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rec·on·cil·i·a·tion
noun
Meaning: The restoration of friendly relations.
In the past couple pf centuries the Indigenous peoples have not been treated very well in Canada. They have been forced to abandon their culture, children have been separated from their homes and families, and they have been discriminated and mistreated in non-Indigenous communities. The Canadian government is now trying to reconcile for these things that have been done.
The Indigenous peoples of Canada.
Education for Indigenous peoples is one of the
biggest problems in Canada. For hundreds of years,
Indigenous children have not been able to have the same
good education as many other children have in Canada. It used
to be Residential Schools that were the problem, separating young children from their tribes and families, and forcing them to abandon there culture and language. But even now, as those schools are gone, there are still problems. For example, there are 13 to 14-year-old Indigenous teens as who don't have secondary schools to go to on their reserves, so instead they must be separated as much as
500 km from their families to be able to
further their education.
Indigenous education is not the only thing
that has been neglected over the years, however.
Compared to the rest of Canada, the Indigenous
living conditions are considerably worse. There
are 4 teenagers from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan (a
highly Indigenous area), named Ayla, Paywapin,
Camryn, and Linden, who have all been affected in some way or another by alcohol. These teens are trying to get something going called The Sober House project so that other teens don't have to experience what
they have and so that they might have better living conditions than they did. One
of these teens tells us that, in Canada, alcohol is considered a human right,
however clean drinking water, is not. The four of these young citizens are not
only bringing awareness to their city counsel about the dangers of alcohol,
but also to the fact that living conditions are not what they should be
for their people.
The bad treatment of children and teens during the
Residential School Era caused many children to become
depressed and even suicidal. Now, with teens still having to be
separated from their families to further their education, these teens
are still being badly affected. The picture below is of 14-year-old Miranda,
who has had to leave her home and family to attend high school in the city. She is finding it difficult, being so lonely at the boarding home she stays at. She says that she cries most days and has considered dropping out of school multiple times. She also has noticed herself feeling very distant from her tribe's culture because by being far away from it, she has started
forgetting the things she was taught all about
while growing up. Even though the effects of
Indigenous education aren't nearly as bad as
they used to be, they still concerning and
something needs to be done about it.
Partly due to the fact that more Indigenous homes have an abundance of alcohol in them, rather than clean drinking water, more Indigenous people die due to alcohol or sickness than any people in Canada. In just the group of the four teens I mentioned before, Ayla had a friend who was killed in an accident caused by someone under the influence, Linden started drinking at the age of 11 because of alcohol abuse, and Camryn grew up with alcoholics in his home. All of these situations would very difficult to deal with at such a young age. Camryn said that because of the alcoholics in his home growing, his grandma was his safe place. That was the place he could get away from everything and just feel safe and at peace. 'I wish more kids had a safe place like I did,' he said, 'so that they wouldn't get into drinking and drugs, like a lot of them probably have." This is probably very true. The effect of parents or guardians who have drug or drinking problems, is the kids get into drinking and drugs to get away from them. And these problems seem to be much worse with the Indigenous than anyone else.
The Residential School era was finally put to an end in 1996, and in 2008, Stephen Harper made a formal apology for what everyone involved had to go through. However, there is still the problem of the teens who have to move so far away from home for high school. I do not know the best way that Canada can reconcile for this problem but one idea could be to have a school built closer to reserves so that these teens don't have to move away for school. However, I do not what the cost of this would be and if it is even a possibility. But as a student (and a Christian) if I were to have ones of these teens move to my school, I be sure to treat them as I would treat any other student, with love and respect!
The idea of the Sober House project is anyone who puts a Sober House poster on their door or in their window is declaring that they are a Sober House. Being a Sober House means that alcohol and alcoholics are not welcome in that house.
Reconciliation is off to a good start
with the Sober House project, as the
city counsel of Prince Albert
approved it after the four teens
presented their case to them.
Hopefully this project can move to
other areas in the country as well,
so that can it help the problem of
alcoholism in the rest of Canada
as well.
Sources
CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, https://gem.cbc.ca/media/short-docs/
season-1/episode-61/38e815a-00e0ce28d7c.
Collier, Wendell G. “Sober House: A Sign of Change in Cree Nation.” CBCnews,
BC/Radio Canada, https://gem.cbc.ca/media/short-docs/season-1/episode-94/38e815a-011197872c4.
Goldsborough, Gordon. “Manitoba Historical Society Keeping History Alive
for over 140 Years.” Historic Sites of Manitoba: Birtle Indian Residential
School (Birtle, Municipality of Prairie View), http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/birtleresidentialschool.shtml.
Miller, J.R. “Residential Schools in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 10
Oct. 2012, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools.
“Reconciliation.” Casseteam, https://casseteam.wordpress.com/tag/
reconciliation/.
“Reconciliation Week.” Common Grace, 26 May 1970, https://
www.commongrace.org.au/reconciliation_week_2017.