Canadian Identity And Canada's Indian Residential School Apology By Jason Stabler

In Jason Stabler’s article Canadian Identity and Canada’s Indian Residential School Apology he argues that true reconciliation can only be accomplished if Canadians realize the extent of the wrongs done to Indigenous people and come to the terms with the cruelty and illegality of the early settlers. Stabler discusses how Canadians believe in the country’s lawfulness despite its questionable methods of obtaining land. According to Stabler, benevolence, another important part of Canadian Identity, as Canadian’s believe settlers treated the Indigenous people humanely whereas it very much misrepresents the “cultural genocide” that occurred. Stabler maintains that these are enormous obstacles in the way of reconciliation between Canada and Indigenous

The schools were created by the government, and run by the church, in the hope that could “civilize” the Indigenous children and convert them to Christianity. The strategies used to achieve this were often strict and abusive. While in school – for up 10 months of the year – the children were prohibited from speaking their own language and observing their own customs. They were instead forced to participate in church rituals, dress in more mainstream-white society clothing and were punished physically and emotionally if they refused. Despite being promoted by the government, the schools received poor funding, which resulted in a lacking education, insufficient accommodations and often, the most basic needs – food and clothing for example - were neglected. Much of these resulted in disease and

He summarizes the history of the trauma suffered by the Indigenous people in a way that paints them sympathetically and makes his opinion on the topic clear. Stabler stays clear on this – that the Indigenous people have been severely wronged and the land early Canadian settlers lived was stolen from them. His arguments are distinct and decisive. The purposeful organization of the article makes it very easy to follow, and each topic flows into the next well. He begins with the history of the Indian Residential Schools, with the apology following, and then moves onto the reasons why the apology is inauthentic and what obstacles lay in the way of real