All aspects of Aboriginal history must be taught

Editor,

June 21 is National Aboriginal Day - a day for all Canadians to better acquaint themselves with the cultural diversity of Inuit, Métis and First Nations peoples and celebrate their significant contribution to Canadian society.

This special day designated by the federal government is great; my question is, where is Canada's regard for aboriginal culture every other day of the year?

I refer specifically to the public school system's opinion that this country should forget one of the most painful chapters of its history: Indian Residential Schools.

I attended public school in Summerside, P.E.I. In those 12 years I don't recall ever being taught anything remotely resembling an awareness of Canada's grave political past.

I now live in British Columbia where 4.4 per cent of the population identifies as aboriginal. I've spoken with graduates of public schools here and they reported similar experiences with their curriculum. I work for a First Nations organization. When I arrived I was not at all prepared for what I would learn about the history my work associates live with every day. Today, thousands of residential school survivors are still plagued with horrifying nightmares. They had their cultures and languages stripped away.

Kids were promised an education, but instead suffered unspeakable physical, emotional and sexual abuses. Tiny children were taken from their families, and as a result have been unable to develop parenting skills later in life. Death surfaced in genocidal proportions. Much of aboriginal traditional knowledge of the land was lost. An entire generation was deeply wounded, and subsequent generations still suffer, perpetuating the cycles of poverty, abuse and neglect.

The federal government is currently issuing financial settlements to residential school survivors using words like "healing" and "reconciliation" to describe its efforts, but refuses to officially apologize for its wrongs. The information about residential schools is public and available, but overlooked; we do nothing to change the stereotypes and presumptions aboriginal people encounter in mainstream Canadian society.

History is important because it has the potential to strengthen and change a cul ture for the better. If Canada is unwilling to acknowledge the past, how can we learn from our mistakes? National Aboriginal Day is a day for all Canadians to celebrate Aboriginal culture. In light of this celebration, perhaps it is time to also think about understanding and respecting Aboriginal history in our schools.

Aimee Arsenault

Merritt, B.C. (from Summerside)