ORANGE SHIRTS ONLY SHOW OUR IGNORANCE OF THE FACTS

By Joe Ingino Editor/Publisher “I live a dream in a nightmare world” This week I think we have hit the ultimate in political ignorance. The country stopped to commemorate a negative event in history. How can we ever claim to know when we lack the ability to educate our minds. Modern society is to quick to point and shame and put blame where understanding and compassion should be the first avenue. The Residential school recent findings are a reminder of a place and time in Canadian history that should have been thought out a bit more in depth. But much like the forced vaccination against COVID today. It was the best remedy to a social problem. They had no other option on the table. The schools made sense. Residential schools were created by Christian churches and the Canadian government as an attempt to both educate and convert Indigenous youth and to assimilate them into Canadian society. ... In total, an estimated 150,000 First Nation, Inuit, and Métis children attended residential schools. Canada was undergoing a major social transformation. Much like today with COVID. I am sure the government looked at all the options much like they are now with COVID. What is to say that in 10 years the science of the vaccine will not also become another black mark in Canadian history. We can’t stand here today and blame the government or anyone for what happened then. It is plain ignorance. You got to understand the logic the government of the day used. One reason for their presence in residential schools was the government effort to address the perception of widespread poverty in indigenous communities. In the 1960s, the government removed as many as 20,000 children from indigenous parents, supposedly as a form of welfare. What happened in the residential schools? Children were forbidden from speaking their native languages. Some were physically and some were made to work for white families. ... Until the 1950s, indigenous children at residential schools in Canada died at between two and five times the rate of their peers elsewhere in the country. Residential schools systematically undermined Indigenous, First Nations, Métis and Inuit cultures across Canada and disrupted families for generations, severing the ties through which Indigenous culture is taught and sustained, and contributing to a general loss of language and culture. Sad as it sounds. But in part this was part of the process. To change their way to the civilized world. What was the main cause of death in residential schools? Residential school deaths from tuberculosis weren't unavoidable. Indigenous peoples have long spoken of the missing children from Canada's residential-school system. Many that passed away were never claimed and in many cases ended up in large un-marked graves. Much like the ones found recently. What were the punishments in residential schools? When students who could not take the separation from their parents and the harsh environment ran away from the school and were caught by the school staff or the Indian agents, they often received strappings. I remember in Uruguay, South America. As a child my parents having to pay to attend the ‘HOLY FAMILY’ school for boys. The school was operated by priest. The environmental was formal and tough. Zero nonsense was tolerated. We all had a sense of unity and uniformity. They would strap kids for infractions. We must be careful when we make judgement between abuse and authority. Punishment of any kind may be seen as abusive. Neglect is the shadow of disobedience. I was not a native. By birth a Roman Catholic. Conservative in mind and soul. I turned out ok. Before we point fingers. Let’s celebrate the many success and vow to never commit the same mistakes of our history.