Métis History and Experience and Residential Schools in …

1 2006 aboriginal healing FoundationPublished by: aboriginal healing Foundation75 Albert Street, Suite 801, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5E7 Phone: (613) 237-4441 Toll-free: (888) 725-8886 Fax: (613) 237-4442E-mail: & Production: aboriginal healing FoundationPrinted by:Dollco PrintingISBN 1-897285-35-3 Unauthorized use of the name aboriginal healing Foundation and of the Foundation s logo is reproduction of this document is, however, project was funded by the aboriginal healing Foundation but the views expressed in this report are the personal views of the author(s).Ce document est aussi disponible en fran tis History and Experience and Residential Schools in CanadaPrepared forThe aboriginal healing Foundationby Larry N.

2 ChartrandTricia E. LoganJudy D. Daniels2006 Table of :. Acknowledgements ..7 Executive Summary ..9 Methodology ..11 Synthesis ..12 Historical Background ..12 M tis Participation in Residential Schools : Social and Policy Rationale ..18 The Impact of Residential Schools on the M tis ..21 Conclusions and Future Research ..23 Annotated Bibliography ..25 Summary of Unpublished Material ..40 Bibliography (not annotated) ..51 Appendix A: Royal Commission on aboriginal Peoples Research Reports Extracts .. : . :. Acknowledgements ..59 Use of Terms ..64 M tis History ..65 Chapter 1: The M tis and Residential Schools : An Historical Overview ..67 M tis Attendance Chapter 2: The Experiences of M tis Students: We Were Outsiders.

3 77 Chapter 3: The Future of Residential school Issues: M tis Involvement and Intergenerational Impacts ..83 Appendix A: Summary of Effects of Residential Schools by Elders at the 1993 Conference ..87 Appendix B: General Discussion on Residential Schools at the Southwest Region Manitoba M tis Federation Regional Meeting, 24 June 2000 .. :.m Acknowledgments ..97 Who are the M tis? ..103 A Brief History of the Residential school System ..109 M tis Education in Canada and the West ..113 Indian Affairs Admission Policy for M tis Students ..115 Grouard, Joussard and Fort Vermilion Residential Schools ..121 Grouard - St. Bernard s Indian Residential school ..121 Fort Vermilion - St. Henri Indian Residential school .

4 123 Joussard - St. Bruno Indian Residential St. Joseph s Industrial school (also called Dunbow Industrial school ) ..131 Edmonton Agency and Onion Lake Agency ..135 Blue Quills Indian Residential school ..137 The 1936 Ewing Commission Report ..141 M tis Education in Alberta A 1960 Pedagogy of Indian Residential Schools ..147 Quality of Teachers ..151 Residential school Food ..153 Health in Residential Schools ..155 M tis Students The Outsiders ..161 Conclusion ..163 Appendix A: History of M tis in Alberta ..165 Appendix B: Key Aspects of M tis Tradition ..167 M tis Flag ..167 M tis Sash ..168 Red River M tis Cart ..169 Louis David Riel ..170 Angelique and Marguerite Nolin: Misses Nolin of Red River.

5 173 Appendix C: Typed Version of Original Documents ..175 Appendix D: Schools Operated by Indian Affairs Branch Alberta Region (1964) .. direct assimilation attemptsDespite the Residential school SystemsDespite the strong influences of the Church in Metis communities to ignore and deny our aboriginal heritageDespite not having a land baseAnd despite our own diversity in heritageWe are still able to say we are proud to be MetisWe are resilient as a weed, and beautiful as a wildflowerWe have much to celebrate and be proud of (Christi Belcourt) The story of the M tis and Residential Schools is not new; it is, though, a story that has been underemphasized for a long time in the realms of both Residential school and M tis History .

6 Throughout the twentieth century, the collective lives of the M tis have often been disconnected from other dominant community structures in Canada. The policies that were created for the M tis and Residential Schools acutely reflected how administrators felt about where they thought the M tis station in society should be. The M tis, in the eyes of the administration, were either to be considered Indians or assimilated as non- aboriginal Canadians. Any future the M tis had as a nation was not given consideration by the dominant Euro-Canadian society at that time. The History of the M tis and the Residential Schools is interrelated with many other segments of M tis History . However, in stories of the road allowance, resistance, family life, urban/rural movements, M tis political History and, in the accounts of M tis veterans, the stories of Residential school life were sometimes only given passing mention.

7 A part of M tis life that may have only been mentioned before as a portion of the larger story is now becoming the central narrative. Attention directed towards Residential school experiences of the M tis is growing. Our M tis Elders have so many parts of their lives to share; it is now becoming increasingly more common to hear stories of their school days and the school days of their parents. For those M tis who were given the opportunity to go to school in the early half of the twentieth century, those stories often include the Residential Schools . The fact that the M tis attended and survived the Residential school Experience has been left as a side-note in the past. However, in the past decade or so, Residential school Survivors and intergenerationally impacted people are finding an open and safe venue for their stories that they never had before.

8 New healing projects across Canada are providing a support network for Survivors that never existed in the size and scope that exists today. The large majority of Residential school Survivors are First Nation people and much of the emphasis still falls on the body of narrative that surrounds their experiences. As the minority in the number of total attendees at Residential Schools , the M tis voices often fell silent. Government manipulation of Residential school records often hid the numbers of M tis attendees. Social currents that worked against M tis voices at the time, as well as the voices of generations of First Nation people who did not come forward, each contribute to the reluctance on the part of the M tis.

9 For many clear and unavoidable reasons, the M tis voices were not heard. 2 Until following three reports on the M tis and Residential Schools point to the various circumstances that make up what is considered the general Experience of the M tis and Residential Schools . More importantly, the three reports give a great deal of insight into why M tis voices may have been silent in the past and why they are starting to be heard today. The story of M tis attendance at Residential Schools is unique. It is clear that the government did not continually support their attendance. The government did not want to take responsibility for the M tis, yet at the same time, they did not want their efforts towards full assimilation of aboriginal people into the dominant society to lapse.

10 Residential Schools and the M tis also fall into an interesting place in M tis History . In many cases, during the early twentieth century, as common as it was for a M tis person to be taken to Residential school , it was also just as common to be not taken to school at all. The M tis who lived on the road allowance or in a non- aboriginal community were often left out of opportunities for consistent education. All of the personal accounts and histories of course are not stories that ended with the closing of these Schools . The intergenerational impacts of these Schools affect all generations of M tis today. Credit is due to the generation of people who stepped forward and had the courage to tell their stories about their experiences as a M tis Survivor.