The primary objective of Paige Raibmon’s article “A New Understanding of Things Indian: George Raley’s Negotiation of the Residential School Experience” (1996) is to uncover “the latitude and the limitations of the residential school system” (70). With that in mind, the majority of the article revolves around George Henry Raley and his protocols/actions of running the Coqualeetza residential school. The article looks at Raley’s “approach to child welfare and institutionalization… his curricular innovations… and his plan for a ‘revival’ and commercialization of Native art” in a close examination (72). It is hard to read this article without pertaining any bias. Knowing the history of residential schools in Canada and the atrocities that occurred within makes it extremely difficult to see any good within the programs. However, Raley honestly doesn’t seem like a terrible guy, which is probably one of the main statements Raibmon is trying to get across to the reader. The article works to prove that maybe not all examples of residential schools were entirely detrimental to the Aboriginal populations’ youth. One example that led me to this conclusion was how Raley “requested extra funds to finance private music lessons for a talented student, to pay for children to go home to visit their parents, or to fund the yearly summer camp at Ocean Park” (74). The fact that children were not held from their families like in other cases opened my eyes to the more available equality Raley brought to this specific school. Regardless of Raley being a decently compassionate human-being not exemplified in other instances of residential schools, it is important to remember that the residential school programs were instated to assimilate the First Nations people and essentially destroy their culture, and one man’s civil actions of treating children decently do not change that. And furthermore, Raley’s seemingly compassionate actions towards First Nations and their culture did not stop him referring to them in derogatory terms. This works to show the power of self-proclaimed cultural superiority. While Raley did not necessarily view himself as above and better than the First Nations people, he was still culturally ingrained to refer to them in diminishing terms, regardless of his own beliefs and actions. One question this article left me asking is how many instances of residential schools were more like Raley’s as opposed to the horrendous events we typically hear. William Morris’ News From Nowhere has drawn my attention to the fact that typically, historians tend to focus on the negative and generally speaking, conflict creates the negative which then creates history. This leaves us with empty gaps in our historical knowledge as typically people do not record or remember their average or better days to the same extent that they remember and record the terrible events which occur. With this in mind, I am curious as to how often experiences or situations like the one with Raley occurred in comparison to the terrible situations of other residential schools. The question left in wonder also leads to the downfall of the article, as it is a particular case within the realm of residential education. Furthermore, “aspects of Raley’s thought were heavily influenced by debates and movements outside the realm of the Canadian residential school system” (72). With this in mind, the article gives a particular peak into one moment of history rather than a general overview of the situation at hand. It would be beneficial to the intellect of the reader, as well as public historiography to know a more broad history of the residential school system regarding situations more similar to Raley’s or if this case was an anomaly within the educational sphere.

Raibmon, Paige. “‘A New Understanding of Things Indian’: George Raley’s Negotiation of the Residential School Experience.” BC Studies 110 (1996): 69-96.

Helen Raptis’ article “Implementing Integrated Education Policy for On-Reserve Aboriginal Children in British Columbia, 1951-1981” paints a picture more familiar of the education of First Nations children by the foreign settlers than Raley’s example. The article states that in 1950 the Education Minister spoke in a speech that “as far as his Department was concerned, there would be no distinction between the education of Indian and white children in provincial schools” (124). While this should have been the case, it would be interesting to see the statistics on how valid this statement is. From knowledge of common spread history, equality in education between white and First Nations children does not seem to be a reality. Furthermore, when it was examined that Aboriginal children were not excelling in white-dominated schools, it was blamed on their race and family life rather than the unfair circumstances which diminished their education experience. Cultural differences were one of the more dominant factors which unfairly disadvantaged Aboriginal youth as white culture encourage verbal communication and competition where both were not strongly present within cooperative Aboriginal societies (125). With this in mind and considering the discussion question “how can we school for equality or decolonize education based on lessons from the past” it is important to acknowledge the diversity within the education system. It seems that the whole notion of First Nations children struggles or lack of success within colonized education in comparison to white children stems from a misunderstanding of Aboriginal culture and values. The Colonizers had a much different view on the education of youth, and as pointed out in Hawthorn’s report, teachers needed to change their learning and approach to education to accommodate for the difference in cultural values and upbringing as opposed to dismissing Aboriginal youth as simply unintelligent (126). As a whole, the education system needs to adjust the value the different cultures of youth present in the classroom as well as the abilities of the individual student. While it seems that in today’s society is moving towards a more personalized approach to the education system concerning capability and strengths of the individual student, the classroom setting should shift further to celebrate different cultures as well as accurately inform youth of differences which make each unique in a way that promotes equality. As shown in Raptis’ article “low Aboriginal school completion rates were due in part to segregation and discrimination that endured in the larger society in spite of integrated schools” (125). If the education system shifts to bring the educational teachings of different backgrounds into the classroom, views on cultural backgrounds regarding equality, would, in my opinion, progress considerably. As an example, the characteristics of Aboriginal communities to promote the importance of non-verbal communication and a sense of working together within a community instead of against each other with competitiveness could bring many useful lessons and life skills into the classroom (125).

Raibmon, Paige. “‘A New Understanding of Things Indian’: George Raley’s Negotiation of the Residential School Experience.” BC Studies 110 (1996): 69-96.

Raptis, Helen. “Implementing Integrated Education Policy for On-Reserve Aboriginal Children in British Columbia, 1951-1981.” Historical Studies in Education 20, no.1 (Spring 2008): 118-146.