“Separate Childhoods and Indigenous Education”

In the article, “Implementing Integrated Education Policy for On-Reserve Aboriginal Children in British Columbia, 1951-1981”, Helen Raptis discusses the British Columbia’s earliest integration (the Canadian government changed the Indian act in 1951 to allow for the integration of previously segregated on-reserve Aboriginal children into the nation’s public schools) initiatives until 1981 by illustrating a complex and dynamic implementation process that changed considerably over time. In this article, she particularly demonstrates the difficulties provincial authorities encountered in attempting to leverage change at the level of individual learners. She uses various primary sources to give her arguments such as A.R. Flucke’s formational series Indian Life in B.C. which was published I between 1950 and 1952 in the BC Teacher, the official organ of the British Columbia Teacher’s Federation, social science research  The Indians of British Columbia by UBC anthropologist Harry Hawthorn and his colleagues Cyril Belshaw and Stuart Jamieson and articles by Hawthorn in daily newspapers The Vancouver Sun, The Province, The Times and The Colonist grieving the shameful state of Indian education. After reading the article it is clear that although small numbers of Aboriginal students attended public school in BC from as early as the turn of the twentieth century, more large-scale integration initiatives occurred following World War II.

In the article by Paige Raibmon, “A New Understanding of Things Indian”, George Raley’s Negotiation of the Residential School Experience is explored to shed light on both the latitude and the limitations of the residential school system. Raley took his position as principal of a residential school for Native children seriously and felt a deep sense of responsibility towards the students in his charge. Raley believed Native arts and handicrafts could link students to their cultural traditions and to modern economic opportunities. He conducted various programs for technical training for marketable job skills for youth. In this article the contributions of Raley for the improvement in the Indian’s life demonstrate that he made a great deal of difference to the history of Native children and their education.

In the article by Jean Barman, “Schooled for Inequality: The Education of British Colombia Aboriginal Children “, he uses various personal accounts ranging through time and across BC. Exploring the demographic and parts in Aboriginal peoples’ circumstances of everyday life, Barman finds out that in many outlying settlements Aboriginal children were necessary to secure the minimum enrolment important for public school’s establishment and survival. As we read the article, we come to know that how the life and educational conditions of the Aboriginal people gradually improved and how their response changed by time which led them to achieve great things in life. However the response of Aboriginal people was negative when Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau issued a white paper document calling for abolishing Aboriginal peoples’ special status in Canada.