Canada’s now defunct residential school system will go down in history as one of our grossest violations of human rights and dignity. On July 11, 2008 Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a public apology to our Indigenous citizens saying:
“The treatment of children in Indian residential schools is a sad chapter in our history. The government now recognizes that the consequences of the Indian residential schools policy were profoundly negative and that this policy has had a lasting and damaging impact on aboriginal culture, heritage and language,”
With the apology and the payment of reparations, many Canadians consider racism against our First Nations citizens a closed chapter in our history books, thus denying that our Indigenous citizens continue to face racism on a daily basis. Their culture is often constructed under the banner of the “noble savage” or the “long suffering sqaw.”
It is quite common to hear Natives spoken of as though they exist with systemic privileges that are not possible within a racist white supremacist state. Not paying taxes or having the ability to cross the border at will does not compensate for the near destruction of a people, rape, theft of land, murder and poverty. Despite these so-called privileges, very few would be willing to give up the advantages that come with whiteness to trade places with the average Indigenous person in North America.
In the supposed act of civilizing Indigenous Peoples, one of the first crimes committed against them was the cutting of their hair. Though not all tribes had long flowing hair, reflecting European beauty standards was/is often understood as accepting assimilation as the proper goal of all people of color. Some First Nation tribes wore Mohicans or what is known as Mohawks, forelocks, scalplocks, squash blossoms, butterfly whorls, and chongos. Hair played/plays a significant role in their culture and is often not cut unless they are in mourning. To cut the hair of an Indigenous person without permission is a violation of their cultural norms and is seen by many as a humiliation.
A little boy in Thunder Bay, Ontario, was growing his hair so that he could participate in traditional First Nations dancing, when a teacher’s assistant at McKellar Park Central Public School, decided to cut his hair. According to the CBC, she cut ten centimetres off, grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to look at himself in the mirror, stating, “Look at you now.” Her commentary reveals that many still hold Eurocentric beauty ideals as the preferred norm, even as it erases evidence of culture and individuality.
This incident was investigated and the Crown came to the determination that, “there were no grounds for criminal charges, and it wasn’t in the public interest.” The key words in the aforementioned Crown statement are “public interest.” Despite promoting diversity through Canada’s national policy of multiculturalism, a Canadian identity is still understood as white and therefore the public that the Crown seeks to pacify by not pursuing this does not include our Indigenous citizenry.
How many will be triggered to remember the various incidents of criminal abuse that happened in residential schools by the shearing of this child’s hair?
Public apologies and reparations are meaningless unless a society commits to change. By not pursing this case, the government once again affirmed the whiteness of Canada and the right of said people to violate our First Nation citizens at will. It is in the public interest to affirm the rights and freedoms of all people, otherwise our much valued Charter of Rights and Freedoms is meaningless.
What a load of tripe.
Some hair was cut. Big deal. Unfortunate, but it grows back. The Crown’s job does not include pursuing cases of unwanted haircuts.
And dismissing this opinion as “racist”, simply because it is in disagreement with your own achieves nothing. This country is being thrown apart by racism BECAUSE of the crap that is in your article. Not the incidents you mention, but the wording you use.
You cleave “White” and “Native” as if they are two separate entities, instead of focusing on our common humanity. By doing that you perpetuate the racism you claim you seek to end in this country.
By appealing to emotion in this article with reference to residential schools, all you do is achieve bias towards an untenable argument. The plaintiffs are filing charges for “assault”. Give me a break.
My parents came to this country not knowing how to speak English, not even high-school educated. My mother and father worked like dogs and were treated like absolute shit by the government of Canada. They were given no quarter. Yet, we still managed to make ends meet and prosper.
There are many able-bodied Natives out there who can do the same but are not willing to because the government lavishes money on them for merely living on reserves. If my parents could send ME to university for free, that would be amazing. But with my father dead and my mother making $30,000, sending one of two kids (one having just finished university) to school is EXTREMELY expensive.
Yet, I don’t feel a need to turn to drugs and crime. It’s time we stop making excuses and stop blaming “the White man” for your problems and you finally get some damn work done to solve them. I encourage Native independence and dignity. There is no independence or dignity in depending on our government (and my tax dollars, consequently) for every little whim, and then blaming that same government for all your grievances, or as this article basically states: “It’s Whitie’s fault”.
