Canadian Lawyer

26 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m CANADA'S INDIAN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL HISTORY 1830 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1840s 1867 1831 1876 1883 1889 1869 Mohawk Residential School, the fi rst in Canada, opened in Brantford, Ont. New models proposed via government- commissioned reports suggested the best way to assimilate aboriginal children was to separate them from their parents, and to focus training on agriculture and religion. Confederation and birth of Canada. Aboriginal people in the eastern part of the country were being assimilated, but tribes in the west continued their traditional way of life. Act for Gradual Civilization of the Indian. It required all Indian men over 21 who could speak, read, and write English or French to be "enfranchised," meaning they had to renounce their Indian status and become a British subject. Indian Act passed by federal government giving itself the right to create laws that apply to First Nations people. 11 industrial schools were operating in Canada. A report by Commissioner E. Dewdney states that day schools were not successful because the infl uence of homes was greater on the children. Following this report, prime minister John A. MacDonald authorized residential industrial schools to be created in the Canadian West. Allegations of physical and sexual abuse are brought forth at Rupert's Land School in Selkirk, Man. The federal government and churches enter into an agreement on operating residential schools. 45 industrial schools are now operating in Canada. Dr. Peter Bryce was sent to assess the health situation in schools, and declared it "a national crime." He calculated that mortality rates for children ranged from 35 per cent to 60 per cent. Métis children were put in residential schools to fi ll spaces left by First Nations children. The federal government handed the responsibility for running schools over to religious institutions. Dr. Bryce is forced to retire from his federal position. He published his full report on his fi ndings. The federal government determines that industrial schools would focus on agriculture only. Boys would become good farmers, and girls would become good housekeepers. 1892 1896 1907 1910 1920 1922 1904 1880 Scott says: "I was told by my clients I was the first individual they felt they could trust and really come out with all the details as to what occurred. They needed to tell me in order for me to be able to fully represent them. For a lot of these clients, it wasn't even just the compensation, it was the acknowledgment that this occurred to them and it had to be addressed." Once these initial cases were settled, other lawyers and their firms started actively gathering clients for class action lawsuits. At the same time, First Nation and Metis politicians began calling for an inquiry into Indian Residential Schools. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples made a similar call. The pressure was mount- ing and, finally, in 2006, the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement was reached. Independent Assessment Process Eleanor Sunchild recalls a trip to northern Saskatchewan to the small Cree-speaking community of Pelican Narrows to sign up former students for the Independent Assessment Process. She was listening to their stories when she met a man in his early fifties. "He had his IAP application rolled up in the back of his pocket and he took it out and told me in Cree, 'I've been carrying this around for six months because I can't find anybody to help me fill it out. I was going to ask my friend who can read and write English to help me, but I was too ashamed.' While he talked Cree, I filled in his applica- tion for him," says Sunchild. "He told me a horrible tale of sexual abuse and being repeatedly raped by a supervisor from the Prince Albert Indian Residential School over a period of five years. He was crying and shaking and, at one point, he even threw up." The IAP is part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, the largest class action settlement in Canadian his- tory. It involved representatives of aboriginal groups, churches, the Government of Canada, and the legal profession. The IAP provided residential school abuse survivors a way to settle their claims quick- ly and out of court. "The Independent Assessment Process (IAP) is a claimant-centred process that supports healing and reconciliation among former students, their families and communities," wrote chief adjudicator Dan Shapiro about the process in 2013. "The IAP provides former students with an opportunity to come forward and speak of their experience at residential schools in an atmosphere of safety and respect. For many claimants, this opportunity is a trans- formational moment." Sunchild was called to the bar in 1999 and began practising criminal and family law as well as providing legal services to First Nation bands. In 2005, she opened up Sunchild Law. Four years later, she turned her focus and began to specialize in IAP claims to help former Indian residential school students deal with their abuse claims against the federal government. "I started collecting the files and stories from the former stu- dents. I originally only wanted 100, but quickly it grew," says Sun- child. Her firm has handled around 1,200 IAP files in the last six years. "I have my own story of being in foster care for a period of my life. So when I started hearing the stories from the claimants, I was Brandon Industrial school - 1900

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