RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS— 14 MÉTIS EXPERIENCE

RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS—MÉTIS EXPERIENCE

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The first church-run mission schools established How were the Métis people in western Canada beginning in the 1860s were open to First Nations and Métis children. As a in Alberta impacted by the result, many Métis students in the communities of Fort Chipewyan, St Albert and Lesser Slave Indian residential school Lake did attend school. In 1879 the Government of Canada, as part of its strategy of First Nations system? assimilation into the Euro-Canadian culture, entered into a partnership with the Christian churches to establish government-funded, church-run residential schools for Indigenous children. While the federal government acknowledged its responsibility for educating First Nations children, its overall policy was that the provinces were responsible for Métis children. Local public schools often refused to admit Métis children, and most of the Métis communities did not have enough funds to build their own schools.1 In very few cases, schools were established for Métis children. The town of St Paul originated as a Métis farming settlement (St Paul des Métis), and a school was established in 1903. The school was, however, unpopular with the community and was burned down in 1905.2 In some instances, Métis children were DECHÂTELETS ARCHIVES, OBLATES OF MARY IMMACULATE COLLECTION admitted to federally funded schools as acts of Saint-Paul-des-Métis School. charity or if the parents were willing to pay.3 Many Métis parents who wished to see their children educated in schools had no option but to try to have them accepted into a residential school. the federal government had started to Alberta government paid for Métis MÉTIS STUDENT dismiss Metis students from residential children to attend the residential schools, while the provinces, for cost school in Grouard until 1958, when ATTENDANCE reasons, were reluctant to ensure that a government inspector reported AT RESIDENTIAL they were admitted to public schools.7 disturbing conditions at the school.15 How many Métis children SCHOOLS What factors impacted Métis attended residential schools? The federal government’s school attendance? position on accepting While the majority of students Métis students was caught Federal government funding for residential schools was calculated on attending residential schools were between their unwillingness First Nations, many Métis were part to pay for the education a per student basis. To control costs, the federal government often sought of the residential school system. Due and its fear that if Métis to incomplete records, inconsistent children were not taken into residential to limit admittance to First Nations students. For their part, the churches regulations and inaccurate status schools, they would not be assimilated accounts, it is impossible to know into the dominant culture. In 1899 that administered the schools sought to admit both First Nations and Métis how many Métis children attended Indian Affairs minister Clifford Sifton residential schools.16 In some cases, ruled that Métis children should students. In some cases, Métis children from schools with adequate enrolment Métis children were not officially be admitted to government funded placed on the register and therefore not residential schools, because without would be relocated to schools that 17 8 reported to the federal government. formal schooling they would grow up needed more students. 4 Indian and Northern Affairs Canada an “uneducated and barbarous class.” Residential schooling also led to estimated that out of about 105,000 However, this policy was inconsistently situations in which Métis peoples former residential school students alive applied; admission to residential schools were pressured to identify themselves in 1991, 9 per cent were Métis. was erratic and often depended on the as First Nations. For example, when local situation, church involved, local The Truth and Reconciliation Treaty 8 was entered into, Roman government officials and enforcement of Commission of Canada found that Catholic priests encouraged Métis admission regulations.5 Métis students did attend almost every to declare themselves as Indians residential school at some point, and For most of the residential school history, so that their children could be sent based on the evidence of the students Métis were not recognized as Indians to residential schools, allowing the who attended residential schools, it by the federal government and were churches to collect funding.9 is clear that the education of Métis often discouraged from attending the In 1937, the federal government people experienced in the residential federally funded schools, especially if announced that it would no longer school system paralleled that of First they were seen as “Christianized” and be providing any funding for Métis Nations and Inuit students.18 Regardless “civilized enough.” Other times, federal children attending residential schools.10 of the exact number of children in officials called for the inclusion of Métis attendance, Métis people share in the children and regarded them as part of By the 1940s the federal government Indigenous collective trauma resulting the “dangerous class,” leading an “Indian owned most residential schools. There from government policies of forced way of life” and in need of assimilation.6 were, however, a number of church- assimilation through residential Some First Nations who refused to owned schools that had a greater schools. enter Treaty were labelled Métis by degree of control over admissions. In the government. Other people chose to Alberta, six church-owned schools enfranchise so they wouldn't have to did not need government approval to 11 MÉTIS STUDENT send their child to residential school. admit students. Catholic run schools in Alberta consistently reported EXPERIENCES IN From the early 1920s until the 1940s, a high number of Métis children Metis parents faced numerous barriers enrolled, including the Grey Nuns RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS if they wanted to provide their children run institutions in St Albert and The experiences of Métis children with a formal education. Once again, Fort Chipewyan.12 Hobbema, Fort at residential schools varied and Vermilion, Blue Quills, Grouard, Fort depended on many factors. The Chipewyan, Joussard and Wabasca extent to which they identified increased enrolment of Métis children with their European ancestry, their throughout the 1940s and ’50s, with familiarity with the Christian church inconsistent support from the provincial doctrines and the conditions of each government.13 In 1945, 100 of the 123 individual school all influenced the students enrolled at St Bernard School students’ experiences. As well, the in Grouard were reported as Métis.14 degree to which school employees During this time, the schools looked projected negative stereotypes on to the provinces for more funding. Métis children’s identity also had an Beginning in the 1940s, the Alberta impact. For many Métis, the prejudices DECHÂTELETS ARCHIVES, OBLATES OF MARY IMMACULATE COLLECTION government began providing funds to against them in residential schools residential schools for Métis children was reflective of the prejudices from Grouard School. apprehended by child welfare. The the dominant settler society; they were