My family had nothing to do with residential schools or racism or persecution of Natives in this country, so I’d appreciate if you’d stop your own RACISM and stop blaming me for shit neither I nor my family ever did and expect me to pay for it.
Oh and please read up on some history, too. Natives were killing Natives long before and even during European arrival. Read up on “Huronia”, then come back to me.
But what angers me is not Natives, as there are many hard-working genuine Natives I know and have befriended, but pompous, self-righteous people like yourself who think by perpetuating racial divides you contribute anything towards a solution to a problem hundreds of years old and then have the absolute GALL to dismiss any other viewpoint as “racist” while in the same breath blaming “the White man” for everyone’s ails.
…We’re fine with you expressing your opinion, but the minute you cross over into personal attacks, you violate our commenting guidelines. Next time, we won’t bother editing your comment, we will just delete it. – the Management.
Some hair was cut. Big deal.
And if a teacher ripped some Christian cross from around their neck and stamped on it destroying it I suppose that would be no “big deal” either, eh?
Congrats on proving Renee’s point for her.
No, it wouldn’t be a big deal because I’m not Christian. In fact, I’d probably join in with the teacher.
But even if I was (to address your point directly), we are protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms from religious discrimination. That act would be religious discrimination.
An unwanted haircut is not religious discrimination. It is not assault, as the plaintiffs are suing for. And I read an article in the Chronicle Journal today. Apparently the “safety of the child” needs to be looked into. IT WAS A HAIRCUT!!!! Has the world gone insane?
I have no problem with Natives and I have no problem with them expressing their language and culture. I actually found Ojibwe interesting enough to try and teach it to myself (which is kinda difficult).
But this is a haircut. The teacher should be reprimanded (and she has been suspended already) and she should issue an apology and that should be the end of the issue. The Crown made an excellent decision throwing this crap out of the courts, wasting time and resources that could be dedicated to actual crimes.
Sorry if I don’t believe that not bowing to every cry of “racism” is in of itself racist. We need to examine motives and impacts and not just shout “racism” because it was a crime committed by someone White on someone Native.
Interestingly enough, you never hear cries of racism when a Native mugs a White woman. Wonder why that is. Oh sorry, as “Renee” already points out, it is somehow my own fault specifically for being White. Perhaps if I invented a time machine, went back in time 500 years ago and single-handedly stopped colonialism, I would MAYBE considered “not racist”.
Sorry, where were cries of racism when Native Posse came to Thunder Bay from Winnipeg months ago looking for white girls to rape, an obvious case of violent racism? And sorry, but I think that’s a lot more grievous than some kid getting his haircut.
You people are absolutely deluded. Absolutely deluded.
Sorry for being born White, Renee. Sorry for causing racism, cancer, global warming, genocide, famine, AIDS, war, and world misery.
Just don’t sue me for “assault”, k?
Amazing how you people can, with a straight face, claim to be victims of racism and then charge that all problems in society can be attributed to the White man.
Ignore all the white male abolitionists who freed thousands of black slaves or the white males who fought for women to be equal to men in the eyes of the law or have the right to vote. Ignore all the white men who contributed immensely to the science and technology we have today. Ignore all the white male moral champions. You people need to stop being racist yourselves.
You want to know how to stop racism in society? Stop labelling people as “White”, “Native”, “Black”, etc, etc. Label everyone as “Human”.
Sure there are historically many crimes committed by White males in this country against the Aboriginals. But to blame ALL White men for these crimes, especially unrelated White men hundreds of years later who have no connection to those crimes, you are yourselves being racist.
But anything goes, so long as you’re under the banner of “fighting racism”, I guess. I guess that’s the “privilege” you get.
@Thunder Bay
Like it or not you are connected to the acts of colonialism committed against our First Nation citizens. On a daily basis you benefit from the criminal acts or do you believe that the land that you are standing on actually belongs to you?
@ Renee
No, I’m not connected to acts of colonialism committed against our First Nations citizens. My family did not even immigrate here until a couple decades ago.
