DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 062 039 RC 006 064

AUTFOR Sim R. Alex

TITLE The Education of Indians in Ontario: A Report of the

Provincial Committee on Aims ald Objectives of

Education in the Schools of Onta: io. A Strathmere

Study,

INSTITUTION Ontario

PUB DATE Apr 67

NOTE 94p..

EDRS PRICE MF-$0465 nC-$3.29

DESCRIPTORS Acculturation; *American Indians; Attitudes; Civil

Rights; *Cultural Differences; Cultural Factors;

Curriculum Planning; *Educational Disadvantagement;*Educational Policy; Government Role; Minority Role;

Opinions; School integration; *Social Discrimination;

Tables (Data); Textbook Bias

IDENTIFIERS Canada

ABSTRACTIn this 3-month study of aims and objectives for

educating Canadian Indians in the Ontario schools, data were

collected largely via secondary sources, field observation, andinterviewing. It was found that the Ontario government has no policy

directed specifically for Indian students: however, the federal

government does have policies developed for registered TreatyIndians,.In this report, these policies are described along with

.educatioul objectives and recommendations to provide for equality,

aCcommodationt and autonomy for Ontario's Indian children (LS)

U$. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH.EDUCATION & WELFAREOFFICE OF EDUCATION

THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO-DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROMTHE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIG-INATING IT. POINTS OF VIEW OR ()PIN-

Cr%IONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILYREPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDO=

te1CATION POSITION OR POLICY

CDec.)

T H E EDUCATION OF INDIANSCD

I_N ONTARI 0U-i

FILMED FROM BEST AVAILABLE COPY

BY

R. ALEX SIM

A Report to the Provincial Committee on Aims and

Objectives of Education in the Schools of Ontario

North GoweX',

,ECEIVED

ApR 25 1972LiJ

j. C.

April

Ontario 1967

Part I: Social Fa- Aseump ions 1

1. Problems and Panac

3.

2

A Minority Not Like the Rest 10

Educational Policies Found Wanting 17

Integration and A similation

Part II: Principles and Recommendations

5. Equality

6. Accommodation

7 AUtonomy

Part III: Supporting Documents_

23

61

Background Information about 62this Study

97 What is an Indian 68

10. The Textbook Question 72

11. Numbers and Attributes 78

12. Methodology and Acknowledgements 87

13. Suggestions for Further Research 90

14. Bibliography 98

PART I: SOCIAL FACTA N

A S S U N PTIONS

1. PROBLEMS AND PANACEAS

"Most of the one hundred thousand Indians ofthis province are living in dire poverty. A highpercentage are unemployed and are educationally andsocially unequipped to obtain and hold a job. Littlereal effort has been made to help the Indians developnow indostries to replace the declining industry ofhunting and trapping. It has been easier to giverelief than to develop industries,"

The Royal Bank of Canada, in its Monthly Letter(Febru ry,_ 1966) quotes with agreement this statementfrom a 1964 brief of the Ontario Division of the Indian-Eskimo Association of Canada. Yet the conditionsreferred to here, only now beginning to be understoodand appreciated, persist in spite of millions of dollarsexpenditure intended to alleviate distrss and changethings for better.

"A great opportunity brilliantly di5841sed asan insoluble problem". This is how John W. Gardnercharacterized ['is flew task when he entered the JohnsonAdministration as Secretary of Health, Education andWelfare. He might have been referring to the Indianquestion in North America, or in Ontario, or in Kenoraer in Cornwall) or in Toronto. Certainly there is aproblem, as we shall soon see. But whose problem isit? Those who see that Indians are not motivated towork, to be thrtftyl to attend school, apparently seeit as an Indian problem,

Indian spokesmen see it quite differently.There is the fatalistic lament of an old Indian whosaid "Once we Were men". Things are not what theywere and he does not say how or Why, There are otherswho see, as one Indian writer put it, "the Indianas an anonymous face in the crowd, invisible, alienatedfrom the main stream of our Utopian Canadian society...Yet these are the men who once had a .way of life,language, culture/ religion- and a sense of values whichwere very unique, -We Can.-never imagine what civilization.,what cUlture, what cities and towera might have been. Allthis was squeezed out. of 'the Indian nation in the- sameway juice is squeezed out of ..Etra orangie...Now.you havenamed the .residue. the Indian problem,..-and you wonder.what .tp..do with it." (Laval1e4; 1967.)

In her address,- Mrs,---Lavalle left-little. doubtthat there was a problem, that-the white man had-createdit, but _both sides must work at .it now.- There-Are

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still other Indians who, perhaps unconsciously, usepassive resistance to efforts at amelioration. Theygo limp when a new policy is announced, for they knowin advance it has a trick behind it, not visible tothe Indians' eye, but there, nevertheless. One Indianleader described this point of view:

"They believe -diat if the white man wereto give North America back to the Indianwith all its real estate just as it stands,there would still be a gYeat debt to bepaid."

yot often would the case be stated so stronglyin public and in this case the speaker was revealinghow others felt. He, himself,.did not hold theseextreme views) indeed there is not a coherent Indianposition, a r..-int of view. There is no Indian party,no strong uni(in binding many disparate points of viewinto a single voice. These Indians have no Ghandi, orNehru. Relatively.few in number, with greatregional and language differences, they lack the resourcesto create a strong organization. The result is thatbuilding any-solid combination of forces within theIndian community is slow and arduous.

Under these conditions the Indian people areparticularly vulnerable to two kinds of "help". First,there is the enveloping and stultifying effects ofgovernmental support, over which their control islimited. Second, there are the local messiahs, and littlesects and cults that spring up here and there, eachoffering panacea to dependency, alcoholism, poverty.Whatever the evil, the messiah will attack it. For somethe schools cause the problem; for others moving to thecity is bad; for others failure to leave the reserveis responsible for ill effects4 each forming a littlegroup, each making Promises and raising hopes. Allthe while, in spite of government spending, in spiteof messiahs, in spite of research, and new proposals,the problems persist. What then is the solution?

One joins the problem-solving chorus withhesitation. It is particularly sobering, after havingstudied the proposals others have made, to agree thatthey are sensible enough. Indeed the work that is goingahead now to ameliorate the situation is what one wouldprOpose, it'it were not already being done. Yet the

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good ideaL, the new innovations are often splendid onpaper, but put forward too late, too timidly, triedonce for the sake of publicity then dropped beforethe results could be tested. In short, the good ideasare not applied with a flare. They do not catchanyone's attention. Their failure, when one thinksof the millions spent, is puzzling. WaS somethingforgotten in the elaborate programme? Pr-rhaps it isa small but essential item (such as genuine participationby Indians in the planning). The big, more obvious andmore costly ingredients have all been provided for. Ifwe had been baking a cake we would say that the bakingpowder has been forgotten, for the cake is as flat as aplate.

The conventional solution to the Indiansituation, the popular panacea, is education, but wesee little evidence that the approaches now in voguewill bring about significant changes soon enough to beuseful. A new approach is needed. It is for-Tas newapproach, or at very least an approach to an approach,that we seek in this study. If the small singleingredient, the haking powder, can be identified, thenthe larger items will be found, and will fit into place.

What is being done now or what is on thedrawing boards, should go on. But the way it is doneshould change. The relationship between helped andhelper should somehow be reversed. The Indian Problemis Ontario's problem. Let us hope the Indians can helpus solve it.

Education could be the bond through which apartnership could be forced between the Indian, who hasfar to go, and the majority group, who must learn thehard lesson of humility for a job badly done to a onceproud people.

The Indian group in Ontario is numericallysmall with about 50,000 registered Indians, with anadditional number probably another 50,000 who are notreastered but who can be culturally identified asIndian. It is a relatively small group, only about .08%of the Ontario population. But it is-not a populationlikely to disappear. On the contrary, the birth rateis the highest of any ethnic group; for the provinceas a whole, 112-0 are under 5 years of age, while for theIndian it is l7. (See Appendix for more data.)

Most of them are segregated in reserves inisolated territories, in:urban slums, or in shacksoutside mining and tndustrial centres. A very smallpart of this group, the numbers unknown, has moved intothe middle class and have white collar occupations inOUP cities and tYwns. It is estimated one hundred schoolteachers of Indian origin are employed in metropolitanToronto, more than all the Indians teaching in federalschools in Ontario. But this small group we mustignore in this study except to say it is too small,too little known to give children now in schooleffective incentives.

