#residential schools tw

[allthecanadianpolitics]

A high-profile Cree lawyer from Saskatchewan is calling for residential school denialism to be added to the Criminal Code alongside Holocaust denialism, in the wake of a recent interim report by Canada's special interlocutor on missing children and unmarked graves.

"It's the same," lawyer Eleanore Sunchild told CBC News.

"If you deny that that happened — if you deny the whole residential school system and its impact on Indigenous people and the trauma that was created from those schools and the deaths — then, of course, it should be seen as hate speech."

Under section 319 of the criminal code, the wilful promotion of hatred or antisemitism, unless in a private conversation, could lead to up to two years in prison. This includes "condoning, denying or downplaying the Holocaust."

Full article

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

#cdnpoli #canadian politics #canada #canadian news #canadian #residential schools #holocaust #holocaust denial #residential school denial #residential schools tw #holocaust tw

[newsfromstolenland]

The Pope seemed to take a while to apologize for the residential ‘schools’ more like prisons. Maybe raparations from the church and the government would be better?

I don't believe that anything can ever truly make the genocide committed via residential schools better. I still think reparations, land back, and decolonization are vital, but nothing can ever undo the atrocities committed against Indigenous people on this land.

#asks #anonymous #residential schools tw #genocide tw

[auressea]

Pow Wow photos..

Am home from The Songhees Nation Powwow, held to honour the survivors of the residential school system in so called 'Canada', and all the many children who never came home at all.

Every Child Matters.

..anyway, my computer has decided that there is NO Bluetooth function. it simply 'evaporated' over night I guess>? and I have to sort that out before I can share my pictures of the lovely and compassionate outpouring of support.

If you or your loved ones are effected by today's events and activities, please seek support!

The Indian Residential School Survivor Society maintains a hotline for residential school survivors who are in crisis. The 24-hour a day crisis line can be reached at 1-800-721-0066.

Individuals impacted by the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls can contact the MMIWG Crisis Line toll-free at 1-844-413-6649.

First Nations, Inuit and Métis seeking immediate emotional support can contact the Hope for Wellness Help Line toll-free at 1-855-242-3310, or by online chat at hopeforwellness.ca.

#my life #home #PNW #unSURRENDERED LANDS #Songhees First Nation #so called 'canada' #indigenous people #culture #traditional dance #MMIWG #healing path #all our relations #residential schools tw #survivors #my pics

[femaleganondorfdragmire]

Today is Truth and Reconciliation Day in Canada and that does not mean it's time for white people to sit back and do nothing but "reflect 🥺"

Yes, reflect, but reflect on how you can help indigenous people today. Every day.

Above I've pinned some resources other people have compiled. You can also:

-Support the land back movement.

-Research exactly who's land you're on. It's not enough to know that you're on Indigenous land, who's indigenous land are you on? I'm on mi'kmaq and wolastoqey land.

-Share any indigenous go-fund-me's and donation posts you see. Donate if you can but if even if you can't please reblog them. (Indigenous people, please feel free to add yours in the reblogs!)

-If your friends/family members say something racist, don't just sit there and let them! If you're in a position to do so, where it won't cause you danger, have those uncomfortable conversations.

Every child matters.

#landback #indigenous #truth and reconciliation day #canada #united states #residential schools tw #racism tw #residential school tw #tw residential school #tw residential schools

[shallanspren]

i’m doing a paper on icwa and how and why it was founded, so i’ve been looking into the residential schools as well and holy fucking shit. every time you think they can’t get worse. waiting to get to the deer lady episode of reservation dogs cause i know they talk about the schools in that episode too

yeah, and the worst part is that thousands (yes, thousands) of kids died within the walls of those schools and were erased. their stories will never be told.

the deer lady episode sanitizes the schools a bit, but it's still a very emotional and moving episode. given that they hired actual native actors, it's understandable why they didn't go all in. so don't expect something super graphic.

#it's still one of the best episodes of television ever written and i will not hear otherwise #residential schools tw

[golden-haired-native]

I know I don’t have a large following. I know this post will get lost in the sea of other posts. I know I don’t come on here often, and when I do I try to keep my page free from death and other serious topics. Yet, I think this is imperative to say, especially since I myself am of indigenous descent. I ask all of you to join me in solidarity.

Cole Brings Plenty, actor, model, and most importantly activist was found dead. He was assaulted in a club in Lawrence, Kansas. He was killed and his braids; a symbol of his heritage, of his Lakota decent, and a sacred symbol across many an indigenous nation, were forcibly cut.

I beg of thee and I plead with thee, spread the word. Do your part, however big or little, to bring light to this situation. Whether it be by reblogging this post or others alike, or by going out and making a stand. Do it.

Shed light on the situation. This goes beyond the death of one man. It is about the abuse and the destruction of natives and their communities. Of the killing of many an innocent soul. Of the brutalization of many First Nations.

