The president of the University of Manitoba apologized Oct. 27 for the university’s role in the residential school system.
Although U of M had no direct role in residential schools, president David Barnard said he apologized because U of M didn’t challenge these schools, which resulted in the loss of aboriginal culture.
The apology was also about taking responsibility for training people who went on to work in and run residential schools, said Myra Tait, co-president of the University of Manitoba Aboriginal Students Association (UMASA).
The apology was showed live via webcast on campus and created a lot of excitement, Tait said.
“My sense is that it was received very well by the aboriginal community as a whole because it’s the right thing to do . . . I would like to give our president the benefit of the doubt that it was totally sincere,” Tait said. “It’s never too late to do the right thing.”
Skip Gagnon, the UMASA’s treasurer, said the apology hit close to home.
“I myself attended a residential day school . . . so for me it was a little deeper,” Gagnon said. “I feel that personally no amount of apologies can help me forget about the abuse I went through. However, as an open-minded and educated individual, I do accept [it].”
However, Gagnon said he doesn’t believe the apology fixes the damage that’s alerady been done.
“There are two types of survivors from residential schools, one is the survivor, and the other is the people that survived,” Gagnon said. “The people that survived, they are the ones that have addictions. They suffer from alcoholism or drug abuse, and understandably, it’s to numb the pain. The survivors are the ones who cope with it. The survivors are the one’s who talk about it. The survivors are the ones who sit down and remind society of what has happened. They are the ones that give testimony.“
The apology also raised some questions for Tait.
“Is the university, is the academy as a whole, still an instrument of assimilation? Is it still a colonizing tool? Do those attitudes still exist? Ultimately, I think they do,” Tait said. “The proof of it is that racism is alive and well.”
Although the apology doesn’t necessarily resolve the issue, Tait said it marks a new beginning.
“This apology is not to close the chapter and we’re done and we all go home happy, it’s about opening a new chapter of how to do things differently,” she said.