It is the poor Indian who must engage ourinterest. The isolation, poverty and low social statustend to retain the population artificially in con-centrated pockets, where conditions we have come toknow are perpetuated and worsened. It is true thereare few full blooded Indians in Ontario today.A number, perhaps a majority, could "pass" in aCaucasian society without the colour identificationobtruding. * Yet for most of these who do pass, this isno solution. Passing leaves a sense of betrayal of asocial legacy. They prefer to have their origin known,and to have it known proudly. Most Indian persons,however light skinned, when they wish to distinguish themajority group, w111 use the popular labels one hears inany Indian meeting. "We are Indians, they are white

On the other hand the majority group, eitherwhen attempting to do good in the over-solicitous waythat too often accompanies calculated acts of charity'or in the more brutal language of the street corner orthe school ground, the racial label is there, explicitor implicit, to injure and scar the one receiving thisperjoritive word. Even the cLassroom, informants tellus is not free of invidious ethnic comparisons-. They

*It is s riking how the original designations ofredskin and paleface survive in modern nomenclature.

7

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will recount, without much Promoting, that the stereo-types of lazy, dirty, drunk, are freely handed out. Hiddleclass Indians, immaculately dressed when they go into aber, must brace themselves for slights and taunts frompersons, who, in a more sober mood, would avoid allcontact. Indian women are particularly vulnerable to suchchance remarks, especially in northern towns.

It is in the context of the social realitiesthat education policy must be conceived. Education cannotconcern itself either with preparation for work andcitizenship, or the classical goals of personal lib-eration and individual enrichment, without facing thesocial environment which has formed students of all ages,without considering where they are to go as they leavethe classroom each day, as they graduate, or drop out.Such considerations may be avoided when considering themiddle class student, though many would say they shouldnot; for the Indian student consideration of the wholeperson (himself and his milieu) is a condition, amandat ry condition of effectiveness.

The environment of the student must be changedand the past is part of his environment. This cannot bechanged but we must try to alter and bring more closeto the truth the oral, written and visual record. Thepresent must be changed. With improvements in home andcommunity; improvements in housing, diet, recreationopportunity, income and freedom from the thralldom ofdependency. These are the elements out of which familylife will be changed. Second to the family is theschool in its claim upon the child, in its potentialuse to the adult. The school must be changed - a for-midable task since it is now a subsystem caught up andoperated by interlocking arrangements between a series ofimmensely powerful provincial, municipal and professionalbureaucracies.

Where the student is on a treaty basis, thereis the additional fact of federal involvement. It isthe source of additional resources it is true, resourcesthat Ontario has not seen fit to make available tonon-treaty Indians. But it is another government,another elaborate bureaucratic chain of command5 =otherstructure to allow for overlap, (and underlap ), buckpassings and jurisdictional squabbling.

The necesty for changes in the school andhence in its controlling bureaucracies ts essential. Wehear much about the need to motivate Indian students andparents toward high attainment in the school. The under-

lying thesis in this paper is that the change mustfirst come in the educational institutions. It is herethat motivation must be evidenced in concrete changes.Change is in the air in Ontario schools, and the proposalsnow being laade are such as to benefit Indian students.But we must make a realistic prognosis of the speed withwhich these changes are to be made, and the possibleeffects on Indian students. In this paper we will makea number of recommendations in teacher training,curriculum planning and resources, school control. Noneof these are original; some were made years ago. Mean-while, another generatIon of children has moved into theschools from homes where an uncounted number of parentsare functionally illiterate, where English, if spoken atall, is a second language.

Can one entertain a realistic hope that thesechanges will be implemented on time, and in time to heeffective? We think not. As a consequence we aresuggesting, besides the more routine and obvious changes,other courses of action. These are suggested for tworeasons.

First it is thought that action in the privatesectors can be put in motion more quickly, and appliedmore precisely on the sensitive areas where change ismost needed. Public or governmental services can follow upand incorporate lessons learned and gains made in thesesectors. The private venture is flexible, can easilybe dropped without maintaining a residual structure longafter it has outlived its usefulness.

Second, the changes that are -xpected andrequired are such that there is ne visrble cause andeffect relationship. There is no way of knowing, orshowing that changes Ay B and C are linked to schoolPerformance, much less to the less easily measured butcritically important question of majority acceptanceof Indiana. The Indianpeople carry a large measureof hostility and resentment to the white manta world.They see the school as a. deviCe to control their thinkingand_win away their children to-an alien world.* TheIndian leaders will need a visible and symbolic mani-

.

festation of the white manfs generosity of Purse, andmagnanimity of spirit to accompany the other necesSary

One exception is in the Six Nations Schools in theBrantford area, where all, or almost all teachersare Indian.

but le drar atic changes which are recommended.*

9.

We do not speak of restitution of somethingwrongfully taken, nor expiation of guilt, but only ofa large minded symbolic act of trust and friendship.Yet there is an obligation, as the Royal Bank of CanadaYews Letter (February, 1966) puts it. Ne newcomerstook the land of the native people. Whether it was agood thing or not; whether it was inevitable in the marchof history or not: these are ifrelevant. We took theirland, disrupted their way of life, ruined their way oflivelihood, and undermined their culture. We are challengedto discharge our obligation to them."

As a codicil, almost as a footnote to the fore-going, a word of warning and qualification. The Indiansof Ontario, representing less than 1% of the population,do not loom so large demographically (as do the Negroesof Alabama, or Mississippi) that a threat of "Indianpower" hangs over the future political life of theprovince. Yet the manner of this grouping in certainareas of the province gives them a good deal of leverageat election time, if they chose to vote en bloc. Thefranchise exercised this way is not condoned in ademocracy, for it opens the door to many forms ofexploitation. Yet it is a minority's middle weapon.The ultimate weapons which much smaller minorities thanthis can use, with paralyzing effect, must also beconsidered as alternatives to swift and generous action.There are many weapons of attack arid withdrawal. So farthe Indian has shown himself adept at withdrawal - thestoop, the hooded glance, the abject agreement to officialProposals, alcoholism, the maintenance of traditionallanguages, the persistence of nativistic religious practices.Not often are these practised deliberately or manipulatedconsciously by sophisticated leaders. These are thelatent weapons of withdrawal. The Sons of Freedom, amere 2000 persons in British Columbia, representing a fractionof the population of the province have shown the impact ofmore skillful use of passive resistance. Hunger strikessit down or coup in operations and incendiarism are allself-inflicted wounds which the powerful state can noteasily combat unless it uses completely totalitarianme thods

Ontario is in the happy position, before it is toolate to be able to plot a magnanimous course ahead. It willnotcost much more than is now being spent with little effect.

* The American people, through their government,took certain actions in Hiroshima, such as we propose.In contrast the Germans have made no ,such large gestureto the Jews, nor have the governments of British Columbiaand Canada taken any such action to the Japanese who were"relocated" by force from the west coast in 1942.

_

A MINORITY NOT LIKE THE REST

A plan to integrate Indian children in the schoolshas an imnlicit assumption about the status of the Indiangroups in Ontario. This is that they should be graduallyassimilated into white soc'ety. Officials will deny thatthis is so, but what evidence is there that in the educ-ational enterprises available for examination that there areother goals? Our view is that assimilation is at variancewith the foundation on which Canadian society has beenestablished, that minorities have an immense resistanceto assimilation, and that much is te be gained fromencouraging rather than discouraging minorities. (Sim,1959). Since the Indian group is a minority not likethe rest, this contention is greatly strengthened.

This disinclination to deal with minority groupsas minority groups in the schools is undoubtedly foundedon good political sense. The majority group in the pro-vince will not brook a system of public education; willnot pay fer a system which recognizes minority rights.lorivate and separate schools, whether they are based onreligious or cultural differences, are net illegal. Theyara permitted provided there is no charge to the taxpayer.This position, we say, is based on good political sense.We suspect that because the powerful majority will not supporta more liberal policy, either toward supporting ethnicallyseparate schools, or toward giving them substantialrecognition within the state system. This fact, of benignintolerance to the emotional and humane needs of theminorities,must be established as a solid appurtenancein the social landscape of Ontario, before we canproperly assess the prospects for the education ofIndians in Ontario. It is the insistence upon Anglo-conformity * throughout the history of education inGntario which makes it difficult to foresee how theIndian question can be dealt with effectively.

The powerful and wealthy minorities can find away to separation. For a long time the big privateschools have been offering culturAlly selective environ-ments for a child from an upperemiddle -and upper class

* This phrase comes from the Coles, and while it referredto American Secietveit seetht to-apply equally:te Ontariodespite eur bicultural heritage., eSeeCeleand Cele, 1954,Chapter 6.

12.

home. Some of these are operated with denominationalreligious sponsorship. Academically these are perhapsnot superior to the better state schools. What thenis their justification? got since, the days of Grantof Upper Canada, and McCulley of Pickering do we_ hearpublic utterances justifying them because they experi-ment with new methods. They seem noW to serve severaluses. They have a welfare function for children fromwell-to-do homes that are, for some reason, unsuitablefor child rearing. They offer a haven -tor children whocannot survive in the largo state schools. And thenthey provide a place where useful friendships anddifferential behaviours, including an unmistakableaccent, can be acquired.