We have seen time and time again, many indigenous people die by similar means. We need to bring light on the deaths of any and all indigenous individuals dead, missing or at risk. It is an epidemic, an assault, and a silent cleansing of many a nation.

Whether it be the estimated 6,000 dead at the hands of Canadian residential schools, the murdered and missing indigenous women and children, or the killing of an actor and activist, you cannot deny the sheer abhorrence of this problem. The problem of many Native American people dying, going missing and being abused, at an alarming rate. At a level unprecedented and unparalleled, at a level of which should not be kept silent.

Cole Brings Plenty, actor, model, activist.

Look at him and spread awareness for him and for many others befallen by the same fate.

Remember him. Remember all of the others. Let nobody else befall the same fate again.

#cole brings plenty #first nations #indigenous #indigenous americans #native american #Canadian residential schools #residential schools #tw death #mmiw #mmiwg2s #please join me in solidarity and spread this word as much as possible #i beg of you #colored text #long post

[endtimers]

pope touring canada to give apologies to indigenous peoples for the role the church played in residential schools and the Freedom Convoy rolls up to protest it. because fuck all those dead kids Am I Right Canadians

#i dont trust his apology anyway like it's nice and all but #it's not like something like this is helping the material circumstances of indigenous people #residential schools tw

[veludo-rae]

and remember! Colonial boarding schools still exist today and nobody talks about them!

#Free Tibet #colonial boarding schools #colonial residential schools #CCP #fuck the ccp #tibet #genocide #Colonialism #colonization #settler colonialism #Free tibet #indigenous #tw residential schools #tw colonialism

[gay-jewish-bucky]

People who advocate that religion should be 18+ only and that it's "abuse" to raise children, especially children from marginalized and ethnoreligious groups, in their family's culture and traditions really need learn about Residential Schools and listen to the stories of survivors and their communities. And yes, there are still survivors, the last one closed in 1996. It hasn't even been 30 years.

You are repackaging and advocating the same system with the same logic and same end goals: eradication of diverse cultures and beliefs that you feel are inferior to your superior, Eurocentric, fundamentalist and absolutist way of thinking because you have the Truth™️ so the ends justify the means.

Genocide in all of its forms, including cultural, is never benevolent. If you think there is ever an instance where it is justifiable YOU are on the wrong side of history.

#religion #jumblr #jewish #judaism #antitheists are ridiculous faux intellectuals #genocide #cultural genocide #tw residential schools

[pikapeppa]

Alright, why wouldn't Hekarro wanna use Carja glyphs as the Tenakth writing system? The Phincian alphabet is the basis for most of the writing systems in Western Europe - if you got a writing system that works, why not adapt it?

I'M FINALLY ANSWERING THIS ASK TWO MONTHS LATER 😂

For anyone who's curious, the context for this was a post I made a while back in response to an ask regarding whether the Quen might be able to read Chinese, since the Focuses they would have found in the Great Delta would plausibly have been formatted in Chinese. In the tags on the post, I remarked that I had a rant about Hekarro wanting to borrow the Carja writing system. Everbright has asked me to elaborate, and now I'll finally be writing the essay that's been sitting at the back of my mind for like a year LOL.

My thesis here is as follows: it's not the idea of the Tenakth borrowing the Carja writing system that bothers me, necessarily. I take umbrage with the fact that Hekarro seems to think the Tenakth are inferior to the Carja because they aren't a literate society. 

This post is going to get long, so I will put the rest behind a cut to give anyone a break who wants to scroll on past LOL. Also, please note: trigger/content warning for mentions of residential schools in Canada.

First things first: I'm writing this as a non-indigenous Canadian, so I may be writing with biases of my own that I will apologize for in advance. If any members of the cultural groups I'm going to mention should read this and take issue with anything I've said, please do feel free to write me a message here on Tumblr!

Okay, let me set the context here. When Aloy first meets Hekarro, a piece of their conversation is as follows, with the transcript to follow:

Aloy: I’m sorry about Fashav. He seemed like a good man. Hekarro: More than a man. A bridge between Tenakth and Carja. No outlander ever earned our respect as he did. I had hoped he would be my voice in Meridian. That peace with the Carja might become something more. A: An alliance? H: An exchange. The Carja have much we lack. Our deeds are written in ink upon our bodies. Our memories die with our flesh. But the Carja never forget. Their deeds are written in book and scroll. A:  You wanted to learn from them? H: As I learned from Fashav. He will be missed.

