This essay is completely accurate. The shocking thing is that the CBC has all of this information, but still continues to publish the falsehood that “150,000 were forced to attend”. Murray Sinclair told the world years ago that “for seven generations nearly every indigenous child was forced to attend a residential school”. This claim was and is completely false, but the CBC is still publishing that falsehood.
And the more outlandish and pitiful a personal story that a former student can dream up, the more money can be obtained in compensation from a prostrate Federal government. It is actually showing up in TV shows now. Vis the school electric chair in the Amazon Prime show Three Pines. An actual representation of a US prison style "ole Sparky", no less. Pretty crafty nuns, if you ask me! Also, see the Paramount plus show "1923" with evil black robed priests on horseback hunting down runaway native children.
There was a time when I supported "Friends of CBC" because I thought C B C was the only voice within the country that covered all of our population. I sure don't think that any more. I see it as the propaganda arm of the Liberal Government. Recently I watched an interview between Jody Raybould and Ian Hanomansing discussing the 'mass graves' story. For half an hour they repeated diatribes they knew very well were bald faced lies. I contacted CBC asking for a retraction....I am still waiting for a reply.
Thank you,Ms.Green for your work. Going through some of these records on indiandayschool.org. I finally found mention of my father & his two brothers. I'm looking for a better understanding of his life & these records certainly do show prevailing attitudes of those times. Thank you again and my search goes on....
I can't speak for B C but I can tell you about one Residential School in Ontario. I was in high school in the early 50s and some of the more advanced IRS students attended classes in the public high school. I became friends with several IRS students......several told me that the IRS was the best place they had ever lived. Some of them never went 'home' for the holidays ....they stayed in town to play hockey. I see through all the BS that is generated about IRS abuse etc. It is all about money.
When I listen to Murray Sinclair I wish that lies caused pain. If there was a prize for Canada's chief liar he would win hands down. The grief he caused Lynn Beyak is criminal. Sinclair is still considered by many Canadian Indians as an 'Elder' and someone who should be listened to. Yes, listened to if lies keep money flowing into your pocket.
BC's Bill Wilson (father of Jody) says that the reason he and his siblings weren’t "forced" to attend residential school was that "[his] dad had money, and [his] mom had strength and culture.” They had “the power of money” and enough influence to “intimidate people [in their white village of Comox] into granting my brothers and sisters the right to go to school.”
Note that Wilson ALSO makes the claim that “we were the first Indian family in the public school system in British Columbia.” That would have been in the 1940s and 1950s; Bill was born about 1943, but had two older siblings (and one older half sister), so I think they were contemporaries with the Gottfriedson children. Robert Gottfriedson (mentioned here in Nina's article, and who is likely the oldest in his family) was born in 1939.
Bill states in a 2023 Global News interview (link below) that if he HAD gone to residential school, he “probably wouldn’t be talking to you today. I wasn’t put through that intimidation as a child.” Ironically enough, the other person featured in the video is Wilson’s wife Bev Sellars, who of course DID attend residential school (and a public high school) and wrote a memoir about it, and she’s still here, still talking.
Wilson is contrite that he “somehow missed the lesson of residential school. I missed it because I didn’t have to go, and because of my privileged position, I tended to ignore it.” He says he drove some of his nieces and nephews to school at the Port Alberni IRS and never really thought much about it. His older half-sister Caroline had attended residential school at Alert Bay and later worked at the Port Alberni IRS while her own children were students there.
This essay is completely accurate. The shocking thing is that the CBC has all of this information, but still continues to publish the falsehood that “150,000 were forced to attend”. Murray Sinclair told the world years ago that “for seven generations nearly every indigenous child was forced to attend a residential school”. This claim was and is completely false, but the CBC is still publishing that falsehood.
I guess lying is an honourable trait these days as Murray Sinclair and the CBC can both leave legacies based on prevarication of the truth!
And the more outlandish and pitiful a personal story that a former student can dream up, the more money can be obtained in compensation from a prostrate Federal government. It is actually showing up in TV shows now. Vis the school electric chair in the Amazon Prime show Three Pines. An actual representation of a US prison style "ole Sparky", no less. Pretty crafty nuns, if you ask me! Also, see the Paramount plus show "1923" with evil black robed priests on horseback hunting down runaway native children.
There was a time when I supported "Friends of CBC" because I thought C B C was the only voice within the country that covered all of our population. I sure don't think that any more. I see it as the propaganda arm of the Liberal Government. Recently I watched an interview between Jody Raybould and Ian Hanomansing discussing the 'mass graves' story. For half an hour they repeated diatribes they knew very well were bald faced lies. I contacted CBC asking for a retraction....I am still waiting for a reply.
Thank you,Ms.Green for your work. Going through some of these records on indiandayschool.org. I finally found mention of my father & his two brothers. I'm looking for a better understanding of his life & these records certainly do show prevailing attitudes of those times. Thank you again and my search goes on....
I can't speak for B C but I can tell you about one Residential School in Ontario. I was in high school in the early 50s and some of the more advanced IRS students attended classes in the public high school. I became friends with several IRS students......several told me that the IRS was the best place they had ever lived. Some of them never went 'home' for the holidays ....they stayed in town to play hockey. I see through all the BS that is generated about IRS abuse etc. It is all about money.
When I listen to Murray Sinclair I wish that lies caused pain. If there was a prize for Canada's chief liar he would win hands down. The grief he caused Lynn Beyak is criminal. Sinclair is still considered by many Canadian Indians as an 'Elder' and someone who should be listened to. Yes, listened to if lies keep money flowing into your pocket.
BC's Bill Wilson (father of Jody) says that the reason he and his siblings weren’t "forced" to attend residential school was that "[his] dad had money, and [his] mom had strength and culture.” They had “the power of money” and enough influence to “intimidate people [in their white village of Comox] into granting my brothers and sisters the right to go to school.”
Note that Wilson ALSO makes the claim that “we were the first Indian family in the public school system in British Columbia.” That would have been in the 1940s and 1950s; Bill was born about 1943, but had two older siblings (and one older half sister), so I think they were contemporaries with the Gottfriedson children. Robert Gottfriedson (mentioned here in Nina's article, and who is likely the oldest in his family) was born in 1939.
Bill states in a 2023 Global News interview (link below) that if he HAD gone to residential school, he “probably wouldn’t be talking to you today. I wasn’t put through that intimidation as a child.” Ironically enough, the other person featured in the video is Wilson’s wife Bev Sellars, who of course DID attend residential school (and a public high school) and wrote a memoir about it, and she’s still here, still talking.
Wilson is contrite that he “somehow missed the lesson of residential school. I missed it because I didn’t have to go, and because of my privileged position, I tended to ignore it.” He says he drove some of his nieces and nephews to school at the Port Alberni IRS and never really thought much about it. His older half-sister Caroline had attended residential school at Alert Bay and later worked at the Port Alberni IRS while her own children were students there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjEDCSsjx9w March 15, 2023. Discussion of residential schools starts at 21:30. The print article, with some additional info on Bill's life, is here: https://globalnews.ca/news/9552104/bill-wilson-legacy-fight-indigenous-rights-40-years-negotiating-constitutional-change/