Other groups, usually with strong religiousor ethnic convictions, are willing to "pay twice" tomaintain a private school system. They may be fullyorganized boarding schools. They mey bee day schools.They may only offer after 4 o'clock or weekend exposureto specialized instruction in language, religion orcultural inheritance. For many of these groups themaintenance of a private school is a heavy financialburden, but it is accepted in the belief it is the onlymeans of cultural survival. It is the only way ofreplenishing and maintaining group membership. If thesegroups ere already in the middle class, if they do notsuffer heavy occupational disabilities, if they are notvisibly different, then the group memberships wouldeasily be dissipated through inter-marriage andindifference to the norms of the sub-culture.

These private schools are an elaborate andexpensive device to opt out of the state system. Theyare maintainod, usually at the expense of parents,although Children's Aid Societies continue to send someof its wards to private schools. The charges are notmade to the taxpayer, but ultimately it must be seenas a social cost. What of other minorities who are toopoor, too divided ideologically, too dispirited, toolacking in leadership to resist the state system withits dominant mideee class orientation. They doresist covertly by apathetically preparing their childr nfor school, by allowing for an inferior performance atschool. But this apathy of parents and children mustnot be taken as an indication that it is "their fault"they are_ doing badly in school. Apathy is their last sureweapon, lacking other means or skills to change the schoolsystem itself. As it is costly to society, a humiliatingfailure for the schools, and a limiting and stultifying

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experience for the child. Let us examine this asPectof school performance. The usual tendency to look atthe performance of the child is necessary, butthe school system must also be evaluated more closely,since the Indian child is manifestly affected by theschool's capacity to deal with poor children.

The lowerclass handicap has been examined in avariety of studies relating to school performance andenvironment. Further, it has been established withincertain limits that deprivation in the form of inadequateschool buildings in lower-class districts, hostile at-titudes on the part of teachers, school administrators andbeards, results in loss of true educational equality.(see Davis, 1941; Reissman, 1963, Jones, 1966). Stand-ardized intelligence (ICI) tests which attempt to measureinherited or fixed intelligence or ability, have beenwidely used in an attempt to fit the child into astandardized curriculum. But even here this supposedobjective scientific type of text has been shown tocarry unwittingly significant "class biases" which tendto down grade the child who has net been brought up inan environment where pencils., papers books, and evenworking against time have been part of the culturalenvironment of the child. This fact has been emphasizedby a research worker in the Canadian Teachers Federation.

"The largest disadvantage is in the home.In its own way, the home is an educational agency.Thus a home where there is poverty, disease, in-difference, a hand-to-mouth existence and a senseof defeat can hardly prepare a child for a pro-ductive schoo7 life. In other wo-'ds, he is aptto be a poor reader and a pool-ly motivated student.The school programme which assumes a certain levelof general knowledge from its students, may requirefrom him a degree ef understanding which is outsidehis experience. Thus, while he receives a programmeof instruction which is equal to that given all thechildren, it may not give him equality of opportunity,since he is not equally ready for this programme.

'Moreover, his disadvantage may be compoundedby streaming in the schools. The IQ tests employedin streaming measure net only ability, but also,to some deg.eee socio-economic status as well;that is to say, they tend to favour children frommiddle elass ba kgrounds." f(hannon, 1964, p. 15)

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Values of the cultur lly privileged" (and mostteachers come from the middle class) tend to be imposed,often unintentionally, on lower-class children. Suchthings as cleanliness, politeness, punctuality, whichare stressed in schools may have little meaning for slumchildren, except to sharpen their feeling of inferiority.

"The disadvantaged child may be offereda less demanding and more limiting programmewhich does not necessarily reflect his truePotential. Where both home and school createbarriers of this nature many children can bemarked off as early drop-outs from the daythey enter school." (lbid, p. 19)

The Indian children are different from other poorchildren, and other children from minority groups. Someof these children are different because they have legalrights under Treaty arrangement. Those without legalrights have moral claims for some consideration, when itis realized that they lack these riahts often by "errorsin bookkeeping", as one Indian put it. Leaving aside thequestion of moral right for a moment, the children withTreaty status do lave a separate school system by right.This, however, is disappearing as the numbers increaseof those admitted to integrated schools. For most ofthe children today with Treaty status, this option is nowno longer available to them. It may or may not be truethat federal schools have in the past shown an inferiorperformance and their graduates have been less suceessfulin occupations off the reserve, * but if graduates ofintegrated schools perform better in school and afterleaving school, is this due to the one variable: mix:edclasses as opposed to all-Indian classes. There are othervariables as well: the quality of the teaching and equip-ment and the location of the reserve (is it near cities oris it isolated?)

The condition of the Indian in Ontario, ifmeasured by the commonly accepted yardsticks of progressand well-being, is so poor that it is almost impossibleto believe that he could have arrived by accident at suchIow levels of income, health, and edu ational attainment.

Dining axamined this question in detail for onegroup of Indian students but the findings were notconclusive. Dilling, 1965).

Yet to say that t'ir deprivations were deliberatelyengineered by the high-minded agencies who have assumedcustodial responsibilities leads to implications thatare difficult to face. That descendants of men who onceoccupied this continent, who once ruled themselves, whohad a coherent understanding cf the world and man's placein it, should be in custody at all requires explanation.Tne answer that it is the Indian's own fault he standswhere he does today is no better than the supposition thathe could not have come so low if men had not plotted hisdowncome.

Perhaps the explanations of such a deep-seatedproblem are deeply hid in man's murky subconscious,since human values have been so terribly destroyed. Itmust be that war and the humiliations that go with it,murder and retributive capital punishment, the conditionof our jails, the failure of our mental hospitals, allthese dark failures in social organization are akin tothe Indian question. They bring forth the ambivalencesthat were evoked by the trial of Eichmann. For thenEveryman waa in the bullet-proof docket, as Steinerhas shown powerfully in his recent writings. He says:

"We know now that a man can readGoethe or Rilke in the evening, that he canplay Bach or Schubert, and go to his day'swork at Auschwitz in the mornings To saythat he has read them without understandingor that his ear is gross, is cant...Moreover,it is not only the case that the establishedmedia of civilization - the universities,the arts, the book world - failed to offeradequate resistance to political bestiality;they often rose to welcome it and to give itceremony and apologia. Why?" (Steiner, 1967)

The impulse to punish and destroy others, comingas it does from man who is also capable of lover poetryand music is part of the human condition. It is part ofthe enigma of history. Could it be that it :4uits ourguilt better to have the Indian.poor and deprived, tohave him in a custody so enclosing that even he isunwilling to give up? What would we do if the Indian,who was defeated by a superior technology, his patrimonytaken without recompense, his lands shrunken hy subterfugto miserable holdings; what would we do if he had becomepowerful and influential, if he had proven himself suPerior

16.

in science, letters, management. Surely it is easierto live with the past when it can be demonstrated thatthe Indian would have done badly with beautiful Ontar'io,if it had been left in his hands.

Whatever the true account of debits and cr-ditsthe time is here to test the capacity of the whitemajority to obliterate the past and to reshape thefuture on humanitarian grounds. SOme proposals areoffered that are conceived in the light of theseassumptions.

EDUCATIONAL POLICIESFOUND WANTING 7

The Ontario government has no eplicit policydirected speeifically at Indian students. Since it doesnot distinguish students of different ethnic backgrounds,it is assumed that no special provisions are made forIndians. It is recognized of course, there is muchunofficial concern among departmental authorities.

The federal government has a special interestIn registered Treaty Indians and does have policiesfor them. Its current programme was recently outlinedby the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Develop-ment, the Hon. Arthur Laing, speaking to tha NationalAssociation of Principals and Administrators of IndianResidences, March 15th, 1967. He states that close col-laboration with provincial school systems is now anessential part of federal policy.

Educational objeetivos

(1) All Indian children of school age in school.(2) All Indian children of kindergarten age

to be served.,(3) All Indians who wish to oontinue their

schooling beyond high school as far astheir talents, ability and willpower willtake them are to be helped&

(4) All adult Indians who wish to improve theireducational status are to be helped.

Educational poll

(1) A complete education is to be providedfor every Indian child Xor whom thegovernment hae responsibility, accordingto his needs and his ability,

(2 ) Close collaboration will be carried outwith the provinces to provide educationfor Indian children in provincial schools,colleges and universities; the transferof federal schools in reserve communitiesto public school boards where the IndianmommunitY agrees to this transfer; pro-vincial inspection of Indian schools whichremain as federal schools.

(3) Fuller participation by Indian parentsin school affairs will be arranged throughconsultation between parents, Band Councilsand reserve community school committees;

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the participsAion of Indian people on theestablished school boards where Indianchildren are a significant part of theschool population in provincially establishedschool districts will be sought.