Walking Together: Education for Reconciliation seen as “lesser than” both their First the education opportunities for their dialogue and sharing in the healing Nations relations and their European children. The Métis Brotherhood was process, including Nobody’s Children ancestors.19 successful in lobbying the Alberta in Saskatchewan, 2012, and We Are government to form the Ewing Children of the Métis Nation in Ottawa, Métis children frequently faced racism Commission tasked with investigating 2013. and discrimination inside residential the living conditions of Métis in the schools. In some places, Métis were province. The 1936 Report of the Royal often cast as “worse off than Indians” Commission Appointed to Investigate the or because they were half-breeds, they Conditions of the Half-Breed Population were considered by others to be less in Alberta (Ewing Commission25) 20 than either one of their halves. They reported that approximately 80 per NEXT STEPS were often seen as outsiders by other cent of Métis children in Alberta lacked children and were frequently treated as formal, western education because of 26 »»» second-class citizens by school staff. At jurisdictional negligence. Then in 1937 Métis are one of the three times, they were made to work longer the federal government reversed Sifton’s distinct Aboriginal peoples of and harder on housekeeping tasks to policy of including Métis children in Canada recognized in the 1982 operate the school than other students residential schools, denying any federal 21 Canadian Constitution. The Truth to earn their education. For example, government responsibility for Métis and Reconciliation Commission officials from the Red Deer school education that now fell squarely on the stated in its final report objected to the federal government’s province. The Métis 31 removal of Métis students because Experience, Volume 3: “There is “some of the biggest and best trained Métis people living throughout the no denying that the harm done to boys and girls” were among the non- province of Alberta were entitled to the children, their parents and the Treaty children; “no quantity of new attend provincially funded schools as Métis community was substantial. pupils could fill their place because all a result of the Ewing Commission. In It is an ongoing shame that this new pupils are young and untrained.”22 remote northern areas, the province damage has not been addressed paid for Métis students to continue and rectified.”32 The experiences Many Métis at that time spoke an to attend federal residential schools of Métis students in the residential Indigenous language and followed operated by the churches. When the school system are similar to First distinct cultural practices or lifestyles Métis Settlement lands were designated Nations and Inuit students, but closely related to their First Nations in 1938, these communities worked they are also unique. relatives. Attendance at residential to establish and operate their own schools had similar lasting detrimental public schools. In 1960, the Alberta Today, Métis people live in impacts on their identity, culture, government established the Northland every community in Alberta language and families as it did for School Division comprising 30 school and their children attend public other Indigenous students.23 As with divisions and 20 schools in the northern schools. Learning the truth about First Nations and Inuit children, some part of the province, including six the Métis residential school former Métis students speak of positive Métis Settlement schools to coordinate experience helps teachers to experiences at the schools.24 Because educational services for the north. understand the ongoing issues of the lack of reporting of Métis The Northland School Division Act28 and concerns of Métis peoples. children enrolment in the schools, was revised in 2017 to allow for seven Respectfully inviting Métis the full extent of their experience is elected trustees each with a ward residential school survivors to not yet known. One common thread council consisting of one school council share their stories is a strategy between many Indigenous former representative from each school in the for schools to participate in students, however, was the hardship ward. The Northland School Division the reconciliation process with suffered. The tragedies of substandard currently has 20 schools and 2,200 Indigenous peoples. education, separation from family, students of which 95 per cent are of institutionalization, horrific living First Nations, Métis or Inuit descent.29 conditions, extreme loneliness, cultural As of 2018, Métis organizations and the disconnect, multiple forms of abuse federal government are still at odds and lasting trauma inflicted on Métis over the recognition of Métis residential children did not differ from those of school survivors. The majority of First Nations or Inuit students. Métis residential school survivors have not been acknowledged for their suffering at residential schools. While ADDRESSING ALBERTA the Residential Schools Settlement Agreement included some Métis in the MÉTIS EDUCATION common experience payments, many who attended day schools, provincially NEEDS funded schools and other types of The 1932 formation of the Métis residential schools were not recognized Brotherhood of Alberta (later to in the settlement.30 The Métis National DECHÂTELETS ARCHIVES, OBLATES OF MARY become the Métis Nation of Alberta) Council continues to seek compensation IMMACULATE COLLECTION was due, in part, to the poor living for residential school survivors and Joussard School. conditions of the Métis, including has held national gatherings for