This conversational exchange has always bothered me, because inherent in this exchange is the idea that Hekarro views the Tenakth as being lacking compared to the Carja -- that the Carja are superior to the Tenakth because of the fact that they're able to read and write, rather than tattooing their history on their skin. This statement reflects a bias that feels very 'colonizer' to me in an icky way. Being a literate society does not inherently make you superior to a society that doesn't use writing, but that exact idea has been used tons of times in history to argue that the indigenous cultures of a place are less advanced/less intelligent/less valuable than the people who are coming in and trying to force their ideals, including literacy, on the indigenous group(s). In the context of Canada, for instance, Kirmayer et al. (2009) wrote that "aboriginal peoples were viewed as incapable of understanding and participating in democratic government, thereby motivating efforts to 'civilize' and assimilate them into mainstream Canadian society," with that mainstreaming process including residential schools: institutions that took indigenous children from their families and communities and placed them into segregated spaces where they were forbidden from speaking their native languages, practicing their traditional customs, and from contacting their families at all.

This is especially irksome to me because the Tenakth tradition of tattooing (or "ink", as they call it in-game), is based on tattooing traditions IRL with an extremely rich historical and cultural background. The most obvious similarity is to Polynesian tattoo (or "tatau") practices, which I'll focus on here, but similar methods with equally rich histories exist in the Philippines and in Japan. 

One of the most striking things about Polynesian tatau practices is that it's not just the act of striking ink into the skin that matters; it's the meaning behind the act of getting a tattoo, and the embracing of community and identity inherent in the practice. As one Samoan tatau artist said, "it's important to know the meaning behind the symbols of our traditional tatau so you have a deeper understanding of the significance of what you're wearing. Each 'maman' or each pattern has its own meaning and story behind it." Polynesian artists also highlight the fact that these traditions are passed through the generations for thousands of years, and that those who wear tatau are "wearing the maps of our ancestors." As another artist said, Polynesian tatau is "a reconnection to all my ancestors and everybody behind me, because I'm not only speaking for me, but a whole generation of kids that are like me, that are getting Polynesian tattoos to reconnect." 

Tenakth tattoos, like Polynesian tattoos, are a way of recording history and lore -- not only one's own stories and victories, but those of the people that are important to a warrior, as evidenced by Kotallo stating that he plans to ink Varl's deeds on his own skin in tribute. I also personally think that it's culturally fitting for the Tenakth to record important history on their bodies, since the Tenakth place such emphasis on physical strength. It makes logical sense that they would record their proudest deeds on the thing that they view with such pride, i.e. their physical bodies. Hekarro's statement that the Tenakth are "lacking" because they don't record their history "in book and scroll" feels like a devaluation of the Tenakth's culturally-specific method of recording history, much in the way that colonizing societies have devalued the oral traditions of North American indigenous groups. Oral traditions are an extremely important aspect of many indigenous cultures; a group that provides indigenous culture training has stated that "certain stories are never written down, which preserves the tradition of sharing knowledge, culture, and history orally. These stories are the fabric of the community’s history, knowledge and culture, and some are thousands of years old. In some cultures, if a story is written down it is degraded." By ignoring this rich tradition and imposing written records of those stories, they would be degraded and rendered less than what they're meant to be.

Now, some of you might be asking whether it was an oversight/mistake on the part of the Guerrilla Game writers that Hekarro made this accidentally-denigrating comment toward his own tribe. Honestly, I do think it was an oversight, and one that I find disturbing, because it seems to stem from a blind spot that GG isn't aware of. This isn't the only time that content coming from the Horizon world seems to follow this 'colonizer'-like idea of certain societies being more advanced and superior to others. In the concept art book for Horizon Zero Dawn, for instance, there's a description of the Carja as follows (p. 47), transcript below:

 [Transcript: Among all the tribes of Horizon Zero Dawn, the Carja Sundom boasts the most advanced culture. Using the advantages of their geographical position, the Carja have developed agriculture and trade while other tribes still rely on hunting and gathering. The Carja's impregnable capital, Meridian, provides security for a civilized population. Artisans and traders flourish here, serving sophisticated, well-to-do citizens. Carja civilization towers over the other tribes, just as the Sun of their religion rises above the horizon of their mesa valley.]

Even worse, there’s this passage from p. 48, where the non-Carja tribes are called “primitive”.Transcript below:

[Transcript: Through ages of perfecting the techniques of machine plate-working, the Carja have developed the most sophisticated way: to apply the materials of mechanical fauna. While more primitive tribes would roughly affix more or less useful machine parts on their garments, Meridian artisans interweave fine fitted machine elements into comfortable and functional pieces.]

Quotes like this make me worry that there are people at GG who aren't recognizing their own bias inherent in the description of the Carja compared to other tribes. There seems to be a lack of awareness here about the dangerous underpinnings of seeing one culture as more "advanced" than another just because it is more dominant or mainstream. As Shaw (2001) states, "in not according recognition, let alone respect, to the distinctive linguistic and cultural identities that have shaped First Nations peoples, the majority culture continues to exert a significantly negative influence on identity, on self-esteem, on pride in one's cultural heritage, and on one's sense of self and of place in the broader society."