(4) School curriculum in federal schools isto be that of the province in which theIndian schools are situated. Curriculawill be modified only where this isnecessary to meet the special needs ofthe pupils.

(5) ReSidential schools will be used only forthose primary school pupils for whom theyare an absolute necessity-. They mill operateunder the full control of the Departmentunder regulations established in closeconsultation with the churches who operatethem.

(6) All federal schools will operate at theprovincial standards applicable in theirlocality.

(7) The educational programme-will be closelyco-ordinated with the DeVelopment Directorateof the Branch to ensure that the-needs ofthe rapidly ,developing.Indian community areadequately met.

It will be seen from the foregoing that thefederal government through the Indian Affairs Branch isastively pursuing a policy of contracting with pro-vincial schools to accept Indian children in theregular class rooms. Those are known as integratedschools in contrast to federal schools, which arealmost entirely populated by Indian children. Inpursuing this policy the federal government is "renting"and "buying" services. Legally it has not abdicated itsresponsibility for the children who are on band listsand are recognized as legal Indians. These transfersare just one more step in a long trend toward firstclass citizenship. Already the provincial governmenthas accepted the rer2onsibility for inspection offederal schools, already provincial curriculum andtextbooks are being used in federal ohools.

There are powerful arguments In favour of thispolicy, or cluster of policies, which is in effect apolicy of equality and desegregation. In line with thegeneral trends in North America today the idea ofsegregation is repugnant. There is also substantial,

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even if it is not definitive, evidence that those whohave passed through mixed schools have a better chanceof finding a comfortable place in urban society and inemployment. They are accustomed, the argument goes,to mixing with and competing with non-Indians on aneveryday basis.

During the past decade while this transfer hasbeen accelerating, the numbers of Indian childrenattending school has increased, and the proportioncontinuing into the higher grades has also increased.It has not been possible within the limited scope ofthis study to establish a cause - effect relationshipbetween the new policies and school attendance as weknow such trends may not be casually linked even thoughit would be comforting when the trend is in a "gooddirection" to believe that they were. Moreover thereare other trends; the total population increase, whichis running at 25% per decade, is one. Another trend isthe increase in crime and court convictions of personsof Indian origin. We also know that the more Indianchildren that attend school the more drop outs therewill be. We suspeet a youth who attends up to grade 10or 11, then drops out, does not find employment, thendrifts back to his native haunts is less effective as ahuman being, is less capable of seeing himself in apositive way than if his sehool attendance has beenindifferent and desultory.

The transfer of functions to the provincialgovern ents, and specifically to the Ontario governmentraises other questions about the competence or willingnessof the Ontario Department of Education, already serving1,738,781 students, to meet what we believe to be thospecial problems of the majority of Indian students inOntario. The Ontario government has, and always has had,a substantial number of non-federal Indians in its care.It is not unreasonable, before renting more services fromthe provinces for Indian children, to ask "How well hasOntario done with its own Indian students

This is a question that no Ontario educationalofficial will answer officially because d partmentalpolicy does not recognize ethnic differences. So faras the department is concerned officially there are noIndians in Ontario. We cannot help but ask how canthe federal government, with the long-standing commit-ments it has to Indians, ,justify a policy which reducesits own role to that of a bookkeeper and lessee ofservices. For it is a policy that removes federal

21.

authorities from an effective voice in policy. The fed-eral responsibility to Indians may have precedence overjurisdictional arrangements between the federal govern-ment and the provinces on questions of education. Butin the practical politics of this period does anyoneimagine a federal civil servant will alter the manage-ment of education in any Canadian province?

All the questions that have been raised areadmittedly speculative, but then too it seems to meproof is lacking that integrated schools are betterbecause they are integrated. Perhaps, if they arebetter, it is because the federal schools are inferior.The federal schools could be inferior for reasons thatbear no relation to the ethnicity of the students.While it is not our purpose here to evaluate the federalschools, the Hawthorn-Tremblay study will do that, itis relevant to suggest that the province of Ontarioshould examine carefully the situation into which it isdrifting on the basis of a series of individual contractsbetween school boards and the federal government. Insome cases the federal government is making substantialcapital payments to meet the equivalent cost of theadditional facilities needed to accommodate additionalchildren. These arrangements are advantageous to localboards, as are subsequent annual subventions to meetoperating costs. These are eagerly sought in somecommunities where there is serious discrimination in thestreet, on jobs and in the playground.

Indian Affairs officials report that Indianparents are unanimously in favour of integration, andthat only a vocal few are opposed. They seriouslybelieve this to be true on the basis of reports filedby their own personnel. The comments received onthe restricted probe we made showed that the supportwas less than enthusiastic. Integration is acceptedin principle for it is considered superior to the oldresidential schools, but one hears too much complaintabout discrimination, and too many complaints about themethods used to secure agreement among Indian parents.

The extent of discrimination is difficult toe,stablish, but its existence is accepted as common-place in northern towns where the Indian population issufficiently large to attract notice. A study innorthern Manitoba established the fact of discrimination(Dallyn and Earle, 1965), while Hawthorn has this to sayabout conditions of employment

"Even where Indians have theeducational or skill qualifications f

saryemploy-

22.

ment, they face widespread discrimination frompotential fellow workers as well as from employers.Many firms follow a definite policy (informallyor unofficially, where such policies are illegalin terms of provincial legislation) of refusing tohire Indians at all, or in token numbers at best.Such discrimination is not against Indians asIndians, in most cases; it has developed as aresult of unfortunate experiences with or observ-ations of them as workers which tend to build upan unfavourable stereotype. Awareness among Indiansof these attitudes tends to evoke counteractingattitudes and behaviour patterns that reinforceand justify the whites' judgement of them. And soon, in a vicious circle." (Hawthorn, 1966, p. 55)

If discrimination is present on the stre t, canit be absent from the school playground? Indeed avocational counsellor informed me that attendance droppedin one integrated school because the teachers examinedthe children's hair for lice in front of non-Indianchildren and made other aspersive remarks, with that airof unconscious superiority hich breeds bitterness andresentment among those to whom it is directed.

These teachers doubtless had good intentions -cleanliness, but if intentions are in fact good, theremust be absolutely no ambiguity. at is in- the Hon. Mr.,Laing's statement, .quoted above, one would.wisb to findmore clarity. .Could there .be something.less bleak, thanthe objective.to offer "a Complete education"? Thia isstrictly a tactical statement, but what is the .strategY?It is eaSy to deploY,trOope and.arrange manoeuvres andeven to win battles, but winning a War is another matter.That is when idealS -and goals" must be stated. Therewould appear to be-an insufficiently- sophietiCated'appreciation of, the.indianquestion both in federal andprovincial official statamentsl.for one to-_expect:newand substantial gains over Past performance. The ll'extsection will attempt to examine the dimensions of theproblem.

21

I N T E G R A T I 0 N A N D A S S I M I LATION

13224,

Creation of "integrated schools" for Indiansis the present policy of Canada, as it has always beenfor Ontario. This is actually a policy of assimilation,under the misleading title of integration. Integrationunites elements of unequal size and strength in mutuallyenhancing new combinations. Assimilation destroys theweaker partner, thus losing the qualities of the smallerelement to the general good. The destroyer has lostthe enlivening qualities that go with diversity; thedestroyer, which is the agent of assimilation, mustlive with his guilt. This is the tragedy of NorthAmerica. The poor, the Negro. the Indian are objectsof continuing concern because values of conformityand coercion, anathema as they are to the liberatingforce of education, have crept into the school. Wherethe state superimposes manpower values and trainingtechniques on the school, there is a corresponding lossin human potential. The fundamental character of educationis forgotten.

Socialization is a broader more comprehensivenotion than either training or education, since it hasto do with the total prooess of maturation. Educationand socialization are relatively simple in a stablesociety with little personal mobility and a slow rate mfchange. The prince learns to be a prince, and thepeasant learns to be a peasant, but today the survivalrate of all occupations is a matter of concern. Notonly do princes become peasants, and peasants becomeprinces, but the conditions under which one personpursues his life and livelihood, how he relates topersons older and younger than himself, how he regardsreligious leaders, teachers, political leaders and lawenforcement officers changes from year to Year.

For the middle class child, growing up to bea middle class adult is challenge enough, and many todayflounder in the attempt. A lower class child has stillmore difficulty if he is to be a middle class adult.The Indian child has still more obstacles in his way.

Tt will be interesting to see how the conceptof socialization will clarify the dilemma faoing theeducator. We have recognized that both education andsocialization are relatively simple in a stable society,but in a changing society with many levels of class andstatus, with a high rate of mobility the situation isbewilderingly complex. For the school, the morebureaucratic and centralized its control, the moredifficulty it has in dealing with these human variations.

