Paul Martin accuses residential schools of 'cultural genocide'

[IndigeNews]

Paul Martin accuses residential schools of 'cultural genocide'
'Call a spade a spade', former prime minister says
CBC News
Posted: Apr 26, 2013 9:21 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 26, 2013 10:43 PM ET

Residential schools engaged in "cultural genocide," former prime
minister Paul Martin said Friday at the hearings of the federal Truth
And Reconciliation Commission, adding that aboriginal Canadians must
now be offered the best educational system.

"Let us understand that what happened at the residential schools was
the use of education for cultural genocide, and that the fact of the
matter is — yes it was. Call a spade a spade," Martin said to cheers
from the audience at the Montreal hearings.

* Stolen Children: Truth and Reconciliation Commission

"And what that really means is that we've got to offer aboriginal
Canadians, without any shadow of a doubt, the best education system
that is possible to have."

The residential school system existed from the 1870s until the 1990s
and saw about 150,000 native youth taken from their families and sent
to church-run schools under a deliberate policy of "civilizing" First
Nations.

Many students were physically, mentally and sexually abused. Some
committed suicide or died fleeing their schools. Mortality rates
reached 50 per cent at some schools.

In the 1990s, thousands of victims sued the Canadian government as well
as churches that ran the schools. The $1.9-billion settlement of that
suit in 2007 prompted an apology from Prime Minister Stephen Harper and
the creation of the commission.

But the government has clashed with the commission and recently had to
be ordered by an Ontario court to find and turn over documents from
Library and Archives Canada.

"Every document is relevant," Martin said. "We have hid this for 50
years. It's existed for 150. Surely to God, Canadians are entitled ...
aboriginal Canadians and non-aboriginal Canadians, to know the truth.
And so let the documents be released."

* Ottawa ordered to provide all residential schools documents

New Democrat MP Romeo Saganash also testified on Friday about the
damage he suffered in a residential school.

Saganash, who was separated from his family and sent to a residential
school in the Quebec town of La Tuque, cried as he described the death
of his brother Johnny, whom he never met.

He said his family still doesn't have a death certificate or know what
really happened, and that he wasn't even allowed to return home for his
father's funeral.

Saganash told the audience at the Montreal hearings that he might look
like a normal person but isn't.
'I can never be normal'

"I can never be normal," said Saganash, who for the first few years of
his life spoke Cree and lived in nature.

"And none, none of those kids who were sent to residential schools can
claim to be normal today. It's impossible."

Like several others who spoke at the hearing, Saganash said injustices
to aboriginal peoples did not stop with the closing of residential
schools.

"There are still racist policies against aboriginals," said Saganash,
who referred to the federal Indian Act.

"Even when we get a victory before the courts, the government continues
to fight against our fundamental rights."

With files from The Canadian Press
Video
* Martin on residential schools Former prime minister Paul Martin
uses unprecedented language when describing residential schools Watch:
0:54
* Romeo Saganash recounts his childhood The Cree NDP MP and former
Prime Minister Paul Martin at the residential school hearings. Watch:
2:15

http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/news/story/2013/04/26/truth-and-
reconciliation-saganash-paul-martin.html
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