Day-school agreement a step towards justice By: Niigaan Sinclair Posted: 7:00 PM CST Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018

Thirty years is a big price.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/12/2018 (1963 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Thirty years is a big price.

“It’s been a very tough journey and a long time for justice for our people,” Peguis First Nation member Ray Mason told me on the phone. “I feel tired but proud.”

On Dec. 5, the federal government announced it has reached an agreement-in-principle with former students of Indian day schools. The agreement included funds for legal fees, $200 million for healing, wellness, language, culture, and commemoration, and a to-be-determined amount of compensation for individual attendees.

Bill Redekop / Winnipeg Free Press Files
Ray Mason of Peguis First Nation, an ex-boxer and former residential school student, in front of Peguis Central School in 2011. — Bill Redekop / Winnipeg Free Press Files Ray Mason of Peguis First Nation, an ex-boxer and former residential school student, in front of Peguis Central School in 2011.

From the 1920s onwards, approximately 200,000 Indigenous students were legally forced to attend more then 700 government-funded day schools legislated by the Indian Act. Any parents who refused were jailed, and their children taken.

And, just like residential schools, day-school survivors reported similar experiences of neglect, marginalization and, in some cases, physical, sexual and psychological abuse. This led to generational experiences of trauma, stress, and cultural loss including identity and language.

Mason experienced physical and sexual abuse from staff and students.

“Abuse was rampant,” Mason told the Free Press in 2011. “People threatened you, saying if you told anyone, you’d never see your parents again, you’d never go home, you’d never get out alive.”

Mason ran away three times, only to be captured and returned. Daily punishments included cleaning the floor with a toothbrush.

Mason remembers having his tongue held when he would speak his language. He also remembers the strap.

“After a few hits it didn’t hurt anymore,” he said with a smile. “It was just hot.”

Mason was like many survivors who attended residential schools in Birtle, Portage La Prairie, and Dauphin but began his schooling at a day school in Peguis First Nation. While receiving compensation for part of his time, and none from Dauphin due to poor records, he has received no recognition nor compensation for his time at a day school in Peguis.

Yet, he experienced abuse and violence there too.

When the Indian Residential School Settlement was forged in 2005 with the federal government, day-school survivors were omitted. The federal government claimed that these schools were operated differently and not a part of the 139 schools the agreement recognized.

For years, thousands of day-school survivors demonstrated and received support from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which said in its final report that First Nations and Métis day-school students must receive recognition and compensation.

In 2018, day-school attendees launched a $15 billion class action lawsuit against the federal government, leading to last week’s agreement-in-principle.

“It’s not everything we wanted,” Mason told me, “but it’s a step in the right direction.”

It’s been one of many steps for Mason.

He’s been there since the beginning.

In 1988, Mason and a handful of other former residential school students in Winnipeg met to discuss their experiences. Many talked about the abuse they had each experienced while in a system that tried to strip away their parents, language and culture. Most grew up not only with a substandard education but a sense of shame that inhibited their very lives.

They called themselves the Manitoba Indian Residential School Survivor Society.

Over the years, some entered the justice system. Some self-medicated with alcohol or drugs. Some struggled with suicidal feelings and issues with parenting. Some just kept their Indigenous identity secret or tried to erase it completely.

All struggled on with their families and communities.

They were survivors.

For years, Mason struggled with alcohol and being a good father. It took a long time for him to heal, build a business and a career, and forge a meaningful relationship with his son Kyle, the founder of the North End Family Centre in Winnipeg.

But, after years of work alongside fellow residential school survivors, Mason began to work on rallying Indigenous organizations like the Assembly of First Nations to demand residential school survivors be compensated. He drove thousands of miles to hundreds of reserves, went to “probably a thousand” meetings, and was an endless fixture on the Indigenous political scene.

In 2000, the Manitoba Indian Residential School Survivor Society was re-named Spirit Wind Inc. and continued to demand day-school survivors be recognized – even after the TRC completed its work in 2005.

In 2009, Spirit Wind began the process of the class action lawsuit and, on Dec. 5, 30 years of commitment, dedication, and work resulted in a compensation package for an estimated 120,000-140,000 living survivors.

Unfortunately, Métis and First Nations students who attended day schools off reserve (such as in Teulon, Cranberry Portage and several hundred others) may not be included as Canada is claiming that they did not have jurisdiction over those schools.

The work continues.

“It’s not complete,” Mason added. “I’m not giving up the fight for justice.”

The price for Canada’s past violence in education is mind-boggling. By the end of 2018 over 80,000 residential school survivors have received over $5 billion in compensation, with some cases still outstanding.

Now, there are currently one-third more day-school survivors still alive, with Canada expected to pay an amount probably around $8 billion in individual compensation.

The price for the legacies of residential schools and day schools is even more. It’s seen in everyday society, our relationships, and every part of Canadian life.

It’s a price we all pay to become a society we can be proud of.

No price can replace 30 years though.

Or a language.