To summarize to some degree: I don't have a problem per se with the Tenakth borrowing the Carja writing system. My qualms come from the idea that the idea of the Carja being superior will come along with that borrowing, thereby devaluing the rich tradition of Tenakth tattoos. As Hale (1992) states, "while it is good and commendable to record and document fading traditions, and in some cases this is absolutely necessary to avert total loss of cultural wealth, the greater goal must be that of safeguarding diversity in the world of people. For that is the circumstance in which diverse and interesting intellectual traditions can grow."

TLDR: Tenakth tattoos are just as valid and important a method of recording lore and history as Carja writing, and the Tenakth are not inferior or primitive for not having a tradition of reading/writing. I think Hekarro's comment about the Tenakth being "lacking" is reflective of a blind spot at GG that I hope will be addressed in future games. 

If you came this far, THANK YOU FOR READING and accept this cookie as thanks for staying with me! 🍪😂 A friendly final note: do be warned that any replies or comments to the effect of "but literate societies ARE inherently better than illiterate ones" will be removed and the writers of such comments may be blocked, depending on their intentions as I read them. 🥰

-- love from your friendly neighbourhood Pika xoxo

#i'm sorry my references are quite old #i dug up my notes and references from a class I took almost 10 years ago #horizon forbidden west #hfw #hekarro #chief hekarro #tenakth #carja #tw: residential schools #i'm sorry so many of my references are old #i dug them out my notes from a class I took almost 10 years ago #I KNEW THAT HOARDING MY STUFF WOULD COME IN HANDY SOMEDAY 😂😂😂 #horizon critical #hfw critical

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Classes start this week at Purcell Collegiate School (PCS), an international boarding school in B.C.'s southeast. 

The first cohort of 12 students from across Canada, and countries like Japan and China, are living in a former residential school in the Aq'am community, within the Ktunaxa Nation. 

The building, St. Eugene Mission, was a residential school from 1912 until 1970.

In 1992, the community began the process of turning the building into a resort, and today it's an award-winning hotel, golf course and casino that is owned by the Ktunaxa Nation and Shuswap Indian Band. 

Now, a portion of it is also home to international students while they live and learn in the community.

Full article

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

#cdnpoli #canada #canadian politics #canadian news #canadian #residential schools #residential schools tw #purcell collegiate school #british columbia #BC #First Nations #Ktunaxa Nation #boarding school #international students

[i-am-thevoid]

#residential schools tw

[museeeuuuum]

Came back to work from my lovely trip and on my first few days back I've had to deal with a regular who has begun spouting residential school denialism

#im doing everything in my power to get her banned #but fuck i am so stressed out and exhausted from this #she comes in almost everyday #and i hear her start going off about the indian act or whatever and im gripping my desk just wondering #is she going to start shit? #its completely fucking unacceptable and ive brought it to leaderships attention but like #but they are moving so so slow #and its infuriating #vent #residential school tw

[auressea]

May Sam is a respected Elder- she has been my teacher more than once. She is extremely giving and patient - even with oblivious White People like me.

this is a part of her story- it does NOT define her. But it was horrific

If you or your lovedones need support, please use these resources:

The Indian Residential School Survivor Society maintains a hotline for residential school survivors who are in crisis. The 24-hour a day crisis line can be reached at 1-800-721-0066.

Individuals impacted by the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls can contact the MMIWG Crisis Line toll-free at 1-844-413-6649.

First Nations, Inuit and Métis seeking immediate emotional support can contact the Hope for Wellness Help Line toll-free at 1-855-242-3310, or by online chat at hopeforwellness.ca.

#residential schools tw #residential school tw #What truth? #what reconciliation? #May Sam #support and resources #trauma #racism #beneficiaries of a genocide #so called 'canada' #indigenous rights #abuse TW

[missegyptiana]

#orange shirt day #national day for truth and reconciliation #national truth and reconciliation day #indigenous #residential schools #tw murder #tw abuse #tw residential schools #tw indigenous violence #tw violence #tw death #indigenous children

[not-available-for-comment]

“We were in the mountains and returned home at the end of summer, just before school started. My gram/tupa always had a coffee tray next to her rocking chair. It had her coffee, roll-your-own tobacco, and on the other side of her chair was her 30-30 rifle; her gun was always next to her.

They came again end of summer, and she said, “No you’re not taking them."

She took a stand, I’m sure, because of her own boarding school experience. People knew who the strong ones were, and they knew: Don’t even try to take her grandkids, you’re not gonna get past her.

My gram/tupa was my hero, I lived with her most of the time. She lived alone for about 35 years after her second husband died. She did her own hunting, and she said she was the first woman to get a cougar in our community.”

#native american #indigenous #tw native boarding schools #tw residential schools