Maybe you don’t realize that it is fruitless to judge actions of the past with the moral standards of the present. We see colonialism as wrong NOW, but we didn’t a few hundred years ago. It’s natural for society to progress like that. But having said that…
…It is entirely idiotic to blame societal problem on colonialism that existed hundreds of years ago. If a Native is addicted to alcohol, “It is the White man’s fault for introducing it to the Natives!”. No, it is the Native’s fault for drinking it.
There are regrettable crimes against First Nations, but saying “all White men are responsible”, you not only achieve nothing, you declare something that is patently false.
I do believe the land I stand on belongs to me because my father originally purchased it from the government, built a house, died, and it passed on to me. The government either acquired the land through treaty and whatever they did not get through treaty, they got through military conquest. This happens in history all the time. Would it be reasonable for citizens of the city of Rome to claim all of Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor? Hell no. Yet, that land was taken from them militarily. Would it be reasonable for Russian citizens of the former USSR to claim the Ukraine? Hell no.
And you may think “Well they acquired that land militarily in the first place!” Well, how did Native groups get THEIR “Nations”? By fighting each other! Native nations, like European nations fought each other readily for land. There is no difference between Europeans fighting Europeans, Natives fighting Natives, and Europeans fighting Natives. Well, the small difference being that Europeans were more technologically advanced and thus it was much easier for them to win these wars.
It doesn`t make it right, but it doesn`t make sense either to say the land I stand on does not belong to me.
The government has also made numerous treaties with our First Nations communities. Whether or not they were fair are a different matter. Nobody would get away with claiming a contract is unfair after signing it, why should they? Of course it is unfair and morally, we owe them some compensation. But how much is enough?
Every year the government forks out tens of billions of dollars for the direct “benefit” of First Nations. In one instance in 2005 under the Liberals, they spent about a third of a billion dollars building a new community in Newfoundland, just for the gas huffing problem with the youth to move to the new community. Davis Inlet. Look it up. 220 million to build the new community plus 70 million for a “Healing Strategy” that utterly failed plus 12 million for 40 new homes ($300,000 per home).
That’s on one remote community. And the Native leaders there had the gall to claim that a third of a billion dollars for about 630 people of Davis Inlet and there was a “severe lack of resources”.
I think the government is taking entirely the wrong approach. The government should decide where the money gets spent on the reserves as there is way too much corruption with the chiefs. If you want to turn “racist White public opinion” in favour of the Natives, show them their tax money is being put to good use and it is appreciated.
Eagle Lake Reserve. Horrible housing and an even worse water system. They got government money to rectify the above. You know what they spent it on? The largest bingo hall in Northwestern Ontario. Yeah. Needless to say a bingo hall does not = good housing and water. They cried to the government for more money to fix the problem and when the government turned them down, seeing the waste of money, they cried “racism!”
This was told to me by the President of the Youth Multicultural Club, a friend of mine (who is Chinese, so you can’t even claim it is a White conspiracy or something stupid like that…). And he is extremely supportive of Natives, working at youth centres with them to ensure they can escape problems at home and to discourage drug use, etc, etc.
When Native Posse was in Thunder Bay, they made statements they were looking to commit crimes against White people, yet I heard none of you cry THIS was racism. Why is racism only permitted against White people?
This makes your point extremely idiotic because you only single out the WHITE MAN. What about the White woman? Or the Black man? Or the Black woman? Or the Arab man? Or the Arab woman? Or the Asian man? Or the Asian woman? Canada is extremely diverse, yet you never mention any of those groups. Mind explaining why that is? Or am I just right in saying you are a hypocrite?
When you legitimately fight against racism, I’ll side with you. When you stop singling out one group when many members of that group are not to blame and stop ignoring the blame placed on other groups, I’ll side with you. When you recognize that blaming people of the present for crimes committed hundreds of years before they were born is asinine, I’ll side with you.
As a sort of aside, what is the point of the reserve system…if you are a citizen of this country and receive benefits from it, you are a citizen of the Canadian nation. How can you then claim to be part of, say, the Mohawk nation?
So Renee, where are your articles denouncing all the Chinese immigrants here and how THEY stole land from First Nations, huh? I don’t see any.
