Volume 20 Number 1
October 1980

Brian Titley

THE BRITISH North America Act of 1867, in effect the constitution of Canada, divided responsibilities between a federal government in Ottawa and provincial assemblies. Ottawa was given control of a number of areas which included postal services, customs, immigration, national defense, and Indian affairs. Responsibility for Indian affairs placed the federal government in an anomalous position, as it included the provision of educational services, which, for the non-Indian population, were to be provided by provincial authorities. It meant the creation of a segregated educational system. Indian children were to attend schools maintained on their reservations by the federal Indian Affairs Department having little contact with their non-Indian counterparts in provincial schools. In practice the federal authorities farmed out their educational responsibilities to Catholic and Protestant missionaries who were already working with the Indian population, but segregation from white society was nevertheless the result.

From Confederation (1867) until the end of the Second World War, Indian children were educated in isolation from other Canadians. The schooling provided aimed to 'Christianize' and 'civilize' them. In fact, the missionaries involved in this work favored boarding schools whenever possible as they avoided the "retarding and retrogressive influences of the home upon the pupils" (see Note 1). Indian intellectual potential was regarded as quite limited and both church and state officials maintained a condescending attitude towards native cultural traditions. The Indians were treated as conquered people and the Indian Affairs Department was characterized by the indifference and arrogance associated with colonial administrations (see Note 2).

The end of World War 11 heralded the beginning of a new era in Indian education. The death-knell of imperialism in Africa, the struggle of American blacks for equality, and the propaganda necessities of the Cold War all created a new climate of opinion. Racial differentiation became equated with discrimination, second-class citizenship, apartheid, and a long list of emotionally-charged cliches. The rise of egalitarian values and hostility to ethnic discrimination made it difficult for the federal government to justify the inferior services provided for Indians.

Post-war pressures, then, forced significant organizational and policy changes on the Indian Affairs Department. The direction for the new departure was formulated by a Special Joint Committee of the Senate and the House of Commons which met between 1946 and 1948. The Committee's principal recommendation was that in future, all Canadian children, regardless of ethnic origin, be educated together in provincial schools (see Note 3). The new policy had as its stated purpose the complete 'integration' of Indians into the mainstream of Canadian society. It is perhaps significant that the Indians themselves were effectively excluded from these deliberations on their future and, in fact, the representations made to the Committee by Indian organizations were completely at variance with its final recommendations. But the Indians had little political experience and were poorly organized and their protestations against the new policy were of little avail (see Note 4).

What the policy of integration meant in practice was that wherever possible Indian children would be enrolled in the predominantly white public schools operated by the provincial governments. Provincial education authorities concurred with this new departure and over the following two decades the gradual transfer of large numbers of native children from all-Indian schools to integrated ones took place. By March, 1968, the Minister of Indian Affairs was able to announce that over 50 per cent of Indian children of school age were attending schools operated by the provinces.

But what did this mean in human terms? The first major assessment of integrated education was carried out between 1964 and 1967 by a research group under Dr. H. Hawthorn of the University of British Columbia. A Survey of Contemporary Indians of Canada, its final report, dealt with many aspects of Indian life, but its findings on education are of particular interest. The report documented the alarmingly high drop-out rate of Indian students in school and showed that this rate intensified when Indians transferred to public schools. These students often dropped out because of social embarrassment, prejudice or being regarded as 'slow' or 'dumb' by their white peers. Many interviewed by the researchers felt that they would have completed matriculation had it been available in an all-Indian school. Yet the report argued that early integration would eliminate many of these problems of adjustment (see Note 5). So, while admitting that integration was beset by grave difficulties, an intensification of the process was suggested as a solution. In this respect, Hawthorn and his associates vindicated the main thrust of government policy.

Perhaps the major oversight of the Hawthorn report was its disregard of the attitudes of the various Indian organizations towards educational policy. While admitting that certain native associations opposed an education which turned their children into "second-class white people," the report expressed doubts that these associations truly represented the views of the individuals on the reserves. That this was a serious misunderstanding was made painfully clear to the government within a few years. When the policy of integration was first proposed by the federal government the Indians had reacted with suspicion. No clear explanation of what integration would mean for them had been forthcoming. Ideally, the process would have involved cultural modification by both whites and Indians leading to a new and more vital civilization in which the right of groups and individuals to be different was recognized. Yet the overwhelming numerical superiority of the white population meant that this was impossible on a national scale. Some semblance of integration might have been achieved in certain areas where white and Indian populations were fairly evenly balanced. But racist attitudes prevented such a development. Public school boards placed quotas on the number of Indians to be admitted to individual schools and classrooms to ensure that white students were Always in a majority. The Indian Affairs Department accepted these limits on the grounds that the 'integration' of some Indian children was better than none.

