Page 59 - Restorative Journey: Indigenous Educational Wellness

Voice Perspective Elizabeth Doxtater A Note to Educational Administrators and
Teaching Professionals
This message is to aid in understanding the perspectives of Native people, students, families, and extended families, as well as Native educators and administrators who strive to heal the system from within.
There is a long history of legislative abuses that occurred in Canada, endorsed, condoned, and implemented by the Crown. The Gradual Civilization Act of 1857 and
the Gradual Enfranchisement Act of 1869 preceded the Indian Act of 1876. There have been some modifications to the Indian Act over the years, including quietly expunging reference to Canada’s residential schools in 2014 (Indian Act, 1985).12
This was done just one year prior to the Truth and Reconciliation Report’s release in 2015. Dialogue with former “inmates” was documented in the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume One: Summary: Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future.
I ask you to understand that Western education did not represent “opportunity” for most Native people. These institutions were intended, in our communities, to deprive our people of everything that defines who we are as sovereign, distinct nations. They represented trauma and continue to represent intergenerational trauma.
We can now take intentional steps that will infuse healing, not as isolated events, but as a well thought-out, continuous, and consistent process. We need mainstream educators and education administrators to understand that.
12 Indian Act – Archived
Commemoration • Education • Healing/Wellness 51