The only thing that bothers me more than racism is your hypocrisy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_discrimination
@ Renee
You are beating a dead horse, I attended university at Lakehead University and the general mentality is derogatory when it comes to Aboriginal people and their obvious struggles. This representative from Thunder Bay is just a product of their general belief that “Natives” are getting a free ride on their tax dollars, when the vast majority of the white people on goverment assistance in Thunder Bay grossly outweighs the so called “aboriginal majority”. I wouldn’t bother responding anymore to “Thunder Bay’, is he delusional, most racists are. Believe me Thunder Bay has it’s racists.
I couldn’t believe half of what I heard in lectures from supposedly ‘educated’ students (at least high school educated). One idiot in my European history class asked during a lecture on the slave trade of Africa if the Africans actually volunteered to get on the ships and be slaves because North America was so much better than Africa. Another in my Sociology class stated that 1st Nations people didn’t know how to be civilized so the residential school system was a valid means to an end for their own good.
Not to mention no one wanted to sit beside me in classes or have me join as a team member in their group projects.
Another instance was when I was on public transit and a woman loudly exclaimed that a man that was attempting to ignore her was treating her like she was a “ni*ger”. There was also debate in university paper over celebrating black history month when someone wrote in that there wasn’t a white history month so why should we celebrate a black one?
Some individuals in Thunder Bay are scarily ignorant and belligerent when it comes to the discussion of race and it is indeed sad, Most of the minorities that I encountered on campus validated my opinion.
@ Thunder Bay
Are you seriously advocating an assault on a child??? Claiming it’s just a hair cut? The child has the RIGHT to have his hair however he wants it, the teacher should be fired and barred from being a teacher for committing an assault on a child under her supervision.
Only an idiot could believe that his European ancestors were blameless in the oppression of POC’s. And that you actually own the land that you live on. It WAS STOLEN from it’s rightful owners you imbecile, you don’t own shit, regardless of what ‘Canadian Laws’ tell you, they are tailored to cater to white superiority, thus they have no value in this arena of rightful ownership. I would like to see the Aboriginals paid back in full for what was taken from them, so I am happy that my tax dollars are going to they’re benefit instead of to wealthy white politians travelling funds. You are not Canadian, the only people who have the right to call themselves that are the 1st Nations people. I’m glad that the Aboriginal People keep gaining more and more, they deserve it, you are nothing but a parasite, your kind has raped, pillaged, murdered, stolen, and oppressed the rightful owners of most of the worlds continents for centuries. The common denominator in the global oppression of POC are Europeans; they were always at the helm. No one European descent is blameless for the priviledge that they attained off of the backs of Asian, African, South American, and North American minorities and are STILL enjoying to this day. It’s time to pay the piper and the price isn’t going to be cheap. So suck it up, shut up and deal with it; and if you don’t like it, the plane fare back to Europe is pretty cheap.
Well said M.
The discussion has started about an hair cut. It was wrong for that teacher to do what she did. She should be fired because she has not respected one of her client. Students are her clients and she was hired to teach them not take control of their private life.
In this case she was racist because she did that only because she did not like the native way of keeping their hair and she tells him to look at him self now…?!
I have white and native blood and everyone should be respected in their way to be as long as they don’t hurt someone else. So stop that about racism…The crown did wrong by dismissing this case because if it would have happen to one of their child it would have been taking care of differently which makes this unfair.
All this conversation was interesting but the subject was a little changed…It should have been about respecting the others!
If a native rapes he should be punish, if a white cut a child’s hair he/she sould be punish too. Same with all other wrongs that happen in this world. Obviously this teacher teach for the wrong reason…you have to like all children the same (black, white, yellow or native who cares, thin or fat who cares) when you teach!! Most of those kids will become adult and participate in society.
Generally, immigrants who end up integrating in their new country have a hard time understanding why the Aboriginal people cannot do the same. The difference is, many immigrants coming to Canada had some what of a choice to come to Canada, and most of the can practice their culture while still being a part of capitalism. Aboriginals do not want to be a part of a system that gives a lot to some, and little to nothing to the rest (listen to Run to the Hills by Iron Maiden).
Who are we to decide that colonialism means progression? Colonialism (hand in hand with industrialization) are the causes of the destruction of our planetary environment. The Western invention “capitalism” survives on relative/absolute poverty and inequality. Those who ask the Aboriginals to integrate in the system do not even recognize how they themselves are victims of the system. Take “Thunder Bay” for instance. He admits himself his parents worked in “shit” jobs and were treated like “shit” by the Government of Canada and after his father’s death, his single mother has had to raise him on just above a working poor’s salary. How can anyone defend this system after having been bit by it? Unless you are the elite 1%, you are not part of the system, you are simply keeping the wheel rolling to keep the 1% happy. Even after working all their lives, there are still people who do not own a home (banks do). How can that be a just and fair system?
