Let's talk about Indian Day "Schools"
and how Indigenous Peoples have to prove their trauma to the very institution (our gov) that caused it in order to receive any compensation for the violence they experienced as children.
CONTENT WARNING: THIS POST DISCUSSES colonization, intergenerational trauma, & violence
Not another name for Residential "Schools"
Day "schools" existed in addition to residential "schools".
Take a moment, and let that sink in. This is an additional form of violence against Indigenous children, families & communities by our government, because like residential "schools", day "schools" were used to "assimilate" Indigenous children, which continued the physical, cultural & spiritual genocide of Indigenous Peoples.
The most important difference between them today is that survivors of day "schools" were not included in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, nor were they included in the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement of 2006. This means that those who were at Indian Day "Schools" never received compensation or a federal "apology".
Boys and girls at Indian Day School, Trout Lake [Ontario], under the supervision of Reverend Leslie Garrett. Image from: Canada. Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. Library and Archives Canada, C-068924 /
Cheatsheet on Day "Schools"
The Canadian government—along with Christian churches— funded, controlled & enforced Indian Day "Schools". Unlike most students at residential 'schools', students at Day 'Schools' went home in the evenings. But like residential "schools", students who attended day "schools" experienced trauma, including physical & sexual violence at the hands of persons entrusted with their care.
There were nearly 700 day "schools" across every province & territory, with the exception of Newfoundland.
Day "schools" operated for over one hundred years, from the 1860s - 2000s.
25% more Indigenous children attended Day 'schools' than residential schools.
The Government of Canada estimates that close to 200,000 children attended a federally operated Indian Day "School".
Student records, internal memos and inspection reports obtained by APTN News in 2021 showed that 200 Indigenous students died at 46 federal & provincial Indian Day "Schools". These 619 documents only cover the period between 1916 and 1996 & only represent 14% of the day schools established under the Indian Act.
Federal Indian Day School Settlement
In 2009, Garry McLean, a survivor of Indian Day Schools, launched a class-action lawsuit against Canada. The lawsuit aims to achieve justice and compensation for the harms suffered by the Indigenous students forced to attend Federal Indian Day Schools across Canada.
On August 19, 2019, the Federal Court approved a nationwide Class Action Settlement to financially compensate Claimants for harms suffered while attending federally established, operated, maintained and controlled day schools.
So far, over 150 000 people have filed claims. Even still, it is estimated that many folks who experienced harm due to these schools will not have the opportunity to file a claim. Let's dig into that.
What’s the catch?
There's a deadline to file a claim. It was July 13, 2022, but it was extended until January 13, 2023. The extension applies as long as you can prove "extenuating circumstances" as to why you had not yet filed. You'd think centuries of colonialism & trauma would be considered "extenuating" + the fact that the bulk of this time was also during the height of a global pandemic.
Some schools were run by other entities than the federal government (like churches or provincial governments). Those survivors are therefore ineligible for any form of recognition or compensation.
The claims form, which survivors must fill out to receive compensation, is a traumatizing & difficult document and some areas require a doctor to be completed, who are not always accessible to Indigenous folks in Canada. It is also super triggering to seek help from systems that hurt you.
You cannot set a deadline on trauma & healing
Indigenous Peoples who wish to be financially compensated for the harm experienced as a result of Day Schools must file their claim by January 13, 2023 .
This means Indigenous Peoples have until that specific date, and no further, to process the impact of their experience in Day Schools, determine how to file, and do so in such a way that they will be successful with their claim. AKA the Canadian government is giving Indigenous Peoples a deadline to deal with the harm it caused and continues to cause, because apparently it's not relevant (or at least convenient) after the arbitrary date of January 13, 2023.
If the cause of death of a family member was related to attending a day school multiple things have to be true at once. Loved ones have to provide proof of death and have proof of being an administrator or executor of their loved one's estate (which is a colonial concept) and the death had to have happened on or since July 13 2007 because there is a statute of limitations in effect.
But what's so difficult about filing a claim?
The legal system is baseline: inaccessible, harmful, & oppressive, and has an ongoing history of victim blaming, re-traumatizing & not believing survivors. In order to file a claim you have to fill out a complicated form that is peak colonizer doesn't care who they harm energy. These forms are re-traumatizing, inaccessible & complex. The claim forms also puts onus on survivors to explain & justify their trauma to the institution that caused it.
Indigenous Peoples should not be expected to relive their trauma (that our gov caused) in order to be heard.
It's not enough to re-traumatize one person though, so the form also asks for, "other written narratives from friends/family and/or other records that support the events and incident(s) that led to the abuse(s)/harm(s) you experienced while attending the Day School(s)." If your claim does not have the necessary documents (medical, dental, nursing or therapy records) you must complete a Sworn Declaration, which is a signed statement made by you that the information you provided is true to the best of your knowledge and a Guarantor also has to sign it.
Here's an example of a Q from the claims form:
"Identify the harm you suffered from teachers, officials, students, and/or other third parties."
Also, why the fuck is the government "tiering" harm?
Can we talk about the horror that is asking survivors to prove the trauma they experienced (as children) to the very institution that harmed them?? This is your weekly reminder that the systems in our country were not built to protect or support us. We'll also remind you that people created this system, so people can fix it.
Can we talk about the fact that no one in our has heard of Trauma and Violence Informed Care? What the fresh fuck is up with that form??? How can our government say they care about truth and reconciliation and then turn around and ask Indigenous peoples to fill out that form and prove our government was violent? As if this entire country wasn't built on that violence? As if this violence doesn't continue to this day? As if we don't know what happened in these schools?
The reality is there are records of the children who attended these schools (in addition to the perpetrators of child abuse who have never been held accountable), so why aren't we going through this list and compensating everyone?
Why are we putting the onus on the survivor to find out about this form, process their trauma in a timely fashion, have documentation to prove the violence experienced, and have the mental health coping skills to fill out this form and submit it?
Just tell say want to do the least while still being able to take credit for "caring" Canada.
So, what can we do?
Go to oncanadaproject.ca/findyourrep and email your elected officials and ask them to consider the following regarding the Day Schools Settlement:
Indigenous folks have been calling for community-based and culturally specific healing programs in order to complete these forms and not be re-traumatized. Such programming could also support Indigenous survivors navigate their trauma holistically and in their own time.
We need widespread reparations - and a system that is redesigned and prepared to respond to reparations. Call your MP and push for these changes.
We need to see a perpetual extension of the deadline to whenever the heck Indigenous folks want to complete a claim. Because fuck the government's admin inconveniences, time-limited legal policies, and any other nuisance of a regulation that ignores the reality of the harm this government causes in favour of its own needs.
CC/ these ministers:
Marc Miller: Marc.Miller@parl.gc.ca and
Patty Hajdu: patty.hajdu@parl.gc.ca
Source: Indian Day Schools Class Action Settlement, Government of Canada, APTN News 2021, McGill Indigenous Initiatives
