When I was seventeen, I spent the summer working at a clothing shop on St-Catherine Street near Place-Des-Arts, I believe it was the first time it ever came to my attention that there existed a kind of legal gray zone between Canadians and First Nations.
A client handed me her I.D. card with her purchases one afternoon, and said she would not be paying the taxes because of her native status. In my rebellious young heart I rejoiced at the thought of someone finally sticking it to the ?Tax man? (and my employers ? somehow I felt our struggles were linked).
But like most Canadians, (I dare here assume) I didn?t know much about First Nations? place in our country, nor could I put myself in the shoes of a young person growing up in a reserve. The little I knew about the troubles facing indigenous communities in Quebec came from news reports on the Oka Crisis, in the late 80?s.
In fact, it wasn?t until I took a class in Conflict & Resolution at Concordia University that I was confronted with the evidence that for the last 100 years native children had been institutionalized in residential schools by the Federal Government, in an effort to assimilate them into the Canadian cultural melting pot. In that time span, over 150, 000 youths would pass through a system that stripped them of their social autonomy, broke up families and alienated children from a way of life and traditions that were already largely marginalized from the rest of society.
I was thus very happy to find Indian Road among the films submitted in our dossier on JHR?s DocFest (which is currently taking submissions for it?s 2010 edition ? deadline June 1st). 
I was touched by the film?s personal take on Audrey Redman?s, a residential school survivor, lengthy struggle for respect and closure.
It was 1957 when Redman was placed in St-Paul?s residential school, at the tender age of six. She spent the rest of her childhood years as a ward of the State; left much to her own devices under the stern eye of religious moralists, who were unqualified to provide the kind of nurturing environment that helps children thrive later in life. She recalls the public humiliation and general disorientation she experienced as a child, the malignant name-calling; ?Sauvage!? Several of Redman?s loved ones passed away as a result of the mistreatment and poor health that have been generally acknowledged to be a product of the residential school system.
?I think about people in Canada who come here and make their living.
They work hard. And maybe they?ve ran away from a land where they lost everything?
It?s happened to us here ? We?ve lost everything.?
While most residential schools were closed in the late 60?s, the last federally-run institution was shut down in Saskatchewan as late as 1996.
In the 1980?s former students began publicly disclosing the sexual and physical trauma they had been subjected to; which eventually led to, in 2007, the largest class action settlement in Canadian history. Still, the legacies endemic of the residential school system continue to affect and sustain disparities within indigenous communities.
?I feel like what is being done is not being done for our benefit. They want closure?Well, we?re still crying.?
In a panel discussion commemorating the 20 years since the Oka crisis hosted yesterday at Concordia University, a twenty-year-old activist from Six Nations Turtle Island deplored the lack of follow-up given to these kinds of events in the media and mainstream culture.
?They don?t teach Oka in schools. [?] Since it happened, that?s been my life. We still have that fight in us. I haven?t seen much change in Canada?s mindset.?
I can only hope that the Truth and Reconciliation initiated by the Federal Government which is to take place over the next 5 years will muster so good will in helping Canada come to terms with a ghastly past and educated the masses in hopes that, although the notion that one can sure for loss of culture is not proven, we can prevent victims from feeling like they are an embarrassment being swept under our constitutional rug.
If you would like to know more about the residential schools? legacy, please redirect your browsers to the Shingwauk Project and be ready to expand your cultural horizons, Canada. Happy trails.
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