27 deaths of Toby Obed: Canada’s shame

When they think of Canada many may have in their minds the innocence of fictional schoolgirl Anne of Green Gables or the smart red uniforms of principled law enforcers the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. But for many in 2019 another, darker, country has emerged. Canada, like Poland, the native land of Joanna Gierak-Onoszko, author of this book (based on her several years of research in Canada and published first in Polish), is having to come to terms with painful aspects of its history. Canada has been generally known around the world as a “good actor” and peacemaker in world affairs, but it was responsible for the deaths of many of the indigenous inhabitants of what are now more properly known as the First Nations of Turtle Island, that is the land now called Canada. “27 Deaths…” recounts the stories of “survivors” of residential schools who were forcibly removed from their indigenous families by the state and placed under the authority of teachers/guardians, mainly religious in nature, whose mission was “to take the Indian out of the Indian”, sometimes at the hands of other victims, themselves also indigenous. Still, many years later, Canada’s oppressive conditions continue for its indigenous peoples who suffer extreme levels of poverty, addiction, trauma, incarceration and suicide. All indigenous peoples, after colonization by their uninvited European invaders, have experienced similar traumas and the wounds have been passed on from generation to generation, especially, for many, an imposed loss of positive identity and self-worth. Only very recently is Canada recognizing its responsibility for what is now seen by many as the genocide of its First Nations. Gierak-Onoszko, like some inside the country itself, doubt the genuineness of Canada’s “Truth and Reconciliation” process, an initiative of the current Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau. Is it just a PR operation prompted by guilt about the gap between Canada’s rosy international reputation and the shocking reality of its impact on the first inhabitants of this land? And the impact continues. Not only are there still native reserves without guaranteed clean drinking water, corrosive prejudice continues in non-native Canada and a disproportionate population of indigenous people is incarcerated in Canada's prisons.The recent discovery of unmarked residential school graves is only the latest evidence of Canada's legacy of racist abuse against its native peoples. With over 120 languages represented in Canada's immigration populations we wonder how many have access in their own tongues to the indigenous experiences recounted in Gierak-Onoszko's pioneering work in Polish. We invite readers to inform us about their own awareness of these matters and what sources in any medium they are aware of and have learned from.