By James Hopkin
For some, the term ?residential school,? is something they read in a history book, or the subject of a CBC made-for-TV movie.
For the thousands of aboriginal people whom actually attended residential schools across Canada, the term takes on many different meanings, some being cruel and unusual punishment, the loss of family and home, and cultural genocide.
Not only have residential schools affected an entire generation of native people, but they have had an indirect impact upon the generations to follow, known as the intergenerational effect.
The Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre hopes to give residential school survivors and the families of survivors a chance to share their experiences with the Residential School Healing Project, a newly implemented, bi-monthly support group.
?It?s devastating,? said Sarah Moore, Aboriginal Healing Foundation project co-ordinator at the centre. ?It doesn?t stop with those generations, it just keeps going.?
The concept of residential schools came about in 1867 when the schooling of First Nations children came under colonial control.
This control was further centralized and consolidated with the introduction of the Indian Act in 1876.
It was also recommended in the 1879 Davin report that all residential schools in Canada be operated by various Christian denominations in order to ?Christianize and civilize? First Nations people.
By 1920 the Indian Act was revised to include mandatory attendance at residential school for all native children between seven and 15 years old. This resulted in the forcible uprooting of children from their homes.
Over the past three decades there have been numerous documented accounts of abuse within the confines of the residential school system, as well as instances where native youth were physically abused by their supervisors for speaking their own language.
As of November 2000, the federal government faced approximately 7,000 lawsuits filed by survivors of residential schools.
The healing project aims to provide survivors and their families with a safe, confidential support group in which they can interact with traditional healers and other survivors.
?It?s vital to have a safe environment for these people to talk,? said Moore.
?I want to start off with talking, because I want to see what they are looking for, and then we?re going to take the support group from there.?
Although talking is the primary focus of the support group, the spiritual aspect is equally vital to the healing journey.
?We use that method because we don?t necessarily look at a person?s behaviour, we look more in depth into the spirit of that person,? said Julie Ozawagosh, traditional co-ordinator.
For more information, contact Moore at 675-1596, ext. 235.
