11 History of Trauma

The above timeline offers a linear representation of the traumas that Indigenous Peoples in Canada continue to address today. Sources of these traumas, as explained below, include the residential school system, attendance at residential school as day scholars, the federally-operated day schools, and the 60s Scoop.

Residential Schools

Kamloops Indian Residential School survivor, Elder Eric Mitchell, shares good and bad memories from his time at KIRS. Originally recorded at the 1L TRC Day, January 31, 2019 on site, in Moccasin Square Gardens (MSG), the restored and functional gymnasium of the KIRS.

Indigenous Peoples had traumatic experiences due to the residential schools, even if they did not attend themselves. Many accounts of the residential school experience begin with children being taken from their families via Indian agents or even cattle cars arriving on the Indian reserve to collect children along the route to the school.^[1] Many parents tried to fight to keep their children at the risk of serious repercussions such as fines or imprisonment.^[2] Some lobbied the government for better schools closer to home and others took more drastic measures like hiding their children or sending them away when they knew it was time for them to be collected. Many children returned home either unable to speak their own Indigenous language or fearing practicing their customs.^[3]

Within residential schools, children faced the loss of their culture and identity, starvation, abuse, illness, a lack of proper medical care, and other mistreatment. In addition, those who attended residential schools have overwhelmingly expressed an atmosphere of fear and loneliness in a place where they were deprived of affection and approval.^[4] Many students learned to hide the truth and say only what they knew was appropriate, what they knew those in charge wanted to hear. They learned to lie as a survival technique. For others, they learned they could exploit weakness for their own survival. Children received very little actual education within the schools, sometimes as little as 3 hours a day. The remainder of their time was spent in church or other religious education or working to aid in the running of the school. This took various forms such as general labour, sewing, cooking and cleaning.

Due to the treatment of the children in the residential schools and the lack of affection or relationships with their caregivers, children who grew up in the residential school system often struggled with parenthood later in their lives. Many children of parents who had gone to residential school received little affection from their own parents. Survivors have described this carrying over not only into parenthood, but into all aspects of their lives. Many describe being distant or unable to express their feelings or form bonds with their family and friends, even believing that their distance extends to their grandchildren. ^[5] One survivor spoke about his inability to hug or comfort his children and his inability to get close to someone in a relationship. He stated that he couldn’t tell his children that he loved them because showing affection like that seemed unnatural.^[6] Others, suffering from the trauma of their experiences turned to other means of coping including alcohol, drugs and suicide. This has led to not only traumatic circumstances for them and their families, but also to stereotyping, racism and judgement that persists today.

Day Scholars

Elder Connie Jules, day scholar survivor from KIRS, shares part of her experience. Originally recorded at the 1L TRC Day, January 31, 2019 on site, in Moccasin Square Gardens (MSG), the restored and functional gymnasium of the KIRS.

Not all students who attended the residential schools lived at the school. There was a group of students who attended but still lived at home. These students were known as the “day scholars”. The day scholars also experienced violence and abuse at the schools like many other students. In addition to this however, they also faced unique abuse at the hands of other students in the form of bullying. Many were bullied by other students since they were privileged enough to be able to go home at the end of the day.^[8] Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc continues to seek redress for the day scholars. When former Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered an apology^[9] on behalf of the federal government in 2008 to survivors of residential schools, day scholars were not included. When the common experience payment (CEP) process ^[10]was established as a component of the 2007 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, day scholars did not qualify.^[11]

Through this dark history lies an opportunity for law students at TRU Law. In partnership between Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, Sechelt, and James Bay Cree, redress is being sought through a certified class action.^[12] Unlike the CEP, the day scholar class action is certified on three classes: the survivor class (person who attended federally owned and operated residential school as day scholars), the descendant class (the children of day scholars), and the band class (bands with residential school on or near their lands). The process began in 2010, with a class action suit being filed in Federal Court in 2012, and becoming certified in 2015. The suit was unsuccessful in their 2019 application for advanced costs, Harrington J. noted that day scholar claims “have prima facie merit…rais[ing] issues that transcend their individual interests, [and] are of public importance…”^[13]  Despite the advance costs application being denied, Harrington J. further noted “[t]he Plaintiffs are dying”^[14] due to the length and duration of proceedings, and asked, “Is it [Crown’s] intention to grind these 105 Bands into poverty and bankruptcy before this matter ever proceeds to trial?”^[15] In 2020 by order by Barnes J.^[16] required Canada to provide database fields and field content for the expected document production of at least 132,000 documents.^[17] The issue on application claimed that many of the documents produced by Canada for discovery were of such poor quality that optical character recognition (OCR) technology was unreadable “except by tedious human intervention.”^[18]

The importance of the band class is to repair the harm that occurred within the communities themselves. It seeks redress for those interruptions in occupation of tmícw. It is the first of its kind to consider repairing the relationship with the land and the communities themselves. This approach takes into full consideration all quadrants of the Cḱuĺtn, connecting the elements of tmícw (physical), púsmen (emotional), sképqin (mental), and súmec (spiritual/self-actualization).^[19]

Sixties Scoop

Sixties Scoop survivor, Dave Manuel from Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc shares part of his experience and navigating his way back to his home community. Originally recorded at the 1L TRC Day, January 31, 2019 on site, in Moccasin Square Gardens (MSG), the restored and functional gymnasium of the KIRS.

