HIDDEN LEGACIES - Moving Images Distribution

HIDDEN
LEGACIES
School and Community
Discussion Guide
“Any high school student in Social Studies or English courses can
relate to the urban Aboriginal youth featured in Hidden Legacies.
Their authentic accounts of what it’s like to be an intergenerational
survivor of Canada’s Indian Residential School system allows
today’s youth to make connections to this painful history and to
reach a better understanding of the long term effects of Canada’s
IRS.”
Bertha Lansdowne
Aboriginal Education Coordinator, Teacher
New Westminster Secondary School
Documentary Participants
Rupert Richardson, M.Ed.
Nuxalk, Guskimukw, Chippewa and
Norwegian
Bev Sellars
Chief of Xat’sull First Nation, Xat’sull,
Secwepemc
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Charlene Linklater
Mathias Colomb, Cree
Jacinda Mack
Bev’s daughter, Nuxalk and Xat’sull,
Secwepemc
School and Community Discussion Guide
John Williams
Karen White
Ronnie Dean Harris
Lillian Jones
Yvonne Rigsby Jones
Lloyd Haarala
aka Johnny TwoFeathers, Coast Salish
aka Ostwelve, Sto:lo, Coast Salish
Tsow-Tun Le Lum Healing Centre,
Snuneymuxw Coast Salish
HIDDEN LEGACIES
John’s mom, Coast Salish
Snaw-Naw As, Coast Salish
Native Spiritual Advisor, Corrections
Canada, Anishinaabe
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School and Community Discussion Guide
for the documentary Hidden Legacies
Directed by Lisa Jackson
23:00 • 2013
Distributed by Moving Images Distribution
www.movingimages.ca
Hidden Legacies is a series of portraits of First Nations
young people whose parents and grandparents attended
government-initiated, church-run Indian Residential Schools.
These intergenerational survivors include a rapper, a mother,
a boxer, a social work student and others. They share their
stories of struggle, resistance and resilience and how land,
spiritual practice and family have been sources of strength
and transformation in their lives.
This guide has two parts–Part I for teachers of students in
Grades 8-12 and Part II for use in a wider community context.
Part I
The guide focuses primarily on learning outcomes from the
BC Curricula for:
•BC First Nations Studies 12
•English 8-12
•English First Peoples 10-11 and 12
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School and Community Discussion Guide
•Social Studies 10 and 11
•Social Justice 12
•Civic Studies 11
•Law 12
•Film and Television 11-12
The material accommodates a variety of learning styles and
cultural contexts and is easily adaptable, in whole or in part,
to a range of secondary and post-secondary settings and
educational outcomes.
The core material is intended for use in a continuous or
consecutive one- to three-hour lesson, with additional
learning activities and assignments that can be used
supplementally or as stand-alone material.
The serious subject of Indian Residential Schools and its
intergenerational impacts may be upsetting to some viewers.
Teachers are urged to treat the material with care and take
advantage of resources available for support.
Before the film
Objectives
• Introduce the time period, intentions, basic facts and key
players involved in Indian Residential Schools in Canada
• Learn and use the vocabulary specific to the issues of
intergenerational survivors, reconciliation and trauma
• Understand the role and importance of family, culture,
language and heritage in identity
• Share knowledge and learn from peers
• Demonstrate respect for others’ knowledge and ideas
• Predict outcomes based on information
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Background Material
Brainstorm and record with students what they already know
about Indian Residential Schools. Debrief. What are common
themes? What is accurate information? Misinformation?
Fill in the gaps in students’ knowledge with the background
material following.
Canadian Indian Residential Schools–Background
The purpose of the Canadian Indian Residential School (IRS)
was to separate Aboriginal children from their families and
communities with the intent to “civilize” them and assimilate
them into the dominant “settler” society. The schools were
initiated by the Government of Canada as part of its policy of
assimilation and were run by Catholic, Anglican and United
churches. The first school opened in the 1600s and the last
one closed in 1996 but Indian Residential schools operated at
peak capacity between the passing of the Indian Act in 1876
and the mid 1900s.
• When children arrived at school their hair was cut short, they
were deloused and their clothes were replaced with uniforms.
