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Lakehead University Knowledge Commons,http://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca Electronic Theses and Dissertations Retrospective theses 2001 Yuma state : a philosophical study of the Indian residential school experience Nawagesic, Leslie John http://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/handle/2453/3156 Downloaded from Lakehead University, KnowledgeCommons INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. 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Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Yuma State: A philosophical study of the Indian residential school experience. A Thesis presented to the Department of Philosophy Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts by Leslie Nawagesic (^August, 2001 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. National Library Bbliothèque nationale of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Waflington Strm t 395, rue Wedingion Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada C anada Y a u rm Voom léttnne» Ourflg Nonrittnnea The author has granted a non L’auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfîche/fîlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L’auteur conserve la propriété du copyri^t in this thesis. NeiÂer the droit d’auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author’s ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. 0-612-64728-5 CanadS Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dedicated to the memory of my parents And to all the Native Residential school Students 111 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgments Momentarily suspending ‘overt gestures of gratitude’ I must extend acknowledgments to a number o f people for the completion of this study. I would first like to thank Dr. Anne Waters o f Texas Women’s College, Denton who first started me on the journey. I thank Dr. J. Douglas Rabb my thesis supervisor for his patience understanding and continuous prodding. I would also like to thank members of my supervisory committee Prof. Dennis McPherson and Dr. Richard A. Berg and the entire staff of the Philosophy Department of Lakehead University. Special thanks goes out to Lori Ann Roness for her editorial input. I would also like to thank the staff of the Seven Generations Education Institute for their support especially to Heather Anderson for her patience and humour. Last of all the support of friends and family. IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Abstract Indian residential schools in Canada span a history over one hundred years producing a storm of controversy that is ongoing. The principal parties to this controversy include a number of Christian churches in Canada, the federal government and the Native students who attended these schools. This thesis exams a segment of that issue. The current debate rages over the extent of sexual and physical abuses of children victimized while in residence at these schools. Little discussion has been targeted in the area of the impact of attempted assimilation on the lives o f former students. My contention in this study is that the delicate maturational stages o f Native children were tampered with arbitrarily by those in authority resulting in life-long social disorientation for many o f the Native people who attended these schools. My thesis is rooted in the contention that the internalization and orientation of two disparate worldviews in repressive atmospheres undermined the natural development of the child. By way of methodology a personal narrative covering my years at a residential school is produced and examined using phenomenological description and analysis. Three factors underpinning this analysis are the roles of the residential school, the concept of the existential self, and the impact the two world views played in the intellectual formation of the residential school student. These background components are treated in some detail. The heart of the study materializes in the Autoanalysis which depicts chronologically my own deteriorating self- concept while at a residential school and my eventual emancipation of consciousness and self- identity. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 ABSTRACT________________________________________________________________v 2.0 INTRODUCTION _________________________________________________________ 1 3.0 METHODOLOGY__________________________________________________________ 7 3.1 Applied Phenomenology........................................................................................? 3.2 Phenomenological Analysis and Interpretation..................................................9 4.0 FINDING YOURSELF IN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL__________________________ 11 4.1 The Self____________________________________________________________ 13 4.2 Indian Residential Schools.................................................................................. 18 4 3 Native & Western Values and World Views.....................................................32 5.0 FINDINGS________________________________________________________________ 60 6.0 YUMA STATE: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY____________________________________ 62 Chapter 1.....—.................... .............................................................................62 Chapter 2 ..............................................................................................................76 Chapter 3.................................... ..................................................................... 119 Chapter 4.............................................................................................................143 Chapter 5.............................................................................................................161 Chapter 6............................................................................................................ 183 Epilogue...............................................................—.....................—.—.............195 7.0 AUTOANALYSIS________________________________________________________ 211 8.0 CONCLUSION __________________________________________________________ 233 Appendix 1 Chronological List of Selected Categories .......................................................237 Appendix 11 Chronological Table of Concepts ...................................................................256 Appendix 111 **How the Fisher Lost His Tail”.....................................................................257 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................260 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2.0 Introduction Each individual is bom into a culture, and its orientations and basic beliefs shape him and remain deeply rooted in his personality all o fhis life. I fhe moves into a new culture with other orientations and basic beliefs, the two versions o f reality are dissonant within him. Einstein’s Space & Van Gogh’s Sky' This study is based on my residential school experience at the St. Joseph’s Boarding School in the former city of Fort William, now Thunder Bay, Ontario. Like myself, many former Native residential school students have been left in a peculiar ontic state, an