Manitoba Curriculum To Cover Residential School Experience

It was with great interest, and hope, that I read in the news recently about the Province of Manitoba introducing Residential School era material into its’ public school curriculum.

Education Minister Peter Bjornson announced Thursday (June 11, 2009) that new classroom curriculum resources for students in Grades 9 and 11 will aim to provide a unique perspective on the residential schools experience by including personal interviews with school survivors.

"We are developing made-in-Manitoba educational resources to honour residential school survivors and record their stories," Bjornson said. "The video currently under development will include interviews with residential school survivors from all regions of Manitoba, as well as archival footage and examples of the reconciliation process."

It’s my sense that far too many Canadians seem to be under the impression that these events are something that happened “way back in history.” The fact is that nothing could be further from the truth. Residential Schools are a fact of many of our lifetimes, and Canadians should know that this is recent, as opposed to ancient, history.

Some time ago governments worked hard to suppress those portions of history that were less than complementary, or which depicted non-aboriginal society under a less than tolerant light. Polite society simply did not discuss them. Fortunately we have moved beyond those times.

Coupled with the federal apology issued one year ago this month, and the recent federal declaration marking June as “National Aboriginal History Month”, the Province of Manitoba’s decision to teach their children about the residential school system, and how it affected Aboriginal people, shows that we are making progress. It shows that our voices are being heard, and that Canadian society is mature enough not only to publicly acknowledge, but to publicly discuss, even the darker times of our collective past.

Each of these events represent stepping stones along the path to reconciliation, and we recognize, appreciate, and value, all of them as such.

Nakurmiik

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