1 SCHOOLING AND RESISTANCE TO SCHOOLING IN BETSIAMITES: A CASE STUDY IN A CANADIAN AMERINDIAN RURAL RESERVE BY CHARLES VIEN THESIS SUBMITTED IN PART FULFILLMENT OF PhD DEGREE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE, COMMUNICATION AND SOCIETIES INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF LONDON FEBRUARY 1998 2 ABSTRACT Traditionally, the vast majority of Canadian Amerindians have largely remained undereducated and such is the case in Betsiamites. This 2,500 people community is the largest of the nine Montagnais reserves which are located in Eastern Québec. There has been an improvement in the overall completion rates at the elementary and secondary levels between 1970 and 1985, following the transfer of all the responsibilities for reserve schools from the federal Government to the Amerindian communities. But progress had come to a halt by the end of the 1980s and most secondary school or university Amerindian students still drop out today. By focusing on the reserve of Betsiamites, this thesis attempts to provide explanations for this situation and to suggest ways to improve the effectiveness of Amerindian education. The thesis is divided into seven chapters, including the introduction and the conclusion. In the second chapter, the assumptions underlying this thesis, the data-gathering and analysis methods and the ethical problems linked to the situation of the current researcher as former teacher and current principal of the secondary school under investigation are discussed. In the third chapter, it is argued that the 1969-1972 political battle which allowed the Amerindians to govern their education systems has overshadowed some basic and essential issues regarding quality education and is partly responsible for the lack of improvement since the mid 1980s. In the fourth chapter, the historical process which led to the creation of the reserve of Betiamites and to the generalized dependency on welfare is presented. The fifth chapter analyses the daily life of the local secondary school, from its management to the motivation of students. The sixth chapter discusses the links between the local political, economic and social life and local schooling and suggests ways of alleviating widespread educational underachievement in rural reserves. This thesis argues that despite an adverse socio-economic environment, Canadian Amerindian schools could have become much more effective if it had not been for the excessive politicization of the issue of reserve schooling and for the unwillingness of Amerindian leaders and the federal Government to question the adoption, in 1972, of affirmative action as the ideological pillar of Amerindian teacher-training programmes. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to my supervisors, Dr. Jagdish S. Gundara, Head of the International Centre for Intercultural Studies and Mr. Crispin Jones, Senior lecturer at the Department of Culture, Communication and Societies at the University of London Institute of Education, for their continuing support and counsel over the past five years. Their constant questioning permitted me to explore in a new light the subject of this thesis. Their task was rendered all the more difficult by the fact that a great deal of my work was carried out in Canada and given that my mother tongue is French. It is always difficult to express one's thoughts in another language and their guidance in this matter was crucial. Of course, any remaining errors are mine, not theirs! I would also like to thank the Commonwealth Relations Trust (London, U.K.), the Johann Jacobs Foundation (Zurich, Switz.), the Institut Culture! et Educatif Montagnais (Sept- Iles, Que.) and the London Goodenough Association of Canada (Toronto, Ont.) for their financial support, which made possible the realization of this work; for this I am most grateful. My employer, the Betsiamites Band Council, significantly contributed to my studies by permitting me to take two extended leaves of absence without which I could not have completed my studies. In particular, the late Mr Leonard Paul, former principal of the elementary school in Betsiamites, inspired and encouraged my interest in reserve schooling; without him many doors would have remained closed. Thanks also to Dr Dennis McInerney, from the University of Western Sydney (Macarthur, Austr.) who conducted the computed analyses for the ISM questionnaire and to Mrs Ann Weber, Secretary of the CRT, who amiably printed and reprinted many parts of this thesis. Finally, my wife Monique deserves a special thank you for showing such great understanding and patience throughout these many years of research and writing. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 3 Chapter One: INTRODUCTION 7 Notes and references 25 Chapter Two: "INDIAN CONTROL OF INDIAN EDUCATION" REVISITED: REMOVING BARRIERS OR LOWERING STANDARDS ? 