On Sept. 30, school staff and students across the country – and here at home - donned orange shirts in recognition of the history of residential schools.
However, what seemed to be on the surface a positive, simple statement of extending an open hand in the spirit of reconciliation was questioned in some quarters. Were elementary children old enough to hear about residential schools, or is it too dark and disturbing in its subject matter? How long do we have to revisit the past and when is it time to move on, others asked. Another asked, why can’t First Nations people just get over it – after all, aren’t we all Canadians and shouldn’t we all be treated equally?
I decided to have a chat with my daughter and see how much she knew, and what she could understand about residential schools. When I told her that residential schools were set up to wipe the “Indian” out of the child, because they were seen as less than white Europeans, she immediately asked, “But we’re all equal, right, First Nations too?”
“Absolutely,” I answered, talking about how the people of the past made mistakes that it’s up to us to correct.
Some of these questions that people posed about Orange Shirt Day are impossible to answer, unless they can put themselves in the feet of someone else.
How can I explain to someone who is white what it feels like when I hear of someone insulting another person by calling him a “Paki” or to be told “You speak pretty good English!” or constantly be asked, “Where are you from?” as if I haven’t lived here my whole life. Worst of all is doubt, to be among a crowd of fellow Indians having their luggage searched at an airport or to be ignored by a cashier bagging my things, and not being able to quell that nagging little voice that says, “Is it because of the colour of my skin?”
And if I feel those things, as someone who comes from an intact family and a relatively privileged background, what must it like to be First Nations and to face the raft of stereotypes that go along with that?
I could easily say that residential schools had nothing to do with me or my family, as we are immigrants. But that would be far too easy. After all, Canada has welcomed our family and we have embraced it, and as such, we have to accept and respect its history and values – and we have to teach that history and those values to our children. We have to tell them how we, as a nation, have failed, that we will likely fail again, but that we can do better and yes, we will try.
Yes, all lives matter. Yes, we are all Canadians. But some of us have faced tremendous struggles: maybe with poverty, maybe with abuse, maybe with mental health struggles, and in the case of First Nations people, maybe all of these things as a result of historic trauma. If the rest of the country can’t listen, if we simply keep saying, “Get over it,” then we ensure the mistrust and divisions continue.
An orange shirt is a simple thing. An apology is a simple thing. Educating our young children is a simple thing. But they are all steps on a path, and I hope that together, they forge a bridge for understanding and ultimately, reconciliation between our wider society and our First Nations brothers and sisters.