22

Some oth r conceptual tools can be used to look at theproblem. In looking at the structures of a complexand changing society we use the loose term of sub-culture. It refers to a segment of a larger culture,related to the whole) but nevertheless self-contained.For instance, the social classes and the professionsare considered sub-cultures. The lower classes arealso given this designation because they are a way oflife with a certain coherence in values, group arrange-ments and social controls. Age groups, occupations,ethnic and religious groupings are also sub-cultures.

The Indian in North America is one of these. Itis an understood category with wide tribal and regionaldifferences. If the Indians in one place are examinedthere is, in each of these a bewildering overlap ofsub-cultural values. The Indians of the Kenora region,the middle class Indians of Toronto, the Six Nationspeople near Brantford - each is an understood segment.Each one has a local identity. It is a more or lesscoherent wholes a community, yet containing within itnumerous sub-cultures that are linked to the outsideworld. Young people are Indian but they are affectedby the music, hair styles, the heroes, the certaintiesand uncertainties that affect other young people, yetstill are Indian, still part of the local band. Othersare automobile workers belonging to the union; othersare members of a religious denomination, a politicalparty. The faddle class person has many such linkageswith the outer world which helps to make it intelligible.A network of institutions and associations exists tomake him feel worthy in that environment. They rangefrom fiction, cinema, the press, to churches and fra-ternities. The shcool is his institution par excellence.

In the lower classes these linkages with theoutside are fewer, less enriching and supportative. Forthe Indian who is in large part at that socio-economiclevel there are still fewer linkages. The territorial andkinship groupings are by that fact isolated, cut offfrom the major themes that animate the total society, yetaware of it and of his excluded place in it. He isin the stands watching a game he cannot play. He watchesthe machines and play and work of other men from thesafety of the communal setting, supported in hisown view of himself and his place in it by the values,definitions, directives and controls that are the stuffof his sub-culture.

Within each such segment a child is born andimmediately begins "to put on the skin of his culture".

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26.

by the time be is ready for school the foundation ofhis character has been laid and an outlook on the worldhas been formed.

lt should now be clear why we insist that theschool has to do more with training than education.In school the understandings accepted by the dominantgroup, that is to say the segment which controls theschool, are taught to the child. If his family and theplay group in which he is growing up belongs to thedominant segment which created and controls the schools,there is little conflict. Even in the middle classthere is the exception where differences betweengenerations tend to reduce the relevance of the schoolfsofferings to the younger people who are psychologicallymore in tune with the evolving realities. Thesedifferences are compounded where there are social classdifferences as well.

What of the Indian child? He comes from asegment of our society not attuned to the schools andtheir values. (The very wealthy child has a similarproblem but he may have his tutor and his privateschool. The numbers to be served are small and theresources for segregation, travel and special treatmentare available without question). The lower class child,on the other hand, has as yet no such special treatment,even though the war on poverty has shown that theschools and teachers must make cultural accommodationsto the very large group of poor children if they areto be adequately served. This is because they cometo school from a sub-culture that is alien to theassumptions and presuppositions of the teachers. Asthey drive their cars to the school in the slum or theIndian reserve they too regard with limited comprehensionthe life that is lived there.

Differences in clothing, cleanlinees, style ofspeech are axternal manifestations of .deeper differencesin belief, outlook on the world, and eense of. personalworth.

Our middle clase society takes a less permissiveview of the lower class_ child than it does of theUpper class one. Whereas the lower class Child may besegregated in his place of residenee-, he is, net permittedto attend a lender class school. It may be in a lowerclass neighbourhood, it may be less well equipped thanthe school on the heights, but it is run by middle °lassteachers, and the eurriculum and goals of the school aredirected toward upward mobility.:. One of the most powerful

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North American myths, endlessly elaborated from the crudeHoratio Alger stories, is the belief that the school isa great leveller. It is the means of moving from rags toriches. That the school has served this function forgreat numbers is true, particularly for the children ofEuropean immigrants living in cities, and for ruralchildren of British and European extraction. But thefact must also be faced that it has not served thisfunction for those who remain in the lower classes,possibly half of the population of Canada and the UnitedStates, or which at least one-quarter are in a stateof abject poverty. (Sim & Findlay, 1965). Nor has themiddle class school served as a ladder for the Indianpopulation.

There is a growing realization that the schoolshould be less rigid in its posture toward persons fromdifferent sub-cultures, but as yet a way has not beenfound except in pilot projects and experimental practice.It states explicitly that no one should be deprived ofa middle class education, that is to say of anopportunity for personal advancement, and imjlicitythat those who cannot or will not move from the terlevel sub-culture from whence they come to the middleclass culture of the school have an adjustment Problem.This confrontation between the massive and powerful schoolsystem and the defenseless child and his parents iscalled equality of opportunity. The drop out rate ofall students, particularly of Indian students (seeChapter 11) is at least one indication that opportunitiesare not really equal, because the benefits are not equallydistributed.

Educators have a word for the adjustment they&)xpect children to make who make this move. It isacculturation. It implies that the child should acquirethe attributes ef a sub-culture different from -Mat ofhis father and his mother. It is hoped this acculturationis proposed without taking into account the psychologicaldamage such a separation from parental values is known tomake. Por the adjustment the Indian child is asked tomake is different in kind and degree from those to bedrawn from the early writings on the subject.

Acculturation in its general sense is theassumption as Murdoch put it of culture through contact,especially with a people of higher culture. TKO modelsfor acculturation can b cited, e.g. the impact of the steelaxe on the culture of the Northwest Coast. Here a singletechnological item was acquired without the accompanying

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benefits of the trade and the missionary. The resultantshift from the Stone Age to the Iron Age for a peopleliving among the giant red cedar was a fantasticrelease from drudgery. There resulted an enlargementof the house, an improvement of the dug-out canoe, anda new leisure that gave the demonstrative and waetefulpotlatch a new significance. Their values, art and soc alorganization easily adjusted to the new wealth in some-what the same manner as North America has taken on theautomobile.

The second model is a migratory one, where theEuropean peasant came to urban America. In this case,even though they brought language, religion and instit-ution with them, the survivals are few after threegenerations. These changes were made at a loss. Therewas a consequence of severe strong conflict between thefirst and second generations. Now, even though theseorigins may be acknowledged proudly and a few ritualoccasions celebrated (where inter-marriage has notweakened the ethnic identification) the persons whorecall their European connections have been Americanized.Looking back over the last one hundred years, the contrastbetween the adjustment of the immigrants from EuroDe andthe descendants of the Indians, who were here too whenthe country was opening up, is striking.

How is it one ethnic group has moved into themain stream of Canadian life, while the other hasmaintained a marginal position? Acculturation hasproceeded to the point where, despite the theory ofthe Canadian Mosaic, the unimportant groups have beenvirtually assimilated. The Indian groups on the otherhand ere still"a roblem".

It is the contention of this study that thedisparity between these two groups is a measure of thefailure of the schools,fov-whieh the churches and govern-mente must share responsibility. The reason for thefailure is more difficult to find

Public apathy is not a satisfactory explanation forthe failure of the schools, except-to account.for niggardlybudgets. Why the public was apathetic is a deeper morefundamental question. Yet an answer must be sought, forIndian apathy toward 'his own fate is simpler a mirror ef theindifference of others. In these introductory pages anattempt has been made to ,find the genesis of this unhappycondition of-the descendants of the original occupants ofthese lands. The three chapters that follow suggestsolutions under the title of equality, accommedation andautonomy: three broad humanitarian goals fualy compatiblewith education in its loftiestetradition.

P A H T I I: PR IN CIPL ESAND

R E C OM M ENDA TI ON S

5. EQUALITY

31.

The equalitarian ethic is an important corner-stone of the democratic Lystem. It has been writteninto various national charters that men are born freeand equal. Yet it is what they are born into thatdetermines the state of equality. Are they born intoprosperous farms, wealthy suburbs, or reservations andother types of ghetto? The fact of birth and rearingis a factor of prime importance in determining the typeof school and performance at school. Even thoughCanadian society has never departed fully from thearistocratic tradition on which it was founded, theslogan of equality of opportunity in the school is stilla popular one, despite what the vertical mosaic has tosay about the social realities. The influence ofenvironment in school performance has been wellestablished by careful studies. They have shown that, asthe child passes through successive stages of educationand training, factors of economic status, colour,occupation of parent, and even sex become controllingdeterminants in ascertaining who is to pass into thehigher levels of achievement. (Bean, 1966, Davis, 1941

There is very little criticism of the programmesas such, now current in the Indian Affairs Branch. Asstated, they appear well conceived. Moreover, the programmeof the Ontario Department of Education, as expressed inits various policy statements, curricula booklets, etc.,is forward-looking and modern in conception and content.It is true that proposals will be made here that willdepart radically from the present policies as laid down.But these proposals are made, not because present policies -and one would add intentions - are bad. It is becausethe practices and achievements are inadequate. What isimpressive is the lack of options for those who do not fitthe comparatively rigid structure of the provincial educ-ational system. The possibility for a wide selection ofoptions is not precluded in the conception of the pro-gramme. But why are they in practice? Ask any guidancecounsellor. An economic order that Produced only threeor four sizes of shoes would be considered archaic, butwhat of a social order that offers so few sociallysanctioned options to human beings who are so gloriouslyvarious in their gifts, interests and qualities ofpersonality.

