APTN

Carol Anne Hilton

September 30, 2021

I am a member of the first generation out of the residential school system where my parents and grandparents went. This is both my responsibility and my inspiration. On our first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, it is time to reflect on the truth of Canada’s origin story.

Duncan Campbell Scott, Confederation poet and deputy superintendent of the Department of Indian Affairs from 1913 to 1932, once described the policy approach that shaped Canada: “I want to get rid of the Indian problem. Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic and there is no Indian question, and no Indian Department.” Canada today remains in the shadow of this policy — the lens of the “Indian problem” traces back into the origin of Canada. This was the formative policy of a grand design of the elimination of Indigenous peoples that shaped the development of this country, even though, for generations, the history books omitted it from an origin story starring the English, the French and the United States.

I introduce the concept of Indigenomics as a way to frame a collective response to both truth and reconciliation. Indigenomics is the collective economic response to the lasting legacy of the systemic economic exclusion of Indigenous peoples in the development of this country. This was the grand design of the dis-invitation of Indigenous peoples from having a seat at the economic table.

The original building blocks of the architecture of the systemic segregation of the Indigenous population, or the dis-invitation to the economic table of this country, were the establishment of 1) The Indian Act, 2) Residential schools, 3) the Reserve systems, and 4) The relationship between Indigenous Peoples and the RCMP.

The Indian Act allowed the government to control most aspects of Indian life, including governance, lands, resources, identity, and education. The Indian Act codified in law the state’s exceptional authority over an entire population within the country.

The second building block of systemic design was the residential schools, which served to sever Indigenous childrens’ identity from their families to prevent the transmission of culture and identity across generations.

The third building block of systemic design was the establishment of the reserve systems, which served to displace Indigenous peoples from their lands and resources so they could be used to attract white settlers.

Where is Canada’s truth of what happened? Where is the churches’ truth of what happened? In South Africa, the post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission heard the truth of the perpetrators as well as the victims.

An additional, indispensable element of the grand design of the systemic removal of the ‘Indians’ that few know or understand in this country is the history of the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and the RCMP. Established in 1873 under Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, the North West Mounted Police helped with the process of removing Indigenous peoples from their lands, moving Indigenous peoples onto reserves to free up land and resources for European immigrants. Per the headline of Jane Gerster’s 2019 piece for Global News, The RCMP was created to control Indigenous People. Can that relationship be reset?

Looking closely at these four building blocks that designed the systemic removal of Indigenous peoples from the economic table of this country, three out of the four exist in their original form today. This is the larger truth that must be confronted and admitted today for reconciliation to be possible.

In a recent conversation, a survivor of the residential school system noted “We as a country need to realize the Truth and Reconciliation Commission created the space for residential school survivors to share their story, their truth of what really happened to them. But we are missing two thirds of the whole truth.

Where is Canada’s truth of what happened? Where is the churches’ truth of what happened? In South Africa, the post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission heard the truth of the perpetrators as well as the victims. As the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, this is a day for truth, to centre our leadership, our conversations and even the story of Canada itself in the truths that shaped this country.

My own response to the truths that shaped our reality over 500 years is the development of Indigenomics — a platform for modern, constructive generative Indigenous economic design. A central truth this country must respond to today is that it operates on two economic systems. The first is through the GDP as we know it today and the second is Indian-Act economics. If Canada is truly going to reconcile its history with the truth, it is time to collectively recognize how Indian-Act economics caused the Indigenous socio-economic gap that the government of Canada just invested 18 billion dollars to close in the 2021 budget.

In 2008, Canada embarked on hearing the stories, the truths of the survivors of more than 130 residential schools that operated in this country until 1996. It is these truths that have shaped the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The long-term effects of these stories are reflected in the persistent socio-economic gap kept in place by the same building blocks that created it.

In 2019, the Indigenomics Institute set in motion the target of an emerging $100 billion-dollar annual Indigenous economy. This target’s objectives are threefold: First, to shift the collective focus toward Indigenous economic strength; second, to establish a performance target, and; third, to help frame a new Canadian reality of Indigenous economic empowerment.

It is time. If the victims and survivors of torture, starvation, sexual abuse, violence and stolen futures are to be honoured, the only pathway forward is to implement the Calls to Action.

This is a time to build a new truth of what Canada is about. Our own futures are inextricably enmeshed, so let’s have the courage to do this together.

Carol Anne Hilton, a member of the Hesquiaht First Nation, is the founder and CEO of the Indigenomics Institute.