in Ame [...] As a result, parents who wished to see their children educated were forced to send them to residential schools.99 The history • 25 The assimilation policy From the Canadian government’s perspective, the most significant elements in the Treaties were the written provisions by which the First Nations agreed to “cede, release, surrender, and yield” their land to the Crown.100 In the Treaty negotiatio [...] The two most prominent of these were the west-coast Potlatch and the Prairie Thirst Dance (often referred to as the “Sun Dance”).106 Residential school principals had been in the forefront of the campaign to ban these ceremonies, and also urged the government to enforce the bans once they were put in place.107 26 • Truth & Reconciliation Commission This “Sun Dance” ceremony was one of the Aborigin
education politics school canada indians of north america catholic church christianity church colonialism culture truth commissions orders native peoples canadian indian residential school system first nations aboriginal religion and belief religious belief protestant indian act residential school system indian residential schools 1969 white paper white paper truth and reconciliation commission of canada methodist anglican christian mission missionaries mission doctrine of discovery
ISBN
9780660020730
Pages
200
Published in
Ottawa, Ontario

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