How I Make Sense of the Horror of the Residential Schools in Canada

(... and other horrifying yet true stories from history)

Pair of children's moccasins are pictured at a memorial in Vancouver (from a CBC story: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-residential-schools-kamloops-faq-1.6051632)

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This is the framework within which I, as a scholar of religion and history, try to make sense of the many true horror stories of history and the role that religion played in them. Here, I'm dealing with the discovery of hundreds (will probably reach thousands?) of unmarked graves in multiple former residential school locations here in Canada. The majority of those graves belong to the children who were treated horribly and even abused to the point of death in these schools, most of which were run by Christian churches (particularly by Catholic religious orders). 

 

Part I

A Conceptual Framework to Better Understand the Many Horrors of History (such as the Canadian Residential School System)

[1-The Ambivalence of Human Civilization] Human civilization is, in a deep sense, innately barbaric. A brief look at human history will sadly yet clearly show that wherever humans are, there too will be disagreements, mutual dislike, and even hatred. This results in acts of horrible violence. Of course, not to be forgotten, however, is that humans also have a deep core of compassion and kindness within themselves. As the saying goes, "There are two wolves within us; the one we feed more wins." 

[2-The Human Pattern of Development] Another crucial factor that plays an important role in this framework is the process of how worldviews develop in individuals (This applies also to whole civilizations). Humans in fact go through a predictable pattern of growth or development. It begins with being (in Stage #1) Egocentric at the start of life, a stage in which one is selfishly focused on one's self. From there, if humans are to develop properly, they should move on to being (2) Ethnocentric, a stage in which the person transcends one's selfishness and includes one's "tribe" or "insider group" as valuable as well.

[3-Beyond Ethnocentricity] Today, in our more interconnected and diverse world, it is common sense that one should not stop at the ethnocentric stage because there is more necessary development to undergo. From an exclusive love of one's "tribe" (ethnocentric), people should grow further into being more (3) Worldcentric, a stage in which also those considered "Others" should be valued as deserving: of at least a just and humane treatment and, if possible, of friendship and care as well. The highest stage would be being more (4) Cosmocentric, a stage in which not only humans but also other living and non-living things (our whole cosmos even!), become the objects of our concern and care. 

[4-Ethnocentricity as Dominant in History] Most people and civilizations in history though have been mainly ethnocentric. The vast majority have lived their lives viewing the world from a "tribal" point of view which is based on the following mentality: “my 'tribe' is better than others," "my tribe has a higher truth"; or even, "my tribe is the superior one among all others." That is still true even today for most of the world's population. One dark aspect of an uncritical ethnocentricity is that people who we consider "Others" are dehumanized in our worldview (they seem "less than human"). This leads to us treating them in negative ways without feeling too much guilt. Another thing to note: the ethnocentric worldview is also characterized by a “mythic-literal understanding” of the tribe’s foundational principles (aka, stories, teachings, dogmas). For example, God appointed white people to bring civilization to the whole world; Hitler is the German nation’s saviour; America is the new chosen nation of God, etc.

Important to note here: When you are in a certain stage (particularly, Stage 2: Ethnocentric-Tribal), you can only see what this stage's worldview lets you see. You find it hard to put yourself in another’s shoes (which is more characteristic of Stage 3). Therefore, you think that this tribal-centered worldview is the truth; you are not so concerned with the "others." You think their worldviews are wrong or inferior. You usually cannot think critically about the worldview of the stage you are in because that is the pond (as it were) in which you are now swimming. It follows that you can only objectively and critically evaluate lower-stage worldviews. 

[4-My "Tribe"]  My "tribe" can mean many things: my family and extended family, my clan, my village. Particularly important for our topic here, “tribe” also refers to: my race, my culture, my social and economic class, my gender, my religion, etc. It is natural to value one's "tribe" but uncritically overvaluing it unfortunately results in neglecting other groups or, worse yet, marginalizing, discriminating, and even causing harm to others.

Hence the importance in our present context of studying disciplines such as critical race theories, postcolonial and liberationist theories, and (particularly in my field of religious studies) integral theories of religion that apply developmental theories of worldviews to particular religious mentalities.