It became apparent that what the government was proposing was in fact a policy of assimilation in disguise. The white population had little to lose in encouraging ethnic mixture. Their numerical superiority and economic and political power almost eliminated the possibility of the erosion of white cultural values. The public schools, dedicated to fostering the white middle-class ethos, were unwilling to make any genuine concessions to Indian culture. Integrated education meant cultural modification on the part of the weaker and numerically inferior group - the Indians. They were to be assimilated.

As the implications of the government's program became clear, the Indian people were faced with a difficult dilemma: accept integrated education with its concomitant danger of cultural annihilation; or maintain distinctly Indian communities and schools at the risk of continued exclusion from the mainstream of Canadian social and economic life. Consensus on a decision of this magnitude could only be reached and communicated effectively to the government with the development of a comprehensive and representative Indian political organization. It was perhaps coincidental that the Indian people achieved this level of organization as the Canadian government took steps to bring the policy of integration to its logical conclusion.

This crowning achievement of Indian efforts to organize coincided with an important landmark in government policy. In June, 1969, Mr. Jean Cretien, Minister of Indian Affairs in the government led by Pierre Trudeau, presented to Parliament a Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy. More usually referred to as The White Paper on Indian Affairs, it contained proposals incorporating Trudeau's concept of a just and non-discriminatory society. The government was proposing that Indians forsake special or different status as the only way to full social, economic, and political participation in Canadian life. The Indian Affairs Department was to be gradually phased out and the federal government would relinquish its responsibility for providing services to Indians. Before its demise, the Department would negotiate with the provinces and conclude agreements under which Indians would participate in and be served by the full programs of the provinces and local systems, including education (see Note 7). The 'White Paper' was not proposing anything really new. It was fully consistent with the policy which had been operative for the previous 20 years. What the Trudeau government was suggesting was that the policy of integration of the Indians into the mainstream of Canadian life be brought to its logical conclusion within a few years.

Some Indian leaders had been consulted prior to the formulation of the 'White Paper' but, as in 1948, their viewpoint was ignored. They now joined in a nationwide protest against what they considered a betrayal. The National Indian Brotherhood, representing Indians in all provinces and territories, denounced the government policy as "cultural genocide" and "destruction of a nation of people by legislation." The NIB argued that Cretien was ignoring previous recognition by the federal authorities that Indians had aboriginal, residual, and statutory rights which made them more than ordinary Canadians (see Note 8). It was made clear to the government that its assimilationist policies were unacceptable and that the Indian people were opting for a special status within Canadian society to ensure the survival of their cultural identity.

Indian opposition to the implementation of the 'White Paper' was organized and led by Harold Cardinal, the young president of the Indian Association of Alberta. His hastily-written book, The Unjust Society, which went to press in late 1969, condemned government policy as "a thinly disguised program of extermination through assimilation." Cardinal stressed the importance of the Indians' treaty and aboriginal rights and demanded that his people be given full control over the education of their children (see Note 9).

Between June 1970 and August 1972 Indian organizations across the country presented position papers to the government outlining their response to the 'White Paper.' Considerable unanimity was expressed in these papers with the themes first articulated by Cardinal reoccurring consistently. Education was seen as the primary concern and a common element in the papers was the feeling that the white man's school was not making a genuine attempt to recognize and accommodate the real interests and needs of Indian children - that only by returning to a reserve-based school could the Indian child retain his culture and take pride in his race. The issues of curriculum irrelevance and cultural alienation came out clearly as did the allegations of prejudice against the Indian child and the insensitivity and lack of cultural awareness of the non-Indian school teacher. Indian parents were anxious for the education of their children, but were concerned at the price they were obliged to pay in the loss of culture, language and self-respect. Educational success and cultural survival could only be achieved through an Indian-controlled schooling (see Note 10).

In the latter part of 1972 a working committee of the National Indian Brotherhood prepared a policy paper which incorporated the main ideas of the papers already submitted to the government. Entitled Indian Control of Indian Education, it was presented to Minister Cretien in December, 1972. The essence of the paper, according to NIB President George Manuel, lay in the following paragraphs:

All of this agitation was not without effect. Even before the formulation of the NIB position paper some Canadian public figures had begun to express doubts about government policy. A report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Indian Affairs in June, 1971, had acknowledged the need for greater participation by Indian organizations in drawing up policy and suggested a moratorium on the integration of schools unless Indian parents specifically requested it (see Note 13). The media and public opinion were generally sympathetic to the Indian cause and of course opposition politicians capitalized on the government's embarrassment whenever possible. Some concessions to the Indian position became a political necessity. In fact, a complete capitulation took place. When presenting Indian Control of Indian Education to the government, the Indian leaders were assured by Mr. Cretien that future government policy would be in complete accord with that drawn up by the NIB.