3 2.

Even if the plans were suitably flexible, thereis no substantial evidence that improvements in effector on the drawing boards will take place with the speedwhich the situation demands. The present policy ofequality of opportunity is not enough. If two lapsbehind my opponents in a race, I must do more than goat the same speed, I must overtake them.

In a summary of a number of recent studiescarried on by the University of Syracuse, (CarnegieCorporation, 1966), it is pointed out that much moremoney is now being spent to educate the children of thewell-to-do than to educate the children of the poor.

But this review points out, "Every shred ofavailable evidence points to the conclusion that theeducational needs of poor children are far greater thanthose of affluent children. By any measure one wants touse - pupil performance on tests, dropout rate, proportionof students going on to higher education, the output efthe schools in the depressed areas of the cities (of theUnited States) is very much poorer than that of thesuburbs. There is little reason to believe that even toequalize treatment would begin to close the gap. Toachieve the substance rather than merely the theoreticalform of equal educational opportunity requires theapplication of unequal resources: more rather than lessto the students from poor homes."

The present policies of tha provincial governmentinto which the federal government is meshing its ownoperation will not treat the Indian child differently.The argument against differential treatment is basedupon egalitarian grounds. He ie. not treated differentlybecause he is an Indian. Rather than compromise aprinciple, even a specious one, let him fail. They donot want to single him out. If he ie retarded they willtreat him ae a retarded child. The point is that anine year old boy in an integrated grade I class inall probability is not retarded in the usual sense, but lagsonly because he is an Iudian.

Here is the story of retardation in federal Indianschools in Canada and Ontario. In the two accompanyingtables the situation at grade 1 and grade 8 can becompared. When children of ages 6 and 7, and 13 and 14,which is assumed a normal age for these two grades, arecompared to those who are above age 7 and 14, it willbe seen that about 30% of the boys are too old. (A fewunderage are also included in those tables to permiteasy calculation, the numbers in the category do notsubstantially change the picture of retardation.) what

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de we find in grade 8? First there is a fantastic lossof numbers. For Canada as a whole .5,061 Indianchildren are in grade I and only 1,320 have achieved grade 8while for Ontario there are 1,142 in grade 1 as comparedto 297 in grade 8. Second the retardation has movedin grade 1 from about 1/4 or more to about 1/2 or lessin grade 8. That is to say 1/4 to 1/2 are noticeablyolder than other children in their grade. For oroud,shy, diffident children, is this equality?

Of special interest are the scores for girlsin Ontario where the age retardation is smaller ingrade 8 than in any other category.

Indian Pupils Enrolled in Federal Schools in S ptember 1965for Canada and Ontario, by Age, Grade and Sex. *

GradeOne

Grade,One

Boys

Girls

CanadaOntario

Ages6 and 7

Agesunder 6 & Totalover 7 yrs No4.

No. % Yo.

1,777 70.9 728 29.1 2,505 100376 70.1 160 29.6 536 99.7

Canada 1,723Ontario 379

73.2 633 26.8 2,356 10074.9 127 25 1 506 100

GradeEight

GradeEight

Boys

Girls

CanadaOntario

CanadaOntario

Ages13 and

307 7-48.283 58.7

375 54....9108 68.8

Agesunder 12& over 1No.-3-30 510-658 41 0

305 45-149 31. 2

Total

637 100141 100'

683 100157 100

No 4,

From Dominion Bureau of Statistics Ci cular 1-A-122(Rev. 11-61) Tables - 1 2, 13, 14

34.

What the record is for Indians in integratedschools in Ontario, we do not know. Neither Ottawaor Queenfs Park have any data. Ihey simply countheads or, should we say, bodies, -and pay so much abody. It is difficult to prove a policy right orwrong if there is no data. There is reason to believethat there is more age retardation in integrated schoolsbecause large numbers are brought to larger centres fromisolated areas. If this is so, the dropout rate couldalso be higher.

In Ontario agreements for accepting registeredIndian children into provincial schools are carriedout on an ad hoc basis between Canada.am4 the lecalschool board. As yet there is no general agreementbetween the two senior-governments. In a- great many-instances agreements are beneficial in that they havegiven Indians educational opportunities equal to thoseof white students, and in a non.,Indian -milieu they havegranted equal.rights to educational facilitieS. However,the agreement itself is no-guarantee -that the benefitswill accrue to-the Indians, and there is a great deal ofevidence that the Indians.do not benefit as.131Uch from thesame opportunities as.do the white.students.-: The,indications of this _arei- .genOral academic .retardationof the Indian stUdents; early.school dropoUts and there--fore a lower-level of-'educational achieVement

In spite of thebe.negative-reaUlte, a'nuMber..of-young Indians of special_abilityhave _orosse-4,previOUSlyinsurmountable barriers, and have-.shoWn-the.intellectual-potential of-the-Indian- popuiatien.--. Until-recently theirability in sports and..art have been-,most- recognized. Nowit is possible to point..to- Academic achievament- as Nell,even_where living conditions-have not._beet.propitious.

IL the-.Onterie,systom were.-.operatingaa--it: sheuld,-.or in.accordance with-the ideals..Statedliterature, there- is nolqupstion that-.poorchildren,_Indian children, and,-other-s-who ..are--.seCially handicappedwould-be looked afteryas:well..-as:thephysically:and-mentally handicaPped.-are.loOked-after-'llow,'..or,-apthey. -are _about tebe leeked:after.Thare-:10- an--ideelogyfor.-a.child .oentred.syStem,---in-Whiph:.explieit:provieiene. aremadeforthe--physidally-bandicapped.,.Through--theprovision,'of VaSt additionalexpenditures theiropPOrtunitiea-can-be_brought into.balance-. _There are_nowpmerging,.policy-statemente,mhich'beginto recognizetheaoeially handi-capped and. a-few..pilet..projeete:arejnaction,.-notably .at the- Dukeof,Ybi,kSchta51-, -.To-ronte, Which Wevisited' during-the Ceurse of.

35.

Knowing how much lag can he expected betweenthe formulation of new policies, including the stagingof exciting new pilot projects and the general adoptionof these principles into the whole system,* a keyquestion immediately comes to mind. Taking into accountthe Indian question in this province, can Ontario affordto wait for this type of glacial change? School board,outlook, supervision, teacher training, textbooks mustall be modified. Let someone hazard a guess as to whatvear or what century significant changes toward realequality will be noted in the achievement of the children.

The inequality inherent in the integrated schoolsystem is nowhere more evident than in the inflexibleposition held by educational authorities at federal,provincial and local levels toward the Indian languagesand dialects. Language is the defence of a minorityagainst pressures to conform to majority values. It isa measure of the internal strength of Indian resistanceto assimilation. Note that in 1961, 7,811 - 17% of OntarioIndians spoke Indian only, and 25,969 or 53% spokeIndian as well as a second language.

Is there any better indication of the failure ofpast efforts to teach English than this?

This attitude toward second languages goes verydeep in the Anglo-Canadian ethos. It is not only officialpolicy, it is a value many teachers hold quite stronglythat the native language will go away if it is sternlyignored. I visited one integrated school which had asubstantial number of Indian students. They all spokeCree, probably ur!,th an initial, if not continuinglanguage disability. The teachers indicated that thechildren still spoke Cree among themselves in theschool grounds. Yet not one teacher could say "goodmorning" in Cree, and there did not appear to be anyclassroom use made of the Cree tongue or of the factthat many students there had lived as nomads in theCanadian north. An opportunity to enrich the restrictedsocial outlook of the upper middle class children in theschool, and to give the Indian children a chance to"show off" to the others their superior knowledge of wildlife and woodcraft, and to make monolingual childrenaware of a new tongue, was totally ignored.

* The fact of this lag is well known (see Raison, 1967)where a member of the Plowden Commission reviewsChildren and the Primar Schools, one of the reportsof that commission.

36

Such small informal ac ommodations in theclassroom, requiring no change in policy or curriculum,could create a sense of equality that would benefitboth sides. The large question of recognizing in apedagogical sense the language disabilities of Indianchildren and the cultural potency of these languagesis a crucial one, if there is a serious interest infully engaging Indian children whose mother tongueis not English or French.

Proposed A tion

In order that the present policies of Canadaand Ontario will more quickly approximate conditionsof equality, there will be two types of recommendations:(a) entirely new approaches that lie outside presentarrangements, and (b) adjustment to and improvements inthe present arrangements.