• Children were forbidden from speaking their language.
• Children were taught to be ashamed of their culture.
• School life was highly regimented and physical punishment
was often excessive.
• Many children were emotionally, physically and sexually
abused.
• Schools were underfunded and understaffed. Staff often
lacked training.
• Children were often undernourished. • Some children were subjected to nutritional experiments.
• Children were denied the love, cultural teachings, and
parental modeling of their parents, grandparents, and
extended family.
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School and Community Discussion Guide
• Children were separated from their family and communities
usually for 10 months of the year and sometimes for years at a
time. Some children never went home.
• Death rates were high in many schools. There were at least
4,000 documented deaths of children at Indian Residential
Schools.
•
In the words of Duncan Campbell Scott, head of the Department of Indian Affairs from 1913 to 1932, the intent of
the Canadian Government of the time was to “continue
until there was not a single Indian in Canada that has
not been absorbed into the body politic, and there is no
Indian question, and no Indian Department.”
(The Historical Development of the Indian Act, p. 114)
• During the 1960s and 70s, many schools were closed or
transferred from church management to Indian Affairs or to
local Indian bands.
• During the 1980s and 90s, former students’ testimony about
physical, sexual and psychological abuse lead to exposure
of the Residential School “secret.” There were lawsuits
and monetary compensation to students from the federal
government and churches.
• In 2006, a Settlement Agreement was reached between
survivors, government and churches. It provided for
compensation, healing resources and a multi-year Truth and
Reconcilation Commission.
• The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on Indian
Residential Schools began its work in 2008, traveling
throughout Canada to hear and record the experiences of
survivors and former students.
• Between 1998 and 2008 each of the churches issued statements
or apologies for their role in Residential Schools.
• On June 11, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued
a formal apology to Aboriginal people for the past
governments’ policies of assimilation.
• In 2014, the TRC began its final year of receiving, compiling,
recording and reporting testimonies, statements and records.
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Vocabulary
Review the following terms with the students:
• Trauma: Injury or shock, a deeply distressing event,
violence, accident or harm with lasting physical, emotional or
psychological impact.
• Historic trauma: The historical experiences of First
Nations, Inuit and Métis during centuries of colonial
subjugation that disrupted Aboriginal cultural identities,
including rape, forced relocation, and war.
• Intergenerational impacts: The unresolved trauma of
survivors who experienced or witnessed physical or sexual
abuse in the Residential School System that is passed on from
generation to generation through family violence, drug abuse,
sexual abuse, loss of parenting skills, and self-destructive
behaviour.
• Intergenerational survivors: The children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren of Residential School
survivors. While they may not have attended Residential
Schools themselves, many suffered similarly at the hands of their parents, grandparents, and/or guardians who
passed on the abuse they suffered in the Residential School
System or simply lacked skills and examples of how to care
for children.
• Legacy of Residential Schools: The ongoing direct
and indirect effects of abuse at the Residential Schools.
This includes the effects on survivors and their families,
descendants, and communities. These effects may include
family violence, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, substance abuse,
physical abuse, sexual abuse, loss of parenting skills, loss of
culture and language, and self-destructive behaviour.
• Reconciliation: Reconciliation is the process by which
individuals or communities attempt to arrive at a place
of mutual understanding and acceptance. There is not a
single approach to achieving reconciliation. Building trust
by examining painful shared histories, acknowledging
each other’s truths, and articulating a common vision is essential to the process.
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School and Community Discussion Guide
Sources for background and vocabulary
100 Years of Loss: The Residential School System in Canada. Ottawa: Legacy of Hope Foundation, 2011. Print.
Aboriginal nutrition experiments had Ottawa’s approval. CBC News, June
30, 2013. Web.
Leslie, John, Ed., The Historical Development of the Indian Act, 2nd ed.
Ottawa: Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development,
Treaties and Historical Research Branch, 1978. Print.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. They Came
for the Children: Canada, Aboriginal Peoples, and Residential Schools.
Ottawa: Public Works & Government Services Canada, 2012.
