It seemed like one day I woke up and
every news channel, newspaper, and radio
station was zeroed in on the appalling
situation in the United States with
migrant children being imprisoned in
cages and separated from their parents.
There was a strong and visceral reaction
from people around the world against this
cruel and inhuman treatment of children
and infants. Especially when the Trump
administration started justifying their
gross policies, as if arriving in the United
States in a manner deemed illegal, means
you lose all your human rights.
To get a full picture of the government
of Canada’s lack of humanity when it
comes to children and youth, one need
look no further than its treatment of the
Indigenous peoples of these lands.
An important current example is the
“Justice for Our Stolen Children” camp
in Saskatchewan. Have you heard of it?
Surprisingly few outside of the province
have. While some mainstream media
have been following the camp, it has not
become an issue in Canada, the way that
Trump’s anti-migrant policies have. I am
writing this article just before Canada’s
151st birthday,
to remind
us of the
importance of
not only being
consistently
outraged by
Trump but also
to understand
and take action
against what is
happening in
Canada.
“Justice for
Our Stolen
Children”
camp
A protest camp
sprung up on
the legislature
building lawns
in Saskatchewan in February 2018, called
the “Justice for our Stolen Children”
camp. It was organized in response to the
“not guilty” verdicts against those accused
of killing two Indigenous youth, Colten
Boushie (Cree) and Tina Fontaine
(Anishinaabe). These “not guilty” verdicts
against two non-Indigenous perpetrators
were a gross miscarriage of justice. At
the same time, these “not guilty” verdicts
did not come
as a surprise
to many
Indigenous
people who
see that time,
and time
again Canada’s
justice system
is not designed
to provide
justice for their
communities.
Organizers
told the CBC,
“the camp is a
call for justice
for Indigenous
children who
have been lost
to protective
services, the justice system and violence.”
Many Indigenous and non-Indigenous
people have come together to tend the
sacred fire at the camp. Many Indigenous
people interviewed at the camp have
lost their children under suspicious
circumstances that they feel were not
properly investigated by authorities.
On June 18, while the camp had been in
place for 111 days, police raided the camp
and arrested several activists. One of the
main reasons for attacking the camp?
Clearing the way for upcoming “Canada
Day Celebrations”. Nevertheless, activists
would not surrender, and the camp was
set up again only a short while later. They
prepared and then held what they dubbed
a “pre-Canada” celebration. Artists,
musicians and community members
celebrated the legacy of Indigenous
peoples before the establishment of the
Canadian state.
Only days before Canada Day
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe spoke
with reporters, urging the police to bring
down the camp once again. He said, “It
isn’t lost on me that we are, in the southern
part of the province here on Treaty 4
territory. But it also isn’t lost on me that
we have laws here in the park so that it is
available for everyone’s enjoyment. [...] I
would encourage all to ensure we are in that park on
Canada Day.” Of course, Mr. Moe did not address
the fact that the park around the legislature is huge,
with an abundance of space for multiple activities
on the grounds. He also speaks as if activists and
Indigenous people are not included in “everyone.”
A meeting between government representatives and
the “Justice for our Stolen Children” camp has been
organized for July 2, it is because of this planned
meeting that Mr. Moe believes activists should wrap
up their camp, but why is a Canada Day celebration
more important to him than Indigenous youth and
their families?
As Soolee Papequash of the Piapot First Nation told
the CBC, she got involved in the camp because of
her son Brandon. He seemingly died of an accidental
overdose almost three years ago, but Papequash told
the CBC many things don’t add up. She has been
at the camp seeking justice, but also because it has
built a sense of caring and community. That said, the
camp has also faced racist attacks, the CBC reports,
“[Papequash] remembered how a passerby yelled in
the direction of the camp: “go home and look after
your children.” “I would Ð but he’s dead. I can’t go
home and look after him,” she said.”
'
The thoughts she shared to CBC about the
camp being dismantled were, “I don’t want
to be traded in for a beer garden. […] I want
answers.”
Indigenous Youth in Care: a system in
crisis or a system designed to fail?
In a Toronto Star article titled, “Separating
children from their parents, the Canadian
way,” journalist Gillian Steward connects
the injustice happening in the U.S. against
migrant families to Canada’s treatment of
Indigenous peoples. Steward writes, “in
2016 a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal
ruled the Canadian government was
discriminating against Indigenous children
because on-reserve communities are not afforded the same level of resources for their
families as other communities. As a consequence, more Indigenous children are likely
to end up separated from their families in foster care, group homes, or detention
facilities than non-Indigenous children. In Manitoba, for example, 10,000 of the
11,000 children in care are Indigenous. In Alberta about 70 percent of children in
foster care are Indigenous.”
