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STAAT Launches Free eAwareness Module: The Indian Act and Residential Schools
Straight Talk Advisory and Training (STAAT), in conjunction with Xpan, announces its collaboration on free eAwareness module to help all Canadians understand how and why the residential schools came about, along with their widespread impacts.
How and Why Canada’s Indian Residential Schools Came About
Straight Talk Advisory and Training (STAAT), in conjunction with Xpan, announces its collaboration to help all Canadians understand how and why the residential schools came about, along with their widespread impacts. The recent discovery of 215 Indigenous children buried in a mass grave near the Kamloops residential school was a grim reminder that the horrors of those schools still reverberate throughout Canada.
STAAT is offering its 40-minute interactive course, The Indian Act & Residential Schools, free of charge to any and all interested individuals, corporations, and groups. The offer is valid from National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21st) through November 4th, 2021: one day for each of the 136 residential schools. The learning module is available via the ACERT eLearning platform (pronounced “assert”), at www.acert.fyi.
“The point of sharing this module is not to place blame nor shame on people,” explains Karen Batycki, Co-Founder of STAAT and member of Peepekisis Cree Nation. “Rather, the purpose is to help non-Indigenous Canadians understand the realities that have been concealed from all of us for more than 100 years.
“Those same learnings will help everyone chart a better path forward and begin the reconciliation process in earnest.”
Residential Schools Impact
Sadly, despite the calamitous effect of residential schools on Canada’s First Peoples, most Canadians still do not know that:
- 136 residential schools operated across Canada, many for over 100 years
- An estimated 150,000 Indigenous children were taken from their families and communities to attend residential schools
- Many of the children were removed by the RCMP
- Officially, 3,213 children are reported to have died in residential schools
- However, as the Kamloops discovery illustrated, the real number is very likely to be much higher
- The first residential school opened in 1831, and
- The last, Gordon Residential School in Punnichy, SK, only closed in 1996
The video is one part of the STAAT five-part online Indigenous eAwareness Certificate Program. Presented from an Indigenous perspective, it was originally released in early 2015 and is focused primarily on Western Canada, where most of the schools were located. While somewhat dated, it’s an excellent—not perfect—starting point for all Canadians to learn more about this 165 year long tragedy.
This complimentary module will cover:
- The role of the Indian Act and the Indian Agents who enforced it
- The impact the residential school system had on all Indigenous families
- The Government of Canada’s policies to, “Kill the Indian in the child”
- The emotionally charged Truth & Reconciliation Commission process, and
- How Canada’s Indigenous Peoples are moving forward once again
“Our collaboration effort with STAAT was a milestone moment in our 20-year history,” states Ron Thiele, President and Founder of Xpan. “Democratizing knowledge regarding Canada’s Indigenous history is a win for the evolution of a more harmonious society.”
To gain free access to the eAwareness module (which is accessible on all devices), go to www.acert.fyi to create your personal account and take the next step in your journey toward reconciliation.
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