Introducing the Film
Hidden Legacies is a film about intergenerational survivors
who share personal stories of how they have been affected by
Residential Schools.
Have students predict what long-lasting impacts Residential
Schools might have had on individual intergenerational
survivors. These predictions can be individual or shared with
a small group or the class.
Consider the title, Hidden Legacies. Have students think about,
write or draw what each word means, what thoughts and
feelings are associated with each word? What about the two
words together? Make a prediction about the film based on
the title.
HIDDEN LEGACIES
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During the film
Objectives
• Understand the intergenerational impacts of Indian
Residential Schools—broadly and with specific examples
• Increase understanding of both the trauma and resilience of
Residential School survivors and intergenerational survivors
• Observe and record individual learnings, paying attention to
emotional learning and informational learning
• Draw connections between intergenerational survivors’
experience and viewers’ own lived experience and identity
Have students take notes during the film, using any of the
following prompts:
1. What made an impression on you? Why?
2. What moved or inspired you? Why?
3. What is surprising to you? Why?
4. What questions do you have about the intergenerational
survivors’ experiences?
5. What connections or parallels can you make to your own,
your family’s, or your community’s past or present?
6. What is most memorable about the film and why?
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School and Community Discussion Guide
After the film
Objectives
• Place the IRS experience in the broader context of Aboriginal
peoples in Canada
• Engage with the issues of justice and injustice pertaining to
the experiences of Aboriginal children in Indian Residential
Schools
• Assimilate and synthesize what students have learned from
the film
• Evaluate earlier predictions—were they disproved or
confirmed?
• Practice critical thinking skills
• Clearly express learning and opinions, supported by source
material
• Organize and communicate viewers’ own ideas
• Use Venn diagrams comprised of intersecting circles to
illustrate, compare and contrast overlapping ideas
Select one or more of the following activities:
1. Large Group: Explain to students that they will be
participating in a talking circle. When sitting in a circle,
everyone has an equal voice and all can see each other. This
fosters a sense of community and interconnectedness among
the participants. In a talking circle, students will take turns,
going clockwise, sharing their reflections on the film based
on their responses to any of the prompts or predictions. The
first student to speak will hold an object such as a talking
stick, feather, or stone to signify the role of speaker. Others
in the circle are expected to listen respectfully and without
interruption. When speakers finish they will pass the object to
the person on the left who will be the next speaker. Students
who choose not to speak will pass the object to the next
person. The talking circle is finished when everyone has had a chance to speak.
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2. Small Groups: Give students quiet reflection time for a
few minutes to re-read or add to their notes. Divide them
into groups of three. Have students share their notes with
one another, looking for similarities and differences in their
responses. Have each group complete a two-circle or threecircle Venn diagram comprised of intersecting circles to
illustrate their ideas. Possible diagrams could include:
• Three circles, each represents one student; the diagram shows
their shared and unique observations
• Two circles represent the words “hidden” and “legacies”
• Two circles: Aboriginal people and another group--Burmese
Karen, Ugandan child soldiers or Japanese internees during
WWII
• Two circles: “Inform” and “Persuade” demonstrate how a
documentary filmmaker makes an argument
• Two circles: Residential School Survivors and
Intergenerational Survivors
Have students post their Venn diagrams around the room. Have
one person from each group share their Venn diagram with the
larger group.
3. Individual: Produce a personal reflection illustrating
the connection between the title Hidden Legacies and the
intergenerational survivors’ stories. What was hidden? What
are the legacies? Media for the reflection can be based on
course requirements or student’s learning style: list, poem,
letter, chart, drawing, collage or essay.
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School and Community Discussion Guide
Activities for further learning
After preparing for, viewing and debriefing from the film, the
material can be engaged more deeply to meet various Grade 8-12
learning objectives. Here are some examples that can be modified
according to course and grade.
1. Intergenerational survivors in the film relate how they and
their families have been impacted by Residential Schools.
Choose one individual and review the clip from the film.
After reviewing, summarize how that person has overcome
life obstacles. If you were to meet that intergenerational
survivor in person, what questions would you ask?
2. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal People (1996) called for
a new relationship between Aboriginal people and Canadians
which requires all of us to restore harmony through the
process of reconciliation. The Truth and Reconciliation
Commission names survivors, churches, government and all
Canadians as parties with a role and responsibility. Consider
the following quote:
“as individual Canadians, we have a role to play in the process
of reconciliation with Aboriginal people in Canada. It begins
with recognizing the devastating impacts, which are felt over
many generations, of the Residential School system. It involves
recognizing that, barely 500 years ago, Europeans moved onto and
colonized land that had been occupied by Aboriginal peoples for
at least 10,000 years. This may all seem like ancient history, but
its impacts are as real today as they were in the 16th century. We
must look carefully at our own contexts-some of us are of European
descent. Some of us are descendants of the colonizers, not the
colonized. This gives us a very different view of the world and the
people in our communities.”
--100 Years of Loss: The Residential School System in Canada
What are the different roles and responsibilities of Aboriginal
people, European Settlers and non-European Settlers
in reconciliation? How does each group benefit from or
experience harm because of Residential Schools?
3. Personal engagement—How has your perception of
reconciliation changed from before viewing the film to now?
How will you support the process of reconciliation? What
concrete actions can you take as an individual or part of a
group towards reconciliation?
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4. Themes of the film include land, family, spiritual traditions,
and resilience. Choose one of these themes or one that you
have identified yourself. Explore how the theme appears in
the film visually and verbally. What message is the filmmaker
trying to convey about this theme? Do you agree?
5. Churches and government have made apologies to
Residential School survivors and Canadian Aboriginal people.
Read and evaluate these apologies. How do they change over
time? How do they compare to each other? How were they
understood and received by different communities? How do
you understand them?
6. Describe and analyse the role of “voice” in the film. Refer to
anecdotes, experts, elders, narrative, oral tradition, music,
and archival material. How is the film put together? Why
are issues of voice particularly important in Aboriginal
communities?
7. Research some of the legal issues related to Indian Residential
Schools. Refer to criminal law, alternative dispute resolution,
Canadian versus First Nations law, the settlement agreement
and international laws and agreements.
8. Consider Indian Residential Schools from an international
and human rights perspective. Consider the UN declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous People, the dignity and worth of
persons, and the ethical issues involved in targeting children.
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School and Community Discussion Guide
Part II
This part of the guide is intended for use outside of schools
in various community settings. Background, Vocabulary and
Group Activity (talking circle) sections that precede this can be
adapted for community use.
For film festivals and other community showings you are
strongly encouraged to invite speakers and participants who
are Residential School survivors, intergenerational survivors or
members of local Indigenous communities who can best address
the impacts of Indian Residential Schools on their lives and
communities.
Discussion Questions
• How do the stories of the intergenerational Residential School
survivors in the film connect to or parallel your own struggles
and experiences of colonization, displacement, racism and
erasure of language and culture?
• How can we be involved with the work of reconciliation and
building relationships with First Nation, Inuit and Métis
communities where we live?
• How does the film address, reinforce, or challenge stereotypes
of Indigenous people? Has it changed how you think?
• For the intergenerational Residential School survivors in the
film, land, family and spiritual practice are sources of strength
and transformation. How are land, family, and spiritual
practice resources for you and your community?
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Further Resources for Teachers,
Students and Communities
Online sources for learning and action
First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC)
www.fnesc.ca
Indian Residential School Survivor Society (IRSSS)
http://irsss.ca/irsss
Kairos Canada, Blanket Exercise – History of Colonization www.kairoscanada.org/dignity-rights/indigenous-rights/
blanket-exercise/
Legacy of Hope Foundation
www.legacyofhope.ca
“Nindibaajimomin” Intergenerational Digital Storytelling on
the Legacy of Residential Schools
www.oralhistorycentre.ca/projects/nindibaajimomin
intergenerational-digital-storytelling-legacy-residentialschools
Project of Heart
www.projectofheart.ca
Shannen’s Dream
www.fncaringsociety.ca/shannens-dream
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
www.trc.ca
Books
Fortune, Len. A Is for Assimilation: The ABC’s of Canada’s
Aboriginal People and Residential Schools. Owen Sound, ON:
Restoring the Circle, 2011.