In fact, there are over 165,000 Indigenous youth and children who have been affected
by the government’s discrimination. The person who helped to expose this injustice was
Cindy Blackstock, a Gitxsan professor and the President of the First Nations Child
and Family Caring Society. She took the previous Conservative government of Canada
to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, fighting for over ten years to bring attention
to the government’s unequal funding for on and off reserve child welfare services. Over
two years ago, she won her case. Unfortunately, the Trudeau Liberal government has
yet to budget the money necessary to rectify this ongoing inequality. This amounts to
discrimination by the government against 165,000 children based solely on their race.
According to a Chatelaine Magazine article, “The Stunning Number of First Nations
Kids in Foster Care Ð And the Activists Fighting Back” the full statistics are even
more revealing. They explain, “in 2016, First Nations, Metis and Inuit youth made
up 52 percent of foster children younger than 14 in Canada, despite representing just
eight percent of that age group,
according to Statistics Canada.
That’s four points higher than in
2011, reflecting the fact that more
Indigenous children have been
entering foster care than leaving
it. […] These national statistics,
however, only account for children
living in private households. If
they included those who live in
group homes, shelters or mental
health facilities, say advocates, the
total would be far higher.”
Some have begun to call our
current period “the Millennial
scoop,” which connects what
is happening today to what
happened in the 1960s during a
period known as the “60s scoop”,
which I will further explain. Using
the term “Millennial scoop,” also
forces us to think of this current
era as a system designed to divide
and fail Indigenous communities,
rather than just a system that is full
of well-intentioned mistakes.
Indigenous youth throughout
the history of Canada
As many in Canada are celebrating
the country’s 151st birthday, it is
worth reflecting on what the government
of Canada has done to Indigenous youth
since its very inception.
The government of the Dominion of
Canada lead by Prime Minister Sir John A.
Macdonald began instituting its policy of
separating Indigenous children and youth
from their families in the 1880s, through
its Indian Residential School system. In
1920, under the Indian Act (Canada’s
legal policy towards Indigenous people,
which has been modified numerous times
since 1867, but remains the problematic
and racist law of Canada today), every
Indigenous child in Canada was forced to
attend a residential school. This resulted
in thousands of Indigenous children
being ripped away from their parents
and communities by the government of
Canada. The final residential school to
close was the Gordon Indian Residential
School in Saskatchewan in 1996.
According to CBC news, 1931 is
considered the peak of the residential
school system, when about 80 schools
were open across Canada. From the
1880s to 1996, there were a total of 130
residentials schools throughout Canada.
CBC reports, “In all, about 150,000 First
Nation, Inuit and Métis children were
removed from their communities and
forced to attend the schools.”
Children and youth were placed in
residential schools, run jointly by the
government and various denominations
of the Christian church. The stated goal
of these schools was “to kill the Indian in
the child,” in other words these schools
were designed to perpetrate genocide
against Indigenous nations.
In 1951, the government of Canada
made changes to the Indian Act which
allowed for the eventual closure of the
residential schools. However, it was
a four-decade-long process. In 1955,
according to the Canadian Encyclopedia,
“The federal government expanded the
system of residential schools and hostels
to Inuit in the far north.” Additionally,
while the schools were closing in some
areas, the government came up with new
ways to push their racist assimilation
agenda. Throughout the 1960s, was the
period I mentioned before of the “60s
scoop” when Indigenous children were
taken from their families by government
social workers and placed in mostly nonIndigenous
foster or adoption homes.
Fighting for a Better Future
jaye simpson, a 23-year-old university
student, poet and artist lived
through the foster system.
Explaining to the CBC, “The
foster care system is working the
way it’s designed: as a machine to
destroy Indigeneity.” While I am
sure many people in Canada could
debate this topic for hours, the
historical and present situation in
Canada for Indigenous children
and youth demonstrates that
these issues are never accidental,
they are always by design.
Unfortunately, the government
of Canada has a vested interest
in destroying Indigenous nations
and Indigenous identities,
because capitalist development
in this country is built on stolen
land and broken treaties. For
Canada to honour its promises
± it must first implement the
Calls to Action of the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission
and adopt the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous peoples. However,
these are just the bare minimum
standard for equality, equity,
and respect of fundamental
rights - they are not even revolutionary
demands. However, implementing this
basic standard will cost the capitalist
government billions of dollars as well as
much of its economic and political power,
which they are not willing to give up. It
is also important to keep in mind, that
while billions of dollars sounds like a lot,
what has been stolen from Indigenous
nations over the past 151 years (and
four hundred years before that) is worth
infinitely more.
From residential schools to the 60s scoop,
to the present-day Millennial scoop, the
youth suicide epidemic and skyrocketing
youth incarceration rates - Canada 151st
birthday marks 151 years of attempting
to eradicate Indigenous nations,
through targeting their most vulnerable,
Indigenous children and youth. Despite
this ongoing attack, Indigenous nations
are fighting back; we see this in the “Justice
for Our Stolen Children” camp and many
other examples. As human-loving people,
we have a responsibility to become
stronger allies to Indigenous people who
are on the front lines fighting for a better
future for their children and youth, which
will inherently mean a better future for all
working and oppressed people in Canada.
Follow Tamara Hansen on Twitter: @THans01
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