Nov 8, 2017
The Mohawk School And Canada’s Legacy of Residential Schooling: An Open Letter To The Prime Minister
Right-Honourable Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
c/o Office of the Prime Minister
Prime Minister`s Office
80 Wellington St
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A2
Dear sir,
I am writing to you as a citizen, father, and educator with some thoughts about Truth and Reconciliation, and preserving the historical legacy of Canada’s residential schools, specifically the Mohawk School, which I believe should be a National Historic Site.
As part of the calls to action for educators we find in items 62 to 65 of the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation commission (Calls to Action), many staff in our school board (Peel District School Board) visited the Woodland Cultural Centre, which is the site of Canada’s first residential school, the Mohawk School. I was lucky enough to be with a group that attended in February.
At Woodland Cultural Centre, there is a small museum and meeting space on-site, but the main school building sits in disrepair. I believe the school should be fully restored as a Museum, a monument to our mistakes, and a reminder to all Canadians that our past is not pure, but we can do better in the future.
A presentation I saw by Dr. Nigaan Sinclair recently urged us to come up with our own vision for reconciliation, and mine includes acknowledgement, harmony, respect, understanding, and cooperation. For me, it’s learning about the past, and resolving, as a citizen, “never again.”
The late Gordon Downie spoke of a “100 year problem” he never knew existed, and many Canadians are just now awakening to the brutal historical truth of our treatment of our indigenous peoples, and the dehumanization and destruction of cultural that was the mission, and stated explicitly in nearly those terms, of the residential school system.
On the day I went to the Woodland Centre, I was lucky enough to hear a survivor from the Six Nations speak; my lasting memories are of the persistence of generational trauma, and the reasons why, no, they “can’t just get over it.” She went deep into her past, and channeled a pain that is still clearly so real to her, well over 40 years later. She spoke of how easily trauma turns to alcoholism, and how easily alcoholism flows down family trees. She spoke of consciously deciding to break the cycle of trauma, already passed to her children, when she met her first grandchild. Pain and trauma are also transmitted down our family trees, flowing easily from generation to generation. Many living were schooled at the Mohawk School. Many have spoken of their pain, but many have not. It’s been closed since 1970 but it’s legacy still remains.
We heard on our video tour of the school itself of objects hidden under floorboards, and behind walls, and that reminded me of nothing less than prison culture. The few objects that were allowed kept as precious contraband, totems of another life, a life outside those walls.
Students were given numbers, to replace their names, and punished for speaking their own language. I know you know this already, Mr. Trudeau, but human beings were given numbers, to replace their names, for the pure convenience of roll calls, and of course the more insidious mission of erasing their essential humanity. My name shapes me, and I shape it. Call me “137”, and would I still be “Matthew”? And you? If they told you that you had to be “89”, would you still be “Justin”, years later?
We heard of the delicious apple trees on the little farm outside the school, and students escaping through small windows to eat of the (literally) forbidden fruit. We heard also of the “mush” that was served at all meals, and gave the school its nickname, “the Mush Hole”.
We heard of darker things, things of which we are barely used to speaking about- sexual violence, and pharmaceutical testing.
I was emotionally fine until the video tour showed the corner of the school with a window that looked down the driveway. Kids used to look out, hoping to be picked up for Summer. Sadly, many were not. That is the saddest image I am left with in my mind. There are tears, sir. There are tears, and there is shame that is left after the tears. It’s what we do with our shame that matters the most.
Mr. Trudeau, I believe that the Woodland Cultural Centre should not have to rely on donations to preserve its, and our, past. The Mohawk School at Woodland Cultural Centre should be a National Historic Site, preserved ever after for the coming generations of Canadians. It can be a physical site of reconciliation, and a place of coming together, in a spirit of cultural cooperation and understanding. I believe this is a necessary step the federal government must take on the path to reconciliation.
Thank you, and with best regards,
Matthew Oldridge
