Krista Courchene - 1

Reading the first chapter of the Robson text did not surprise me at all. I am familiar with news coverage of Attawapiskat, and I can most definitely relate to the issues surrounding the community. Growing up in Sagkeeng, I have seen how poverty can affect students in the classroom, and in the school community in general. When I think about what the current government is doing to help First Nation communities, the reality is that there is not much consideration given to First Nation education, so a lot of the time, many bands throughout Canada have to settle for whatever they are given, for example, reservation land. Reserves are pretty much isolated, small chunks of land given to First Nation people. Thinking about isolation should be enough insight as to why there are so many failures within the First Nation education system.

This takes me to the Indian Act (9). The thing about the Indian Act of 1876 was that it has limited information about the quality of First Nation education, and was more about truancy. Education around that time period mainly relied on the churches to educate children, and as time progressed, many reservations had what society would have considered their “rejects” to come in and educate First Nation children. For example, an experience that my dad often talks about was in grade 2. He remembers a white male, in his mid 40s, came staggering into the classroom and smashed right into the bookshelf at the back. This man was obviously very inebriated. This is just one example stating that again, the quality of education is never really discussed. At least not discussed anywhere conveniently where others can have input.

One quote that stuck with me was, “Children must learn how to be students” (11). When I think of this quote, it brings me right to the issue of residential schools, and the extremely painful legacy that it left behind on a lot of my community members, including my mother. The goal of the residential schools was to strip the “Indian” from the child, and assimilate them into white society, using education as their tool. Going back to the Robson quote, if you put this into the Indian Residential School (IRS) system context, many children were taken from their families as young as 4 years old. Can you imagine your child being taken away that young, and not seeing them until they were at least 16, and sometimes never again, or worse, shipped back to your doorstep, dead, in a train crate box? This was the reality for many First Nation families. Children are still taught how to be students, yet are not taught how to be just children.

The goal of the IRS obviously failed, because to this day, many First Nation people still practice their culture, and are still very much trying hard to reinstate their language, which in the end will only reinstate their identities. One thing about First Nation children is that because of their cultural upbringing, and the education they receive within the home/family structure, is that many children are very talented and if they received the same support as non-First Nation children, they would excel at their gifts.

The report on the Senate Standing Committee on First Nations Education (10) is an excellent supporting document if anyone desires more insight on what the reality is on the quality of First Nation education. It explains that many reserves were assessed with what happened to the point where they found out that First Nation children are NOT getting the same quality of education as other children in Canada. At the core of the document, it discusses that the government acknowledges what they did to many First Nation children in the residential schools, and that they were wrong, which is a step forward.

http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/SEN/Committee/411/appa/rep/rep03dec11-e.pdf

Discussion question: What do you think is the reason as to why the quality of education on First Nation reserves hasn't changed?