The residential school system was not the only attempt by the Canadian government to assimilate Indigenous children. In the mid 20th century, the government began phasing out compulsory attendance at residential schools there was a shift in Indigenous child welfare policy. The result of this shift in policy meant that rather than sending students to residential school, children were apprehended from their families and placed either for adoption or into the foster care system.^[20] This is referred to as the “Sixties Scoop” since there was a large-scale removal or “scooping” of Indigenous children from their homes during the 1960s, 70s and 80s.^[21]

In 1951, amendments to the Indian Act gave provinces more jurisdiction over Indigenous child welfare. At that time, the detrimental effects of over a century of colonial policies, such as residential schools and Indian reserves, had contributed to Indigenous communities that were under-serviced and under-resourced.^[22] Instead of providing community support to enhance child welfare, provincial governments removed Indigenous children from their communities at alarming rates. From 1951 to 1964, the number of Indigenous children in provincial care in British Columbia increased 50 times. The removal of these children was done without the parents’ or bands’ consent, and they were predominantly adopted or fostered out to non-Indigenous families. ^[23]

Depending on the source, anywhere from 11,132 to 20,000 Indigenous children were adopted out between 1960 and 1990. Tens of thousands more were placed in the foster care system.^[24] Some provinces designed specific programs for the adoption of Indigenous children by non-Indigenous families. For example, Saskatchewan’s “Adopt Indian and Metis Project” would feature the removed children in television, radio, and newspaper advertisements to facilitate adoption by non-Indigenous families across North America.^[25] Many of these children were also adopted out abroad, further severing their ties to their community and culture. Children were sent across Canada, to the United States, and even as far as Australia and New Zealand. In some years, the percentage of Indigenous children adopted by families abroad was as high as 55%.^[26] Adoptees and foster children reported sexual, physical, and psychological abuse. Those who did not experience abuse still had to grow up disconnected from their families and culture.

Many children that were apprehended at birth and adopted did not learn about their heritage until they reached adulthood.^[27] Some parents would never see their children again, while others would wait decades to be reunited. The scoop was also multi-generational, beginning in the 1960s and continuing until the change in the child welfare policies of the 1980s. Children who had been “scooped” themselves not only had to deal with the trauma of missing identity but also having their own children taken from them.^[28] The disproportionate number of Indigenous children in provincial care persists today. The term “Sixties Scoop” has merely evolved into the “Millennium Scoop”.^[29]

Day Schools

Indian or Federal Day Schools were schools established by the federal Department of Indian Affairs and operated from the mid-1800s until 2000, when the last day school closed. It is estimated that 200,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend these schools, these are in addition to the day scholars who attended residential schools.^[33] The day schools were often run by the same religious organizations that ran the residential schools, but the children who attended these schools went home at the end of the day instead of living at the school.^[34] While these students were allowed to return home each day, they were still subject to physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. However, those who attended day schools were excluded from the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement.

In 2009, Garry McLean, a day school survivor, initiated a legal action regarding the forced attendance of Indigenous children at day schools. McLean became the lead plaintiff for a class action lawsuit for any former students who attended day school.^[35] Unfortunately, in February 2019, McLean died before the day school settlement was approved in 2019.^[36] On August 19, 2019, the Federal Court approved a $1.47-billion class-action settlement to compensate harms suffered while attending day schools. Compensation for survivors ranges from $10,000 to $200,000, depending on the level of harm experienced while attending day school. Compensation can only be claimed until the cut-off date of July 13, 2022. The settlement also provided $200 million to create a Legacy Fund, supporting health, wellness, commemoration, language, and cultural projects for survivors.^[37]

The settlement would not have been reached without the fierce advocacy of the Representative Plaintiffs. Below, a brief biography of each Representative Plaintiff is provided.

The settlement provided compensation for many day school survivors, but it was flawed. First, the claim form requires survivors to provide information about which school they attended and when.^[38] For many, it is difficult to recall the exact years they attended, especially if they have repressed the memories from that time in their life. Second, the form also has the potential to re-traumatize survivors of abuse. In order to qualify for compensation, survivors must detail the specifics of their abuse. If they leave out details due to fear, shame, or memory loss, they may receive less compensation. Lastly, the settlement does not cover all of the day schools that operated in Canada. Only day schools that were established, funded, controlled and managed by the Government of Canada were included in the settlement.^[39] If a day school was not entirely run or funded by the Government of Canada, it was excluded. For example, if the school was established and funded by the Government of Canada, but controlled and managed by a provincial government or religious group, then that day school would be excluded. Almost 700 schools are included in the list of eligible day schools^[40], while another 680 are excluded.^[41]

In the wake of the day school settlement, those who were excluded began fighting for recognition. The Unvalidated Day Schools Society (UDSS) was started by Abe Parenteau and George Munroe, who were forced to attend the Duck Bay Special School, one of the excluded day schools in Winnipeg. In their eyes, the federal government is fully responsible for the harms suffered by children who attended day schools, regardless of whether other organizations took part in the operation or funding of some schools.^[42] Cooper Regel was obtained as legal counsel for UDSS, and they are early in the process of having the class certified for a class-action lawsuit.^[43]