Reconciliation at work: four Catholic churches burned to ground in BC near reserves
(www.castanet.net)
FN
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After centuries of paternalism the Catholic Church gets a tap on the bugle - bring out the pitchforks and torches!
I didn't check, but I assume there was equal outrage expressed here when the lobster pounds at Middle West Pubnico were burnt.
No superior technology in this case. Just the kidnapping and abuse of children.
Every single child? No.
Thousands of children? Yes.
The flaw in this argument is that there existed some sort of timeless 'utopian standard' where children are given the care and attention they we expect today.
One does not need to look back very far in history in any organized society to reveal countless incidents and tragedies regarding children that we would find abhorrent today.
I will paraphrase Thomas Sowell and ask "Compared to what?"
What would have been the state of Indigenous children had the Chinese or Ottomans settled Canada instead?
The values we hold today including the standard by which we protect minors emanates from the very same Western culture that is apparently "evil, racist and abusive toward children."
Therefore it is a logical fallacy to point back to a time when the standards were lower and say "This could have been done better" when those processes were necessary to advance our society to where it is today.
It's like criticizing the Wright brothers for building a plane in 1903 that could only fly a short distance because in 2021 we have high speed passenger aircraft.
Never mind today. Those children weren't treated properly by the standards of the times. Poor nutrition and healthcare were not as prevalent in the settler communities, nor were punishment for speaking your language, and separation from your family - even your siblings in the same building,
Hypothetical questions about Chinese and Ottomans are not relevant.
In the areas where treaties were signed the First Nations were generally promised that their way of life would not be extinguished. There was nothing in them about residential schools.
In areas where no treaties were signed Aboriginal Title is recognized - in Canada, at least - and there was no justification at all for taking the children.
The rights of the First Nations have been recognized in law - but largely ignored - since 1763 and through treaties - also largely ignored - after that. There is no legal way to ignore those rights, as so many seem to wish to do. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission outlined a process for addressing these issues outside of the courts, but the courts remain an option.
A former government medical man, Peter Henderson Bryce, tried to get the government to address the problem a hundred years ago. You can read his book "The Story of a National Crime" online: http://caid.ca/AppJusIndCan1922.pdf