29 Removing barriers or lowering standards ? 35 Notes and references 62 Chapter Three: METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES 70 Formulation of the research problem 70 Intellectual approach 73 The role of the researcher/The data collection methods/ The issue of ethics and the issue of validity and rel- iability 80 Notes and references 101 Chapter Four: THE CONTEXT OF THE STUDY; BETSIAMITES: FROM THE RESERVE AS A NEW PLACE TO LIVE TO THE RESERVE AS A NEW WAY OF LIFE 106 Prehistory of the Betsiamites Montagnais 108 The European contact 111 The impact of trapping as a new way of life 112 The creation of the Betsiamites reserve 123 The "intensive care" years (1850-1945) 126 The integration years (1945-1969) 137 The introduction of compulsory schooling 143 The local control phase (1969- ) 148 Notes and references 167 Chapter Five: THE DIMENSIONS OF SCHOOLING IN BETSIAMITES 175 Mainstream education vs band-controlled schools in Québec 179 5 Management of the school 185 Financing 189 Teacher training 193 Pedagogy and student culture 203 Aims and objectives of schooling in Betsiamites 214 Relations between school and parents 220 Curriculum 236 Achievement and underachievement 243 Assessment methods 247 Motivation of students 254 Truancy and absenteeism 269 Rewards and punishments 281 Language issues 289 Conclusion 305 Notes and references 308 Chapter Six: THE DIMENSIONS OF RESISTANCE TO SCHOOLING IN BETSIAMITES 320 Part 1- Resistance to schooling: Definition and conflictual viewpoints 322 Part 2- The cumulative effect of poverty and its impact on reserve life (the dictatorship of the workless majority and time as an enemy) 330 Poverty in Betsiamites, an enduring phenomenon 333 A- Political obstacles to school improvement in Betsiamites 336 B- Economic obstacles to school improvement in Betsiamites 347 C- Social conditions 367 Poverty and lifestyles in Western countries 368 D- The legal obstacles to school improvement in Betsiamites 381 Part 3- The future of schooling in Betsiamites 383 The 1992 and 1996 Band-commissioned studies of the education system 386 School improvement in Betsiamites, from now onwards 388 Ways of improving schooling in Betsiamites 391 Conclusion 397 Notes and references 404 Chapter Seven: CONCLUSION 420 Affirmative action 421 Local control 424 6 The welfare trap 429 The treasure within 433 Notes and references 437 REFERENCES 442 APPENDIX ONE: Terminology 464 APPENDIX TWO: Letter from a parent 465 APPENDIX THREE: Map (Subarctic Indian bands) 466 APPENDIX FOUR: Map (Ice age routes) 467 APPENDIX FIVE: Maps (ancient maps) 468 APPENDIX SIX: French tourists in Wendake 470 APPENDIX SEVEN: Map (Québec North Shore) 471 APPENDIX EIGHT: Tourists at Tadoussac, Qc 472 APPENDIX NINE: Enrolment trends 473 APPENDIX TEN: House building in Betsiamites 474 APPENDIX ELEVEN: Caricatures (A & B) 475 APPENDIX TWELVE: Student retention in Québec 477 APPENDIX THIRTEEN: Organization chart 478 APPENDIX FOURTEEN: Teaching licence 479 APPENDIX FIFTEEN: Support centre for Amerindian students 480 APPENDIX SIXTEEN: Note written by a teacher 481 APPENDIX SEVENTEEN: Drawing made by teacher 482 APPENDIX EIGHTEEN: Questionnaire on school/parents relations 483 APPENDIX NINETEEN: Examination schedule (MEQ) 488 APPENDIX TWENTY: Inventory of school motivation (ISM) 489 APPENDIX TWENTY-ONE: Graph on absenteeism 495 APPENDIX TWENTY-TWO: Graph on absenteeism and tardiness 496 APPENDIX TWENTY-THREE: Drawing by Misirili 497 APPENDIX TWENTY-FOUR: Statistics on local economy 498 APPENDIX TWENTY-FIVE: Welfare recipients 499 APPENDIX TWENTY-SIX: Drawings by students (A,B,C) 500 APPENDIX TWENTY-SEVEN: Survey on at-risk factors 503 APPENDIX TWENTY-EIGHT: Taxonomy of social problems 505 APPENDIX TWENTY-NINE: Prevention programmes (A,B,C) 506 7 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this research is to analyse, using the case-study approach, the historical and political processes which have allowed certain Canadian Amerindians to progressively gain control over the education of their children at the local level during the last thirty years, and to appraise the "Amerindianization" as well as the school- improvement efforts which have been undertaken since then. Along with the results these efforts have yielded, the conclusion is drawn that some major mistakes, which could have been avoided, were made both by Amerindian 2 leaders and by the federal Government. Traditionally, the vast majority of Canadian Amerindians have largely remained formally undereducated. In the 1960s, between 94% and 96% of all Amerindian students were leaving school without a high school diploma 3, as compared with 12% in the mainstream Canadian population. In the 1980s, 80% of Amerindian students were dropping out of high school while 25% were