The effects of colonial history on the learning needs of FNMI children and adolescents and their families and communities.

While reading the Learning Alberta Resource Walking Together, I learned some interesting and disturbing facts about Canada's history in regard to their treatment of First Nations, Metis and Inuit people from the first settlement until recent years. These events played a dramatic role in breaking, molding and transforming generations of Aboriginal people. The struggles many of them face remain unsettled and are reflected in the way FNMI students and their families are able to experience school and home life in Canada.

Here are some nasty bits of history that took place in our home country, the country known as the "land of the peacekeepers":

European diseases killed off the majority of the Aboriginal population, destroying legacies and ties. This was before the Indian Act.
Once the Indian Act and  Residential Schools were put in place by the Catholic church and the federal government, children were ripped from their families ad put into Catholic schools to be transformed into the "white man's" way of living, and other Aboriginal people were banned from performing any of the activities that were a part of their old cultures. This included sundances, potlatches and smudge ceremonies.
Sexual abuse by authority figures was a part of life in residential schools.
Many survivors of residential schools have turned to substance abuse, alcoholism, and passing their own abuse on to their children.
In the 1960's, thousands of First Nations children were taken from their families and put into foster, mostly with non-Aboriginal families
Today, nearly 50% of foster children or children under the Welfare Act are Aboriginal.
Any aboriginal people who married non-Aboriginal spouses had their "Indian" status revoked and were not allowed to live in reserve communities until Bill C-31 was passed in 1985.
Over 12,000 First Nations men served in World Wars I and II but did not receive veterans' benefits until 2002, when legal action resulted in each of them receiving settlements of $20,000, not nearly sufficient payment for their efforts nor adequate reward to justify the post-traumatic stress many of them suffer(ed). Despite this, most Aboriginals still support Canadian war efforts.

The Learning Alberta "Walking Together" resource says that healing historical trauma requires recognition, support, and commitment. I think the first problem is recognition. As teachers, our responsibilities to address the issues of Aboriginal students would be limited to things that primarily affect their learning experience. Yet this alone would still prove difficult when teaching in a public Canadian school, where many cultures abide.

So the next step to tackle this issue would be support. Support programs,groups and clubs dedicated to FNMI cultural activities, places where non-Aboriginal teachers and students can learn about and understand FNMI culture and history, and FNMI students have a place in the school where they belong with like-minded individuals and are understood, supported, and be themselves. a comfortable student will thrive in settings wherein they feel safe and supported.

The last step, and maybe the most important, is commitment. Once and initiative is taken, it must be seen through to the end. For example, a program to provide aid to at-risk Aboriginal youth in school would prove fruitless if the program was cancelled within the first month due to lack of awareness or interest. Promotion, money and necessary resources would help get more people aware of what needs to be done, why it's important, as well as what is needed to make a change. Finally, all the people involved in the initiative would be the ones actually making the change through their efforts, care, support, and connections.