From an opinion piece by Jesse Rae Archibald-Barber published in the CAUT Bulletin of May, 2010.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper officially apologized in June 2008 to the tens of thousands of former students of the residential schools system. “We now recognize that it was wrong to separate children from rich and vibrant cultures and traditions — that it created a void in many lives and communities, and we apologize for having done this,” he said.
“There is no place in Canada for the attitudes that inspired the Indian Residential Schools system to ever prevail again. You have been working on recovering from this experience for a long time and in a very real sense, we are now joining you on this journey.”
Last month, faculty of the First Nations University of Canada gathered to showcase the academic excellence of the school. If anything, this place, this school, provides a way of recovering from past educational policies that the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs imposed on First Nations communities throughout the history of this country.
Read the full opinion piece in the CAUT Bulletin.
