fnesc
1992-2012
“reflection
s”
Grand Chief Edward John
The Web of First
Nations – Crown
Relations
•
•
•
•
Separate Worlds
Contact & Cooperation
Displacement, Assimilation, Control
Reconciliation & Negotiations
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
October 1996
“Indian Residential Schools”
1. RCAP - 3 part Vision
1.
2.
3.
Remove Children from Communities and
Families
Pedagogy for re-socializing
Integrate into non-aboriginal world.
2. PM Apology June 11, 2008
“Indian residential Schools is a sad chapter in our
history… Objective was to kill the Indian in the
child”
3. SCC Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin on
Residential Schools:
“cultural genocide”
Renewal & Rebuilding
Indigenous Languages & Land
“language diversity is a major contribution to
the wealth o every country’s cultural heritage
and … there is need for political will and
concrete actions to provide the resources
needed to preserve this heritage, in particular
Indigenous languages”
- Grand Chief Edward John, Submission to the UN EMRIP, July 2012
“..effective April 1, 2011, the funding for
First Nations in British Columbia increased
from $232,470 to $818,228 annually”
- Letter to the FNS from Heritage Canada and Official Languages
(November 19, 2012)
The Royal Commission on Education, 1988
Chapter 8
23. That the federal and provincial governments
accord to Native bands and councils the
appropriate authority and attendant
resources to enable them to engage
effectively in the self-determination of, or
shared responsibility for, the education of
their children. Further, that financial
resources commensurate with meeting the
actual costs of educating Native learners be
available to bands and councils.
Chapter 8
23. That, where Native children are enrolled in
schools and/or school districts, Native
peoples and school authorities jointly
develop formal liaison processes to discuss
and decide upon the maintenance and
improvement of quality service to Native
learners.
The Royal Commission on Education, 1988
Chapter 8
25. That Native bands and councils and all
school authorities cooperate in
assisting Native learners to bridge their
two cultures (Native and multicultural),
by:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
improving home/school liaison, particularly throughout the
early years of schooling;
orienting all children, through formally developed
curriculum units, to the history, culture, status, and
contributions of First Nations people;
reducing the impact of an inflexible graded school system
upon Native children and allowing, in the early years of
schooling, for a continuous, incremental pattern of
learning;
initiating means of assisting Native peoples in the
preservation and promotion of their heritage languages,
including their incorporation into classroom experiences;
discouraging any evidence of racial bias on school
transportation and premises;
deliberately appointing or enlisting the volunteer support
of competent Native adults as role models for all children;
encouraging teachers to improve their knowledge and
under standing of Native cultures, heritage, and traditions
through individual initiative organizational support; and
providing continuing counsel to Native students to prepare
them for living and working in a multicultural society.
The Royal Commission on Education, 1988
Chapter 8:
26. That compensatory actions be initiated
by Native councils or bands, school
authorities, and governmental
agencies, to:
(1) improve the pre-school and early-school-years
language capabilities of Native children;
(2) enhance the parenting skills of Native adults;
(3) encourage Native adults to pursue advanced
levels of basic education; and
(4) improve the health, social, and economic
circumstances of First Nations people, as
ends in themselves, and in terms of their
potential positive impact upon the learning
of Native children.
Who We Are & Where We
Come From
Tell ourselves and our youth:
Be proud of who you are and where you
come from.
BUT: Who Are you?
Indigenous kinship terms to define relationships.
BUT: Where do you come from?
Take students and youth from the
land;
use indigenous place names.
UN Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples
(46 Articles)
A3: “Indigenous peoples have the right to
self- determination.”
A25: “Indigenous peoples have the right to
maintain and strengthen their
distinctive spiritual relationship with
[their lands, territories, waters, seas]
and to uphold their responsibilities
to future generations…”
A43: “The rights recognized therein
constitute the minimum standard for
the survival, dignity, and well being
of the indigenous peoples of the
world
Adopted by UN General Assembly,
September 2007.
2012 – Where We Are
Suicide Pact in Vancouver Community
By The Canadian Press – Story 83641
Nov. 23, 2012
“Dozens of children, mostly aboriginals, formed a suicide pact in a
downtown Vancouver community. …”
“According to the report, the suicide pact included 30 youths, 24 of
whom were taken to hospital in late September as part of a
“Preventive crisis response”. … [the children were between the
ages of 12 and 15] …”
Records number of aboriginals receive PhDs
The Globe and Mail
22 November 2012
“Forty-three aboriginal doctoral students have graduated from
UBC’s faculty of education in the past 20 years.”
(11 doctoral students are to graduate this year.)
References:
Sullivan, Barry. "Royal Commission on Education: A
Legacy for Learners: Summary of Findings." Writing
for the Web: The blog of Writing for the Web 4th
edition. 1988. Crawford Kilian. 23 November 2012.
<http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/files/legacyforlear
nerssummary.pdf>.
UN General Assembly, United Nations Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples : resolution /
adopted by the General Assembly, 2 October
2007, A/RES/61/295, available at:
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/471355a82.
html [accessed 23 November 2012]
Thank You:
Snachilya
Haich ka
Gilakas’la
How’ah
Chu way
Gunalchesh
Kukwts’etsemc