[5-"The Imperial Gene"] Human civilizations are, moreover, innately imperialistic. Imperialism is the lust for dominance and control over others that lies at the heart of civilizations. If a particular civilization acquires enough power, it is usually tempted to use that power to exert control over others. That has often happened in history when one human group moves out to conquer and dominate other groups. 

[6-Western Imperialism] At a certain point in world history, Western civilizations acquired tremendous power through advances in science, technology, and the production of goods that resulted in the development of better means of transportation, more powerful means to wage war and other intellectual and material resources. This power was a catalyst for certain Western powers to exert their dominance over "weaker" groups either in the West itself or beyond the West. When Westerners conquered other non-Western groups, they also developed a hubris that made them think that their own Western civilization was superior to the conquered ones.

I happen to apply the framework here to Western civilization because of our particular topic but it is important to remember that the barbarism, violence, imperialism, and the hubris of civilization are not only "Western" problems. They are universal problems that appear when the conditions are right or when this particular "wolf is fed." I am half-Japanese and I lived in Japan for a long time. Thus, I know very well that in Asia for example, Japan, a non-Western imperial power, is a clear example of malevolent imperialism in recent history. One can also look at the history of slavery around the world to see that it is a universal barbarism that has been practiced in varying forms in all civilizations.

[7-The Process of Colonization] Here in North America, when Westerners arrived from Europe and encountered the indigenous people who were already living here, all the above-mentioned factors came together and produced a "perfect storm" as it were, that would be disastrous for the indigenous people. The Europeans brought their civilization with them and colonized this land (as they did elsewhere in the world). While we acknowledge that European civilization has many good things in it, we must also point out that the colonization process was characterized by all of the above-mentioned factors, namely, an ethnocentric mentality that was convinced of the superiority of Western civilization and its religion (Christianity) and that looked down upon other cultures as inferior. Present also was an imperialistic lust bent on conquering people, obtaining their lands, and making the new land into a colony that would benefit the mother country at the expense of the original inhabitants of the land. This whole process, moreover, frequently utilized barbaric violence to achieve and maintain such a colonial order. 

I am referring to my present location--North America. If this process is applied though to different settings in the world and historical periods, it will show that there are remarkable similarities in the patterns that imperial powers use to colonize other people and lands. Imperialism and colonialism then are fundamental human problems. Here in North America though, the aggressors were Europeans and their descendants.

[8-Continuing Imperialism and Colonialism] In time, even as (upper) North America became independent nations (Canada, the USA), the ruling class of people (who were for the most part white descendants of Europeans) inherited the same ethnocentric mentality and hubris with a subtler (but still insidious) imperialism that continued to uphold (in our case) a Canadian identity and order that were still firmly rooted in the European superiority complex of earlier ages. This continued the colonization program begun earlier in several ways. That meant continuing oppression, discrimination, and margination of those groups that were considered "Others"--Indigenous, Black, other people of colour (BIPOC), women, people with alternative sexual orientations, etc. 

[9-The Role of Religion] At a certain point in Western history Christianity became the religion of Western civilization. This state was already firmly in place when Western powers embarked upon their imperial projects. As an integral part of Western civilization, Christianity was also the ally of Western civilization for better or for worse in many areas by, for example, justifying its expansion by invoking divine sanction upon it or being an agent of the state to westernize people by christianizing them.

In the case of the residential schools, the state coopted Christian churches and entrusted them with the running of many schools. A significant number of them were run by Catholic religious orders. In this case, Christian churches became something like the broker of Western civilization to the indigenous people. The residential school system's mandate was to "assimilate" the younger generation of indigenous people to mainline Canadian culture. That should be understood more correctly though as a form of cultural genocide by forcing people to give up their culture and adopt a foreign, European-rooted one. This was unfortunately done with all the above-mentioned dark elements of Western civilization, namely, an ethnocentric mentality and hubris as well as imperialism and colonialism, arguably with significant violence to uphold it. The "violence" referred to here consisted mainly of negligence and cruelty that led to many deaths of the most vulnerable ones (children), as well as a lack of transparency and accountability that prevented the wider world from knowing what precisely was going on within these institutions. That last factor is the sordid aspect that is now more clearly being revealed particularly in the discoveries of scores of unmarked graves of children and the scandalous hesitancy on the part of certain Catholic authorities to apologize and to cooperate with disclosing what really happened in this sorry history of the residential schools.