(a) New Types of Action

Bold action must be taken by Ontario and Canadajointly to greatly increase expenditures on Indianeducation at all levels, but at the same time to reducethe sense of dependency into which past efforts atamelioration has plunged the Indians who were the objectsof past benefactions. Unless this paradox is faced andunderstood, increased expenditures will do little elsethan result in the establishment of new, costly andfutile agencies. A way must be found to maximize Indianinvolvement visibly and actually. An Indian advisorycommittee to non-Indians who are making the realdecisions is not good enough. Not only must Indiansactually move into positions of real power and authoritybut they must also appear to be doing so. There will bemistakes, squabbles and mismanagement, but none arelikely to be more unseemly than the behaviour of theCanadian House of Commons during the Rivard and Munsingeraffairs, nor the tortuous methods Toronto used to buyfurniture for its beautiful new City Rall. The non-whitecommunity must demonstrate its faith that the Indianis ready to do something for himself. liot a series ofniggling,/piecemeal concessions and assignments ofinconsequiential busy work, but large, generous,and costly arrare:ements are called for. It should notbe done as a means of getting rid of the Indian problembut as great humane act of trust and vision.

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#1 recommendationA foundation called the Indian Council of Ontario

should be established to make it possible to set upinstitutions, support projects, sponsor objective researchand foster leadership. The foundation would be quasi-public in character, similar to the Canada Council in itsstructure, and control. The funds would be subscribedlargely, but not exclusively, by Canada and Ontario.

(a) It would be capable of making capital grantsto other institutions and on its own behalf. It shouldalso work largely through private groups, though itmight sponsor directly experiments and demonstrations.

(b) If the federal government did support thiscouncil, some of its present activities would be handledby the council, such as colleRe scholarships. Under thecouncil, non-treaty Indians could be treated withequality.

The psychological advantages of such a bodywould be enlarged upon under the chapter on Autonomy,but administratively it would have advantages too. Theentire operation would be relatively free of politicalinterference, and the inevitable hedging and caution thatunfortunately accompanies the risk of direct account-ability to a legislative body. There would b indirectacoountability as for crown corporations, and at statedintervals when requests are made for additional funds.The council would sponsor undertakings that were contro-versial, and risky. It should be ready to back newideas the efficienc of which has not yet been establish dwould, above all, be prepared to back promising individ-uals as the Carnegie Corporation a generation ago didunder the great Dr. Keppel.

For those interested in making applicationthere would be less reluctance to accept help than thereis now in accepting governmental assistance, As illus-tration, a child from a wealthy home will accept, withoutloss of honour, assistance from his parents for travel,a subscription to a concert series, and an extra yearat college. These funds should be accepted in thesame way by individuals and organizations.

The majority of board members and officer litthe council could be persons of Indian inheritenee.

With the support of the council two majorestablishments should be set up under separate boards.Besides council funds they would appeal to privatesources for gifts and for the ueual government aidavailable to such bodies: the first a centre forpopular education, the second a centre for ad ancedstudy.

/1-2 recommendationAn Indian College - A centre for popular

education", as It is conceived in Europe, would giveform and meaning to the aspirations of the Indian people.It would provide the means of advancement into countlesspositions in industry and public service Which Indiandcould fill. It would be a symbol of the new day, asthe tomahawk and tepee are of the long gone past.Possibly this centre 'could be set up under the communitycollege legislation. There would then be a college forIndians as well as a number of colleges with Indiannames. But if it appeared that there was likely to bestandardization under community college structure,then alternative alignments should be sought.

This proposal is made because Indian peopleshould have the option of attending an educationalcentre where their own people are in the majority.There are many precedents for educational centres witha strong ethnic or religious influence. Indeed mostof the older Ontario universities or colleges had thisorigin: Queen's, Victoria, Assumptio. Ottawa, WaterlooLutheran, not to mention smaller denomenational andethnic centres and camps. In the United States thereare and have been many small Negro colleges which serveda purpose even while others like Hartin Luther King werewinning scholarships at Harvard. Canada, through ExternalAid, is aasisting universities and other educationalcentres of this character in Africa. The Danish folkschool served the Daniz people as they emerged fromfeudalism in the early part 'ef the nineteenth century,as we think this centre could serve the Indian people.(Lauweryls, 1958, D. 150).

At this stae there are many Indians of veryhigh intelligence and ietegrity who would be ex ludedfrom conventional institetions. Some indeed arefunctionally illiterate but they are higLly motivated,klited to a centre creeited for their use. The resultsare already evident in the upgrading programme at Elliot

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Lake - an indication how quickly they can move ahead.Though the number of married couples admissible arerestricted, this pilot project shows what can be done.

Others who could qualify for admission else-where might feel more comfortable with their own people.This should not be thought abnormal. Some graduatesfrom Upper Canada College go to Trinity College andthen join the same fraternity as their U.C.C. classmatesfor the same reasons. Yet some of their classmateswould think remaining in this protective environmenttoo limiting, and wculd go elsewhere. There is anoption for those who are not ready for the hurly-burly, andthis is precisely what many Indian students need. Themain point to be made here is the need for a centrewhere Indians can create and control their own socialenvironment as they experience the excitement ofintellectual growth. If the integrated school accomp-lishes its stated goals, there will be less need in ageneration for a centre of this kind, but the Indianadult today has not had that ,.xperience. He needs hisown centre and he needs it now. Meanwhile we awaitthe result of the policy of integration.

The community colleges seem to be concentrat-ing on technological training whereas this college shouldstress cultural values. If it were located in the north(an admirable idea if a centre can be found sufficientlyhospitable to a large influx of Indian young people) thenone or two technological fields might be stressed. Wood-craft, conservation and other wlld life occupationsmight be grouped to make a specialty which will forsome years to come continue to attract Indian recruits.Since the student body should not be exclusively Indian,non-Indian students could also attend.

Cultural values should be stressed, alongwith emphasis on decision-making. Student planningand control of certain aspects of life in the collegecommunity is strongly urged. At some point paternalismmust cease. There would be no better place for thisdeparture than in the shelter of an Indian College.The Indian students, who may have found attendance atmixed schools a threatening experience, would benefitfrom a deeper understanding o2 the Indian situationat this centre.

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#3 Peecommendati onAn Indian Cultural and Research Institute_ - _'Located on the campus of one of Ontario's

major universi_ttes an institute should be established,on the scale and style of Massey College. It would bea repository of rare documents, reco/ds and artifactsrelated to the past. It should also maintain a goodlibrary and clearing house for thformation related tocontemporary times. It would serve students of history,archeology, linguistics, ethnology and modern cultur-ology of the North American Indian. It would provideresidential facilities, research supports, and a systemof grants and bursaries. While it might primarilyserve scholarly interests, it would be open as well towriters, producers of cinema and documentary materialin sound and visuals, and journalists in all the media.

An Indian scholar would fill the post ofprincipal or master, but its facilities Would be opento all.

Options

The key criticism of present arrangements is thatIndian students have too few options. If a student cannct fit into a conventional high school or vocationalschool his only option is "back to the reserve", or tolow status employment in cities. For those who fit in,the present system is good, but today a vocationalcounsellor has no educational alternatives for thestudent with capacity who can not adjust to establishedinstitutions. Many middle class children drop out fora few years, are supported by their parents as theyexperiment with alternatives, including Yorkville. Latermay go back much the better of the break. Poor childrenand Indian children of poor parents cannot be carriedin this way. It is easier for them to accept a labelof misfit and failure.. The Indian College just proposedis one new option, but it does not offer elementary andhigh school training.

Wherever possible school boards under contractto Canada should create optional facilities for studentswith learning problems. However,-wo fear remedial classeswhere Indlans of high intelligence are placed alongsidenon-Indians of low intelligence. The Indian child's problem

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41.

is cultural and should be treated as such, not asemotional or psychological deviance. Those school boardswith the imagination and resources to meet the specialrequirements of Indian children should do so. But it isassumed most school boards cannot provide these services.

#4 recommendationUnder the clause in the Indian Act which empowers

the Branch to contract with private and religious agenciesto carry on education, it is suggested that private orquasi-public corporations, created especially for thepurpose, should be engaged on a 5 year contract to setup special facilities. They could be residential, onreserves, or as adjunctr to public school systems,depending on the project. Wherever possible thesecontracts should be arranged jointly with Ontario so thatnon-Treaty Indians and others suffering similar culturaldisabilities could be admitted.

We have not analysed the range of services requiredbut one comes to mind. This has to do with the averageIndian child in public school. The table on page 81demonstrates that this is a very large group.

The very old student, say a nine-year-old boyin Grade I should not go into an integrated school. Heshould be placed in a small private residential schooloperated by a highly trained, and completely independentprofessional group. Such a child should be ready afterone, or at most two years to enter a regular school amongstudents at his age level.