I do not believe that criminally charging the TA is the only appropriate answer though. The TA’s actions simply show the failure of the Canadian school system, which failed to teach “Canadians” certain cultural practices of the Aboriginals. Perhaps the TA should be subjected to the Aboriginal justice system (which is far less harsher than our common law system). The community which the TA has hurt can sit in a circle, which includes a community elder, the boy and his parents, and the TA and her family. Then, the TA can hear from the family/community how her actions hurt that community and be able to voice her own concerns. Countries around the world are adapting the Aboriginal healing circles and other alternative dispute resolution methods in their own justice systems (which have produces positive results exceeding expectations world wide). These alternative dispute resolutions have been used in Aboriginal communities for centuries.
It is amazing that this type of thing STILL goes on in society in 2009! This boy’s treatment certainly smacks of Residential School style. Yes, by legal definition it constitutes assault. This was not tolerated too well even when I went to public school in the late 1960’s – early 1970’s. I am white and went to school in Southern Ontario and my parents definitely did not approve of any kind of physical contact of a disciplinary nature on our person. Changing my appearance was their job, not the school’s. Physical contact between adults (with or without a supplementary object) without their consent very much constitutes an assault and charges can be pressed. Just watch shows like Cops! and you get the idea. By the way, that’s why adults have access to things like Restraining Orders, etc.
By and large I agree with M, S, and Areesha. Thunder Bay really does have some racial overtones that He/She should deal with. The person also seems to have a case of “tunnel vision” as they seem to condone the system that treated them like “shit”; and for two generations at that. I know that I certainly wouldn’t be on very good terms with any party that treated me that way.
As it stands, any intrusion on my body (physical, sexual or otherwise.) without my consent will yield a certain kind of special “justice”. In the adult world it is called self-defense. The legal system comes afterward. However, this is a right that most seven year olds cannot or won’t use.
As for legal issues regarding haircuts, the last time I looked, Haircutting/dressing and Barbering are licensed trades in this province and as such, unless consent is given, must be performed by these qualified professionals. I doubt that a school teacher’s certificate/diploma confers that ability. So technically, that would be a gross abuse/negligence of the authority and power of someone in the teaching profession, the assault notwithstanding.
As for Thunder Bay, if you really like and accept the government and the system that did so much for you, all the power to you. But as a second-generation Canadian you should really study a bit more about the history of the country you now call “Home”.
Jim.
@ ThunderBay,
Little do you know about the inter-generational effects of abuse. Jane Elliot’s Blue Eyes / Brown Eyes experiments prove that discrimination alone is enough to severely limit one’s potential, even their IQ, so abuse has quantifiable effects on the human psyche.
And it happened years ago, yes, but the effects of abuse pass down to the next generation, even if alcohol or drugs aren’t present and the parents have a good education and career (read up on the Adult Children of Alcoholics Syndrome).
What this means is that the abuse that rivaled the deaths in Nazi Concentration Camps (for generations, not years) has profound negative effects upon a person’s level of achievement in life. Do you think that the homeless Aboriginals that drink aspired to do that? DO you think they thought as children “Hey, I want to struggle in misery and poverty for my whole life because it makes me feel good”? People who live like that only do because they feel there’s no other choice, that there’s no hope to even take action to make things better. It’s called Learned Helplessness, another psychological condition created by the Residential School era.
I say all this from experience – I wanted to die for over 2/3rds of my life. The pain I felt was that severe. I had no hope for the future, so therefore I set no goals and took no action. But ever since I discovered these truths, I changed my life for the better and achieved more in the past 8 years than most do in a lifetime, including people who came from better upbringings. I’m not advocating that these effects are an excuse to keep living in poverty, I’m remarking on the fact that when the people are properly informed, there’s no limit to what they can achieve. But when you label them, define them as this or that, stick them in categories and treat them that way, you become the perpetrator of the very behaviors that you are so much against (Jane Elliot’s experiments prove this).