 

Part II

What Do We Do Now?

[10-The Shift to Worldcentric]  Since the end of the Second World War through the 1960s and continuing to today, the consciousness of a significant number of people particularly in the Western world has undergone a shift from an ethnocentric worldview (Stage 2 above) to a decidedly more worldcentric worldview (Stage 3). (I refer here particularly to those who are members of the dominant and privileged groups in our society.) Because of that, we are able to more critically evaluate lower stages and their accompanying worldviews (see annotation of #3). In this case, the object of our critical evaluation is the earlier dominant ethnocentric stage within which the colonizers lived and acted, with its superiority complex and hubris, its imperial and colonizing lust and its violent, even barbaric ways to achieve power and control over others. When we do this, we are understandably disgusted and shocked because we are in a more worldcentric stage in which it has become common sense to think that everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, social class, culture, religion, etc., deserve as humans to be treated with justice, respect, and honour.

[11-Facing the Painful Truth]  With this realization brought about by a developmental growth in consciousness and worldview, the proper responses (based on what was pointed out above) would arguably be the following: Firstly, confront courageously and admit humbly the horrible historical actions perpetrated by the “colonizers” in the past. This is particularly painful for many Canadians because these colonizers are tantamount to being one’s ancestors. Avoidance, escape, denial, defense of historical injustices done especially to indigenous people and other oppressed groups (BIPOC, etc.) are unhelpful and destructive. They will just impede the necessary reconciliation from happening. As the New Testament says, "The Truth will set you free" (John 8:32).

[12-The Importance of Developmental Theories]  It is important to know the different developmental stages of how people understand the world (worldview) and how that affects our actions. What was presented above is a very rudimentary model but it gives us a good idea of why certain actions were done in the past which seem so horrible to us now but were widely practiced up to our recent history. From this we can conclude that the real thing that leads to humans treating other humans inhumanely is an uncritical ethnocentric-tribal mentality infused with a superiority complex and imperialism. In many contexts around the world, it is true that the ones who embodied this state and acted out its cruel agenda were Westerners. That should be clearly maintained. However, a deep study of history will reveal that it is actually endemic to human civilization (as clearly stated in #1). Hence, all of us (and not only Westerners) should be humble and careful not to repeat the unfortunate happenings of history. 

[13-Valorizing the Experiences of BIPOC]  What I described above (#11, #12) is most applicable to those who are in a socially privileged state. In our Canadian or Western context it is usually tied to race and gender (white and male), among others. We should take note though that the consequences of this unfortunate history are quite different for those who are still in a disadvantaged, marginalized, and oppressed state (e.g. BIPOC). The historical traumas that their forebears suffered continue today in that they are still significantly impacted in different ways by these historical and often continuing attitudes and acts of discrimination, marginalization, violence, and aggression. Hence, we should work to make our society one in which there is equality for all regardless of race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, social class, culture, religion, etc. That often means intentionally doing some affirmative action to ensure that BIPOC people are given equal and fair opportunities in different areas of the society (such as workplaces, schools, churches, etc.). 

[14-Decolonization]  Decolonization (that is, giving up the privileged status of the white, Euro-North American narrative of the world) should also happen in all areas: For instance, we should ensure that telling the Canadian story does not only mean the story of Canada told from the dominant white and patriarchal perspective. It should include and even privilege the stories of other non-dominant groups that are in Canada today. In this particular case, the painful truths of the residential school system should be fearlessly recounted not to sow rancour among different groups but to further the process of reconciliation which can only be achieved by facing the past with honesty.

 

Part III

Religion / Catholicism and Reform: Whither?

As a scholar of religion and theology, I am deeply invested in this theme. First of all, religion like human civilization is also deeply ambiguous: it can be a source of profound inspiration and good in the world but it can also be the cause of horrible situations. I have spoken/written elsewhere about religion (and Catholicism) as a force for good but here I must point out religion's dark side. By "religion" I refer particularly to the Catholic institutional form of it because it is a key factor in the residential school system. Besides, I'm an insider to it and know its glorious lights (and there are many!) but also its many dark shadows. I hope the following remarks are read as coming from someone who sincerely respects and loves the tradition while pushing for reform.

