Article content continued

The ongoing disappearance, abuse and murder of young aboriginal women is a direct result of an ingrained attitude dating back to the fur trade, Sinclair said.

“It was part of the normal way of things, and that belief has permeated the thinking of many men is western Canadian society and western society generally: To think about indigenous women as being less than their counterparts. Victimization of young girls in residential schools occurred at a much more significant rate than young boys, although victimization of both was serious.”

“The question now,” said Sinclair, is “what do we do about all of this?

“The first step is a need to inform ourselves. The secret to reconciliation is how we educate our children to make sure they have a proper understanding. The ultimate goal is establishing a relationship of mutual respect. We have a lot of work to do.”

Post-secondary institutions have a special responsibility to ensure “that the academic freedoms they stand so proudly in defence of are extended to addressing the academic knowledge of indigenous people.”

Sinclair signalled that the commission report will be inadequate in its estimation of the numbers of missing children who attended residential schools.

“Children who were not able to make it home because they died in the schools or died on the way home,” he said. “We have attempted to determine the numbers as best we can but our report is very incomplete.”

He said that around 1920, the chief medical officer at Indian Affairs suggested children were dying at an alarming rate. “He was fired. The government stopped recording deaths of children in residential schools, we think, probably because the rates were so high.