Institutions and Residential Schools

I saw a presentation from a self-advocacy group at the Saskatchewan Association for Community Living yesterday. In their presentation, they showed clips of what life was like in institutions for people with physical and cognitive disabilities. I was struck by how similar pictures from these institutions and residential schools were.

The children who were placed in these institutions were separated from their families, deprived of effective touch and affection simply because they were considered to be less intelligent and less valuable in society than other children. The pain that was caused in these institutions is not something that is being addressed through reconciliation because these efforts are still being excused as the right thing to do. It is important to work towards an understanding of how these actions were neither right nor good.



This video shows the prevalent attitudes that allowed for these institutions to be put in place, as well as how important it was for those who fought against these attitudes to forge their own path. I wonder how life was changed for First Nations children who were not a part of any residential schools. Although they may not have had the same level of access to education, they were not deprived of access to their families and their culture. They were able to retain their sense of self worth. It is very similar for the individuals who were not placed in institutions by their families, but kept in home in a loving environment.

The following report looks at the specific conditions that were a part of the lives of many individuals with disabilities. There are many parallels between these living conditions and that of residential schools. I was interested to find out that the Kennedy family was involved in improving the conditions of these institutions. This was because they had a personal stake in ensuring that institutions were respectable and welcoming places because their sister, Rose Kennedy was sent to an institution because of mental illness and then a botched lobotomy. In this case, a powerful family was involved in creating change. Parents of the students in residential schools did not wield the same level of power as the Kennedy's. It must have been terribly frustrating for parents to not have their concerns addressed because of their lack of education and status.

www.mncdd.org/parallels2/pdf/Xmas-Purgatory.pdf

As personal experiences are now being shared about residential schools, this might allow for common ground to be found between those who were sent to residential schools and those who were condemned to live in institutions. This would be a powerful bond to empower both parties to share the past in order to form a better future.