[15-The Challenges of Reform in Catholicism]  Whatever I've said about Western civilization above is also specifically applicable to Catholicism. It can be, has been, and still is (in many regards) uncritically and blindly ethnocentric-tribal, infected by a subtle hubris, imperialism, and self-sufficiency that can make it intransigent, incorrigible, non-transparent, and non-accountable. One can make a case that it is even more challenging for an institutional structure like Roman Catholicism to reform itself because many of its most ardent faithful, whether leaders or members, are still stuck—in my opinion—in a stage 2 uncritical tribal-centric worldview with regard to their Catholic faith. By that, I refer to a form of religiosity which cannot see or cannot honestly look at the dysfunctions of the religious institution. If these dysfunctions are known, the ethnocentric believer will hesitate and refuse to point those out and will therefore remain complicit to the dysfunctions of the religious institution. These believers may have developed a worldcentric or cosmocentric consciousness in other areas of life but with regard to religious faith, they are unfortunately swimming in a ‘stage 2 pond’ which they are unable to evaluate objectively and more critically.

It is therefore a daunting task to help many so-called fervent Christians (in this case, Catholics) move from ethnocentric-tribal to more worldcentric/cosmocentric in the area of religious faith because many forms of conventional Christianity endow the ethnocentric-tribal stage with a kind of "divine-holy seal." This makes believers mistakenly think that their ethnocentric-tribal form of religion holds absolute truth and that to give up that form of religion means to abandon God's very will. Furthermore, this kind of faith includes—in the case of Catholicism—a belief in the exalted status of the Catholic Church itself in God’s scheme of things. In this state, it is extremely difficult to apply critical theories (such as postcolonial, liberationist, feminist lenses, or critical race theories, co-dependency theories, etc.) to the topic of church because that would be tantamount to destroying the sacred edifice of faith. 

Meanwhile, the centre of gravity of present-day Western societies in general has shifted to worldcentric/cosmocentric. This produces a seemingly irreconcilable gap because many churches are still squarely at the ethnocentric-tribal stage. That is, they encourage belief that their religion is the one directly sanctioned by God himself, something like Noah’s ark in a sea of godlessness and secularization. The “faith”—this kind of religiosity urges—should be defended at all costs like a beleaguered fort. It is no surprise then that many forms of Christianity appear as outdated, irrelevant, and incapable of dealing with present-day issues especially to younger people. 

As a scholar of religion and as someone who still firmly considers himself a Catholic theologian, I firmly maintain that there is a way to continue being deeply religious-spiritual, even deeply Catholic today and at the same time be worldcentric/cosmocentric even in religious faith but voices like mine are considered by many conventional religious leaders as maverick and even rogue because they go against deeply entrenched ethnocentric-tribal forms of religiosity/Catholicity.

Let me reiterate though that for me the biggest task in this area is still this: How do we help religious believers to shift to a higher worldcentric and cosmocentric stage from an ethnocentric-tribal stage even in the realm of religious faith? [Confer for example James Fowler’s ‘Stages of Faith’ as a reference.] There is no easy answer to this. In fact, one cannot even explain the different developmental levels as applied to faith in certain circles because those in an ethnocentric-tribal level will only feel that they are being discriminated against and not being respected with regard to their religious beliefs.

[16-Catholic Resources for Reform]  Despite everything, we must forge ahead. We can insist on Catholicism’s need to own better this history, apologize more properly, and more decidedly take the necessary steps toward reconciliation on the basis of: (1) Basic ethical principles as outlined in documents such as the UN declaration of universal human rights. Many of the principles there are actually re-echoed and explained further from a specifically Catholic perspective in the Catholic Church’s very own (2) [Catholic] Social Teachings (CST); also in the different foundational principles of (3) Liberation Theologies, to name a few things.

One problem with institutional Catholicism though is that it is generally progressive and avant-garde toward the outside world (ad extra) but conservative and slow with regard to reform directed toward itself (ad intra)—another tell-tale sign that many in its ranks are still in an ethnocentric-tribal stage of religious faith.

Please note well: All the statements above are subject to philosopher Ken Wilber's principle which says, "Everything is true, but only partially so." These are just my preliminary and very imperfect efforts to make sense of the different horrors from history such as the present discoveries of unmarked graves in former residential school locations. -Julius-Kei Kato, PhD – June 30, 2021, London, Ontario.  Email: jkato@uwo.ca

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