Fournier, Suzanne and Ernie Cray. Stolen From Our Embrace:
The Abduction of First Nations Children and the Restoration
of Aboriginal Communities. Medeira Park, BC: Douglas and
McIntyre, 1997.
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School and Community Discussion Guide
Hill, Gord. 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book. Toronto, ON:
University of Toronto Press, 2010.
Loyie, Larry with illustrations by Constance Bissenden.
Goodbye Buffalo Bay. Penticton, BC: Theytus Books, 2009.
Miller, J.R. Shingwauk’s Vision: A History of Native Residential
Schools. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press, 1996.
Milloy, John S. A National Crime: The Canadian Government
and the Residential School System, 1879 to 1986. Winnipeg, MB:
University of Manitoba Press, 1999.
Mishenene, Rachel A. and Dr. Pamela Rose Toulouse, et al.
Strength and Struggle: Perspectives from First Nations, Inuit, and
Métis Peoples in Canada. Whitby, ON:
McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2011.
Olsen, Sylvia with Rita Morris and Ann Sam. No Time to Say
Goodbye: Children’s Stories of Kuper Island Residential School.
Winlaw, BC: Sono Nis Press, 2001.
Regan, Paulette. Unsettling the Settler Within: Indian Residential
Schools, Truth Telling, and Reconciliation in Canada. Vancouver,
BC: University of British Columbia Press, 2010.
Robertson, David Alexander. 7 Generations Series.
Winnipeg, MB: Highwater Press, 2011.
Robertson, David Alexander. Sugar Falls: A Residential School
Story. Winnipeg, MB: Highwater Press, 2011.
Sellars, Beverly. They Called Me Number One. Vancouver, BC:
Talonbooks, 2012.
Sterling, Shirley. My Name is Seepeetza. Toronto, ON:
Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press, 1992.
Wagamese, Richard. Indian Horse. Madeira Park, BC:
Douglas and McIntyre, 2013.
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Context and Acknowledgements
The Interfaith Institute for Justice, Peace and Social Movements
would like to honour the Coast Salish peoples and acknowledge
that we do our work on their unceded territory.
The Interfaith Institute is institutionally housed with the J.S.
Woodsworth Chair in the Humanities, Simon Fraser University.
Our small collective facilitates educational programming and
supports social movement-building among people of faith,
academics and activists working toward increased justice and
peace, and the greater community. Our work is to amplify
and embody the ways that religion and spirituality can be an
effective force in creating a more just world.
In 2011 the Interfaith Institute and the Indian Residential
School Survivors Society hosted Ignite the Light, a multimedia performance and a community talking circle on
the intergenerational impacts of the Residential School
system. Participants stressed the need for a resource on the
intergenerational impact of Residential Schools, a resource that
would make the connection between the Residential School
history and current social conditions in Aboriginal communities.
To address this need, the Interfaith Institute partnered with
Anishinaabe filmmaker Lisa Jackson to create Hidden Legacies, a
short documentary on the stories of intergenerational survivors.
In 2013, the Interfaith Institute partnered with the Anglican
Diocese of New Westminster for the distribution phase of the
project.
Lisa Jackson
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School and Community Discussion Guide
Study Guide credits
research, development and writing
Bertha Lansdowne
Aboriginal Education Coordinator
New Westminster School District
Priti Shah
Activist; Adult Educator
Interfaith Institute
Janet Stromquist
District Teacher, Aboriginal Program
Langley School District
editing
Laurel Dykstra
Interfaith Institute; Anglican Diocese
of New Westminster
In the production of this teaching
resource, the Interfaith Institute for
Justice, Peace and Social Movements and
the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster
acknowledge the generous support of the
Anglican Healing Fund; the knowledge
and guidance of the Aboriginal
Education Advisory of the BC Teachers’
Federation, particularly the support of
Assistant Director Gail Stromquist; the
incredible filmmaking of Lisa Jackson;
and the important work of the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission and
the Indian Residential School Survivors
Society. We honour the courage, resilience
and resistance of intergenerational
Residential School survivors.
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