I want the “free government money” to end as well. But I want to empower the people so that we can do this, because I know it’s possible. I began this campaign years ago and have since opened the eyes of thousands of people around the world, and I know we stand a great chance in freeing the minds and spirits of millions suffering under oppression world wide.
Your comments angered me, but I don’t judge you and label you something derogatory. Instead, I want to thank you, thank you for reminding me what I stand for. Thank you for giving me more motivation to achieve more for my people, thank you for letting me know that this kind of ignorance will continue if no one opposes it.
It was meant as an act of kindness, I would hope and suppose. Kindness is more important than culture, race, or dogma. Knowledge is important, we all should learn continually, but kindness is more important. Failure to understand this will hurt the boy more than the haircut.
I am white and my daughter is white and if her teacher laid a HAND on her, much less CUT HER HAIR for ANY reason, there would be hell to pay. This was NO act of kindness and intention has nothing to do with it anyhow …you do not lay hands on someone else’s child and you do not alter any other persons appearance without their (parents) permission. This is the standard regardless of race, religion, history, land rights, warfare, welfare, and whether or not it was raining in Thunder Bay that day. Frankly, if the school and law refused to take responsibility for teaching this woman where her boundaries were, I would personally teach her by whatever means necessary. WTF is wrong with this country that it is STILL acceptable to violate another person, much less an adult violating a child?
cutting someones hair without consent is very dehumanizing. just like the jews in the nazi concentration camp. their hair gave them their character, traits etc. when you remove that, it feels like theyre just a number. now that little boy feels like everyone else probably. having long hair is almost a sign of discipline in aboriginal communities. it has a lot of value than it does to most non aboriginal people. taking that away is like taking everything away.
This was so much more than a haircut. And it should have been a big deal. With a pop if about 150000. You would expect charges laid. And wow, some peoples comments. The writer is informing you of there opinion on what happened, thats it! Im native, from a native home, in a native secondary education. Beleive me, its noy easy. I was raised with a woman who had problems, and not once (to this day) ever told me she loved me. But I know she does. My grandmother, who was in a residential school and was never showed love. She didnt know her parents, she was forced out of her home. She was raised by people who didnt love her, but instead hurt her mentally and physically. My point is, Im here today. Still recieving benifits from what happened. And yes there is racism that goes on. People wouldnt beleive it. I lived all over Canada. Its sad to know people are still ignorrant, im not wanting people to feel bad/sorry for natives. But understand what happened, and why people are they way they are today. Gang teen = no family = no sense of belonging = wheres family? gone, dont know how to raise kids = why? there parents before them gone = why? there parents had no parents lived in schools = why? forced out of communities due to LAWS (yes)
white people took the land away from natives using their own rules … by force. different natives tribes were feuding over land before white people landed … who owned what land was always changing … and a few thousand years ago – nobody owned it.
how can you claim to own something so big? … they didn’t know the boundaries … if shown a picture of north america, they wouldn’t have recognized it (not that white settlers had fully mapped it themselves) … but in all honesty, the number of square kilometers in north america might impress you … if everyone wanted seclusion, they could have it. Society however brings too many benefits … so, how can you fight for your “independent land” yet always require “social benefits” … isn’t that a funny contradiction?
we’re not talking about the law-of-nature … we’re not talking about the law-of-war … we’re not talking about civil law. natives want the benefits of all 3 laws … and that’s about as backwards, unnatural and self-destructive as you can get.
If an animal in a zoo could complain, it might ask for larger food portions … not freedom … even if it was endangered.
Are you people kidding? Or all you all just white, rude, stupid and completely ignorant and racist? Was it the teachers right and decision to chop the kids hair off? Did you not read the part where it said having your hair cut could be considered a humiliation? Do you not think that if a white girl with long blond hair had her teacher cut it off because it made her vain or something that it would be a huge scandal? Are you all incapable of looking outside of your small white boxes? We have no right to “groom” native kids as we see fit! I am white and these comments make me sick!!!!!!!!1 .
@Jesse… Tell me how things are for you in 2050 when you are one of few white people left. Hope you enjoy helping out, because you are soon to be a minority. That’s what I love about you guys / girls. You help the cause when you should be fighting it. When is the last time you have seen my people defend the white cause? Hahaha, thanks for our land back.