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Thursday, July 31, 2008

NEWHOOK: Harper's apology is too little, too late

posted by BOFarrell at 9h34

by Marla Newhook

I was born in a Cree community in Moose Factory, Ont., a tiny island nestled in the mouth of the Moose River that streams into James Bay.
We were nine people living in a tiny house with an outhouse out back. At that time, almost 40 years ago, we relied on walking, boating or snowmobile to get around.
In the spring during breakup, the expanse of ice that separated Moose Factory from the mainland, Moosonee, would creak and groan for weeks before the ice floes finally broke apart and slowly drifted out to James Bay. It was a dangerous time of the year because if you were caught on the ice when it decided to shift, you would certainly be crushed.
It was also a much-welcomed season because it meant that we kids could soon resume playing along the shore, collecting fossils and swimming among the reeds in the murky water. If we were lucky, someone would load us onto a boat and take us out to the soft, white sandbanks in the middle of the river that were exposed during low tide.
Sometimes, when I smell the acrid scent of a crackling fire, I can remember sitting on a fragrant bed of freshly cut spruce boughs in the teepees, watching elderly Cree women baking homemade bannock over an open fire.
My sparse but nostalgic memories of Moose Factory are probably much different from those of my grandmother who spent much of her adolescence in a residential school.
In a historic moment on June 12, Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized to the native community for the government’s treatment of Canadian aboriginals. In addition to being separated from their families, stripped of their culture and language, they were physically, psychologically and oftentimes sexually abused.
Although the official apology has been met with mixed reaction from the native community, the statement of accountability means that the healing of a nation can finally begin for people like my grandmother.
The affects of the residential school are deep and far-reaching. Now in her 80s, her memories and experiences of that time is locked away deep in her psyche only to emerge in times of distress and anxiety.
The Cree culture and language will end with her as well as the time-honoured tradition of creating beautiful moose-hide crafts like moccasins and mukluks.
The millions of dollars paid out to former students in compensation is, as they say, too little, too late.
Marla Newhook is a journalist
and the mother of two.
She currently works part time at West Island Citizen Advocacy as their publicity representative.