This was a major triumph for Indian political action. It officially brought to an end the assimilationist policies of the previous 20 years and dealt a final blow to the paternalism and high-handedness which had so often characterized government action. A new era of Indian autonomy in the operation of their own affairs was heralded- Significant decision-making authority was to be transferred to Indian leaders while the Department of Indian Affairs would continue in existence but with a consultative and funding role. What is meant in practice was that whenever an Indian band (the unit at reserve level) wished to operate its own school, funds would be provided by the federal government to the reserve council which would then be empowered to hire its own teachers, modify the curriculum to suit its own needs and generally administer the school as would a school board.

Perhaps the most successful experiment on these lines to date has been at Keheewin reserve near St. Paul, Alberta. Here the community not only accepted responsibility for its own educational needs but commissioned a new school building by an Indian architect. A unique building comprised of circles and segments of circles, it is said to represent elements in traditional Plains Indian design. Of far greater significance has been the total community input in the educational program. The reserve council recognized that there were many individuals on the reserve who, though not qualified as teachers, could nevertheless contribute enormously to the educational development of the children through their knowledge of Indian folklore, art and traditional skills. These individuals were integrated into the school program from the start, giving a unique Indian dimension to the curriculum. Community involvement and responsibility also meant that feelings of alienation from the school as the white man's institution have not been present and the high attendance figures to date give cause for considerable optimism in the future.

The historical experience of Canada's Indians resembles in many ways that of colonized peoples on other continents. Like the aboriginal populations of Africa and Asia, they were subjected not only to conquest by Europeans, but also to deliberate efforts at cultural change, most often carried out in schools. Asians and Africans have by now, of course, thrown off the yoke of conquest. While this has not been possible in the case of Canadian Indians, and for obvious demographic reasons, they have nevertheless reasserted their claim to special status within the national political framework.

The most important factor in this renewal has been the emergence of Indian leaders armed with the skills provided by formal education and yet retaining a strong sense of their unique "Indianness." As these leaders developed organizational abilities, native associations appeared that became effective in opposing assimilationist policies. Their demands, cultural integrity and control of their own affairs, were not unlike the aspirations of nationalist movements in Africa and Asia. While the Indians could not hope to achieve political independence as other colonized peoples had done, they did gain considerable autonomy in that vital aspect of life, the education of their children.

Attempts to educate Indian children in the value system of the dominant society have generally met with failure. Indian organizations, in taking control of education, hope to educate their children in a system which stresses Indian values and culture. The results to date have been encouraging and a study conducted in Northwestern Ontario suggests a possible reason:

A strong cultural identity seems to be the key to the future for the Canadian Indian.

1 Department of Indian Affairs, Annual Report (1907), xxxiii.

2 Department of Indian Affairs, Annual Report (1907), p. 7, AnnualReport (1909), pp. 19-20.

3. Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence of the Special Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons to Examine the Indian Act, 1946-1948, p. 186.

4. House of Commons Debates (Canadian Hansard), March, 1951.

5. H.B. Hawthorn (Ed.), A Survey of the Contemporary Indians of Canada, Vol. 11 (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1967).

6. W.I.C. Wuttunee, Ruffled Feathers (Calgary: Bell, 1971).

7. Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1969). '

8. The Globe and Mail (Toronto), 27 June 1969.

9. Harold Cardinal, The Unjust Society (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1969), p. 64.

10. Some examples of these papers are:

Manitoba Indian Brotherhood, Wahbung: Our Tomorrows (Winnipeg, 1971).

Indian Association of Alberta, Citizens Plus (Edmonton, 1970).

Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, A Declaration of Indian Rights (Vancouver, 1970).

Union of Ontario Indians, Education of the Native Peoples of Ontario (Toronto, 1971).

11. National Indian Brotherhood, Indian Control of Indian Education (Ottawa, 1972), p. 7.

12. Ibid., p. 2.

13. The Fifth Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Indian Affairs and Northern Development (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1971), 27:14.

14. J. P. Kelly, Educational Expectations: A Study for Grand Council Treaty No. 3. (April, 1972).

E. Brian Titley is a lecturer in the Department of Educational Foundations at the University of Alberta, Edmonton. He received the B.A. degree and the Higher Diploma in Education from the National University of Ireland; the B.Ed. and M.Ed. degrees from the University of Manitoba, and the Ph.D. from the University of Alberta. He was a high school teacher in Manitoba and served for three years as Elementary School Principal with the Department of Indian Affairs, Lejac School, Fraser Lake, B.C.