Level 6 Applied Test ANSWER KEY
/60
Listening Section 1- Cloze Fill (3 times) /14 points
Steven Harper: I stand before myoue tomday tostoenffeXr ann aptaol l ogy
to former students of Indian residential schools. The treatment of
children in
Indian residential schools is a sad chapter in our history. Two primary
objectives of the residential school system were to remove and
isolate children from the influence of their home, families, traditions and
cultures and to assimilate them into the dominant culture. These
objectives were based on the assumption that Aboriginal cultures and
spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal. Indeed, some sought, as it
was infamously said, to “Kill the Indian in the child.” Today, we
recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great
harm and has no place in our country.
Darrell Dennis: That was Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who on June
11, 2008 stood in the House of Commons and offered an apology to
the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada for the abuses they suffered
at residential schools, along with the intergenerational impacts. When I
first heard the apology, I remember thinking, “Why did it take so long
for the government to make these statements?”
l ar p e- e s l 1
Listening Section 2- Cloze Fill play 3 times 17 points
Regrettably, many former studen 1tsX,apreaunsoe,t pwlaityh1umsotroeday
t im e ( L
and died never having received a full apology fro m t h e
st en 2 X i n to t a l)
G o ve r n m e n t o f Canada.
Therefore on behalf of the Government of Canada, and all Canadians, I
stand before you to apologize to Aboriginal Peoples. The
Government of Canada built an educational system in which very young
children were often forcibly removed from their homes, often taken
far from their communities. Many were inadequately fed, clothed and
housed. All were deprived of the care and nurturing of their parents,
grandparents and communities. First Nations, Inuit and Métis
languages and cultural practices were prohibited in these
schools. This policy has a lasting and damaging impact on Aboriginal
culture, heritage and language. While some former students have
spoken positively about their experiences at residential schools, these
stories are far overshadowed by tragic accounts of the emotional,
physical and sexual abuse and neglect of helpless children, and their
separation from powerless families and communities. Not only did you
suffer these abuses as children, but as you became parents, you were
powerless to protect your own children from suffering the same
experiences. And for this, we are sorry. There is no place in Canada for
the attitudes that inspired the Indian residential school system to
ever prevail again. You have been working on recovering from this
experience for a long time, and in a very real sense we are now
joining you on this journey. The Government of Canada sincerely
apologizes and asks for forgiveness of the Aboriginal people of this
country for failing them so profoundly.
Part B: Responses will vary. Please accept any reasonable responses here.10 points
Aboriginal Assimilate Treaty Resident
Cultural Reconcile Apology Heritage
Genocide
Part C: Please accept any responses that could be considered grammatically
correct. 19 points
The Scandal of Canada’s Residential Schools
In the late 1800s, the Canadian government began removing Native
children from their homes and placing them in boarding schools to better
assimilate them into white society — under the guidance of a proper Christian
education, of course. In the standard phrase of the day, the Natives who
attended the schools would be “civilized.” This was done by stripping the
children of their language, religion, customs, and culture.
This assault on Native society, often undertaken with the best intentions,
lasted for 200 years. The last residential school in Canada did not close
until 1996. More than 100,000 children attended residential schools. At the
height of it, as many as one-third of all Inuit and Native schoolchildren were
sent away. Separated from their families, they were easy prey for emotional,
physical, and sexual abuse. Equally shattering, in the long run, was the loss of
cultural identity.
In January 2008, the federal government formally apologized to Native
survivors of the residential schools and created a $350-million community
“healing” fund. At present, more than 11,500 Native poeple are suing the
Canadian government and the churches involved: Roman Catholic, Anglican,
United, and Presbyterian.
I remember talking with a Native medical student from Vancouver who
said, “I really believe that it was the residential schools, more than anything else,
that broke the spirit of Native society in Canada. It wasn’t the poverty, it
was the abuse. And it was passed on from generation to generation.”
Historian John Milloy, an authority on the residential school system, called it
“an act of profound cruelty.”