Judging from our knowledge of family situationsamong the poor families, a wide range of problems can beexpected which are nate largely ignored. *

The Canadian Welfare Council has recently completeda 'study on this subject, although it has not beenreleased by the Minister of Indian Affairs and NorthernDeveropment. (seeGeorge Caldwell Indian ResidentialSchool Study, 1967)

(b) Ohanup in ExistintiALrangements

We have not criticized existing policies assuch, (only the methods by which they are implementedand the scarcity of options for those unable to movecomfortably within integrated schools). The improvementand acceleration of existing arrangements is presupposedalong with approval of the policy.

Tn one area alone no full assessment waspossible: the extent to which federal schools areinferior or superior to provincial schools, the rangeof excellence and inadequacy within federal schools.'The Hawthorn-Tremblay study will be heard from soon onthis matter. Nor do we LAOW how speedily federal schoolswill be closed out. One federal official thought theymight have disappeared within ten years. Even thoughthis report is directed to the Ontario government, theperformance of federal schools is an interest of theOntario people and its government. Since students fromthese schools move into Ontario communities as citizensand employees, the condition of their education cannotbe a matter of indifference to Ontario.

reooinmendationIllquality in Federal Schools

Through its inspection service, the OntarioDepartment of Education should identify in whatever waysare appropriate the location of inferior federal schoolsand should make known the nature of its recommendationsto up-grade them. It appears national wage standardsimposed by the Civil Service Commission of Canada arenot suffjciently high to compete with most Ontario localschool boards. This problem should be the subject ofjoint discussions between the two governments. At thesame time other factors that are the cause of inferiorperformance in federal schools of Ontario should bebrought to light.

* If federal schools are superior, the policy of Closingthem out is difficult to explain.

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#6 recomm6-ndationConti ued Federal Services

The federal government should arrange technicalservices on Indian education which would be of such ahigh level of specialization that no prockince would belikely to maintain such services itself. It would beseparated from routine governmental work, either as aninst4_tute in a university, or a firm of consultantson a 5 or 10 year contract, or a separate division inthe department of Indian Affairs and Northern Develop-ment.* The fields covered would include linguistics,teaching English as a second language, culture conflict,social change, curriculum enrichment on matters relatedto Indian culture, past and present. These exnertswould be available to education divisions in IndianAffairs and Northern Development and to provincial depaments of education to give technical assistance,Teacher Training institutes, school board conferences,and the like. They would not be a substitute forsimilar services in the provincial governments but wouldhelp the provinces establish their own services.

The federal govevnment should provide financialassistance for research in Indian education to beadministered under an independent agency. This agencyshould publish material on Indian education in aquarterly that would make its own contribution inter-nationally to knowledge.

# 7 recommendationTeacher Training

It is of the utmost importance to prepare teachersto meet effectively children who come from differenteconomic and ethnic backgrounds than their own. Inaddition to general preparation for cultural differences,specific attention should be given to the Indian question.All teachers should be exposed to some information aboutthe Indian in Ontario, just as it is hoped they areprepared to meet Immigrant children, and children fromimmigrant families.

* This latter alternative it not recommended sincethese experts should be free to'analyze and criticizeofficial policy publicly", as well as the publicationsand utterances of their Colleagues.

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Por those already in service, and particularlyfor those who have Indian children in the classroom,other approaches are needed. Summer school coursesand weekend institutes should be offered to prepareteachers for work in integrated sehools.

The efforts now in progress in the Universityof Alberta at Edmonton, and of Saskatchewan at Saskatoonshould be studied in detail before begirning similarundertakings. (Renaud, 1963).

A new Minorities Division would give leadershipand provide technical supports for these changes.

re c orPimendati 6 nTextbooks and Curtculuai

In the short time allotted to this study, it hasbeen impossible to consider the adequaey of the presentcurriculum to help the adjustment of Indians to Ontarioschools. It is a highly technical question, and changesin curriculum are made slowly. So we have concentratedmore on areas where quick returns could be realized.Moreover we favour, in principle, much more freedom fromdepartmental and university imposed standards than isnow the case. A school board and its superintendent shouldbe allowed (and should be willing) to invest the effortneeded to set their own standards of excellence. Assalaries become standardized good teachers will seek thistyne of differential advantage which would be theencouragement of creativity in the classroom. It isour impression the present curriculum permits morefreedom to be inventive than is exercised in most schools.

The textbook, and supplementary reading materials,is another area where improvements could be made. A studyof four books now used in the city of Ottawa appears inChapter 10. This short report suggests the need for newmaterials (written and visual) to treat the presence ofIndians in Ontario from two points of view (a) an objectiveassessment of the take over of this territory, and ofsubsequent events leading up to the present. The Indian

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position would also be treated objectively in the -,ensethat there would be no special pleading, and (b) creativewriting about the traditional Indian way of life.Romantic reportage of Rousseau-type primitive societyis no more in order than e down-grading of the Indianlevel of civilization. Material is available in thediaries of explorers and missionaries which could bewoven together into a realistic account of previousIndian societies.

#.9 recommendation§222ia1 _ELevisions for the North

Joint planning between the two senior governmentsshould continue and be intensified. Of particular con-cern is the negleet of unorganized territories in thenorth which are too scattered to provide a tax base andan administrative structure for operating a school.Doubtless many children from non-treaty Indian and otherfamilies receive inferior services to those now availableto registered Indians. The need for improvements isnow recognized, but it is doubtful if the inputs nowavailable for meeting this situation are adequate. Itappears that a fresh new approach is needed for thesescattered settlements which would be separated from thestructures that are appropriate in the south.

The Northern Corps Service * is undoubtedly agood beginning which could in time be extended. However,it is apparent that the Northern Corps should reachmore deeply into the north to contact nomadic andisolated groups not yet served by schools.

* The Northern Corps Service, a project intended toassist schools in the north with limited resources, hasrecently been organized by the Ontario government.Thirteen teachers were aPpointed "last year, and anadditional eight to twelve will be' appointed this yeaThere is careful selectipn, and pay scales:based:onMetropelitan Toronto, plus bonuses. 'A director forthis service assumed his duties in January, 1967. See.recent issues of Ontario Education News, especially Apriland September- 1966.

# 10 recommendationMobile Teachers

Where there are isolated or nomadic groupssome entirely new approaches are needed. The methodsused by Frontier College and by Operation Head Startmight be taken as models_ with modifications to meetlocal conditions.

To force children to attend a regular schooldisrupts the economic life of the parents if they giveup trapping to be near their children. It disrupts thefamily life if they give up their children. Besidesthese adults are carrying on a useful economic function.A mobile teacher would learn to communicate in thenative tongue. His basic approach would be to teachrudimentary literary skills to the whole group, adultsas well as children. More intensive work in Englishcould begin in due course with the children. Thiswould prepare older children for movement out to a morenormal school setting. Then younger children could behelped more adequately. By the time they were readyto go to school they would know some English, andthey would be thoroughly familiar with at least onenon-Indian person, and a teacher. As trained Indianpersonnel becomes available, they could be recruitedfor thia type of work.

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6. ACCOMMODAT

*7/4There is an extensive repertoire of humiliation,

to which members of a minority group respond with varyingdegrees of anger and despair. They range from bruteforce, where physical hurt is intended and sustained,to the uncomprehending sympathy of inept well wishers.In the centre of the range, perhaps the nadir of themall, is the experience of being totally ignored. Thearch inquiry "we might do something for them, if weonly knew what they want" is a willingness to respondbut an incapacity to understand, and it can hurt asmuch as any other hurt because it opens the door, thencloses it before any satisfaction can be gained.

To such overtures the minority person is at aloss to know how to put his case, for what he wantseven more than redress of wrongs is to know thosein the majority will listen and know how to respond.At a recent conference on Indian education severalIndian speakers spoke of the refusal of the:majorityto listen.*

At that conference I talked to a school trustee.He had grown up near an Indian reserve, now his schoolwas serving Indian children on contract. The speakersat the conference had all been Indian or Eskimo. Theyfrankly expressed their views of past and presenteducational arrangements for their children. Most ofthem were critical.

This school trustee expressed his satisfactionat the proceedings by saying "It is good to hear theother side". He did not say he agreed with all thathad been said. It was the opportunity to hear thathe appreciated, yet one asks why he had to travelto Saskatoon to hear from people he had lived withall his life. Is the conflict so deep "a marriagecounsellor" is needed? We think it is.

This chapter is devoted to a prospect offraternity, of listening and responding, of bringingtwo parts together, integration in the real sense ofthe word. We have chosen the word "Accommodation",a sociological concept that was borrowed from ecology,to express the thought that forces that are in conflictcan make adaptations to each other in a satisfactoryway. Accommodation is the process by which the newequilibrium of forces is effected and maintained,

The National Conference on Native Edu a ion atSaskatoon, April 4, 5 and 6, 1967.

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