Stepping Stones | 14 | RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS – MÉTIS EXPERIENCE 17. Judy D Daniels “Ancestral Pain.” Continuing NOTES 18. TRC, Canada’s Residential Schools: The Métis 1. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Experience. p 4. They Came for the Children, 2012. www.trc.ca/assets/ 19. Tricia Logan, “Métis Experience at Residential Your Learning pdf/resources_2039_T&R_eng_web[1].pdf (accessed Schools,” Circles For Reconciliation, 2017. https:// June 20, 2019). circlesforreconciliation.ca/2017/09/29/gathering 2. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada -theme-metis-experience-at-residential-schools Journey (TRC), Canada’s Residential Schools: The Métis (accessed June 20, 2019). Experience 3, 2015. www.trc.ca/assets/pdf/Volume_3_ 20. Tricia Logan, “Métis Experience.” a) Why were only some of the Metis_English_Web.pdf (accessed June 20, 2019). 21. Forgotten Métis Exhibition, Legacy of Hope Métis residential school 3. TRC, Canada’s Residential Schools: The Métis Foundation website. http://forgottenmetis.ca/en/ Experience, p 20. survivors recognized in the (accessed June 20, 2019). 4. TRC, Canada’s Residential Schools: The Métis 22. TRC, Canada’s Residential Schools: The Métis Residential Schools Settlement Experience. Experience. p 22. Agreement? 5. TRC, Canada’s Residential Schools: The Métis Experience. 23. Judy D Daniels, “Ancestral Pain.” 6. TRC, Canada’s Residential Schools: The Métis 24. Tricia E Logan, “The Lost Generations: The Silent Experience. Métis of the Residential School System: Revised Interim Report,” 2001. In Métis History and Experience and 7. TRC, Canada’s Residential Schools: The Métis Residential Schools in Canada, ed Larry N Chartrand, Experience, p 26. Tricia E Logan and Judy D Daniels, 2006. www.ahf.ca/ 8. Tricia E Logan, “The Lost Generations: The Silent downloads/metiseweb.pdf (accessed June 20, 2019). Métis of the Residential School System: Revised 25. For more information, go to http://indigenous Interim Report,” 2001. In Métis History and Experience .alberta.ca/documents/BriefHistoryMetis.pdf (accessed and Residential Schools in Canada, ed Larry N June 20, 2019). Chartrand, Tricia E Logan and Judy D Daniels, 2006. www.ahf.ca/downloads/metiseweb.pdf (accessed 26. Government of Alberta (1936:7). “Report of June 20, 2019). the Royal Commission Appointed to Investigate the Conditions of the Half-Breed Population of Alberta.” 9. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, They Came for the Children, 2012. www.trc.ca/assets/ Edmonton, Alta: Provincial Museum and Archives pdf/resources_2039_T&R_eng_web[1].pdf (accessed of Alberta. Cited in RCAP (1996:435). Report of the June 20, 2019). Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Volume 3: Gathering Strength. Ottawa: Minister of Supply and 10. Library and Archives Canada, RG85, Vol 938, Services Canada. b) How have the experiences of file 12497, St Paul’s Hostel—Dawson Yukon Territory, residential schools shaped 1941–43, T R L MacInnes to Inspectors, Indian Agents, 27. Government of Alberta, 1960. The Alberta Gazette and Principals of Residential Schools, 10 December Part 1. Edmonton, Alta: Alberta Queen’s Printer, contemporary realities for 1937. [DAW-000024] December 31. Métis people and communities? 11. TRC, Canada’s Residential Schools: The Métis 28. For more information, go to www.alberta. Experience. ca/northland-school-division-act.aspx?utm_ source=redirector (accessed June 20, 2019). 12. Judy D Daniels and Métis Nation of Alberta, “Ancestral Pain: Métis Memories of Residential School 29. Northland School Division website, “About Us” and Project,” 2003. In Métis History and Experience and “History.” www.nsd61.ca/about-us/history. Residential Schools in Canada, ed Larry N Chartrand, Tricia E Logan and Judy D Daniels, 2006. www.ahf.ca/ 30. “Métis Residential and Day School Survivors downloads/metiseweb.pdf (accessed June 20, 2019). Speak,” Métis National Council website, posted June 16, 2013. www.metisnation.ca/index.php/news/metis 13. TRC, Canada’s Residential Schools: The Métis -residential-and-day-school-survivors-speak (accessed Experience. June 20, 2019). 14. Judy D Daniels, “Ancestral Pain.” 31. For more information, go to www.trc.ca/assets/pdf/ 15. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume_3_Metis_English_Web.pdf (accessed June 20, They Came for the Children, 2012. www.trc 2019). .ca/assets/pdf/resources_2039_T&R_eng_web[1].pdf 32. Canada’s Residential Schools: The Métis Experience (accessed June 20, 2019). 3, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 16. TRC, Canada’s Residential Schools: The Métis 2015, p 54. www.trc.ca/assets/pdf/Volume_3_Metis_ Experience. English_Web.pdf (accessed June 20, 2019).

Stepping Stones is a publication of the Alberta Teachers’ Association Walking Together Project intended to support certificated teachers on their learning journey to meet the First Nations, Métis and Inuit Foundational Knowledge competency in the Teaching Quality Standard. Walking Together would like to acknowledge the contributions of First Nations, Métis and Inuit community members within Alberta in developing these resources. In addition, Walking Together is grateful to the Métis Nation of Alberta and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation for providing significant contributions to this particular resource.

For additional resources and information on Walking Together, visit www.teachers.ab.ca. www.teachers.ab.ca walkingtogetherata @ATAindigenous

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