© Credit Unsplash.com
Among those who attended residential schools, the impacts were substantial and widespread, as Figure 1 demonstrates. Between two-thirds and threequarters of survivors indicated they experienced impacts, including: isolation from family and community, loss of culture, harsh discipline, as well as physical, emotional, or verbal abuse. Although the federal, territorial, and provincial governments practiced a haphazard approach to the schooling of Métis children, they did attend residential schools and suffered similar hardships as other Indigenous children. In the north, the federal government created a number of day schools, which were attended by Inuit as well as other Indigenous
and non-Indigenous children. These schools were often great distances from children’s home communities, meaning they often did not see their families for years. Some parents moved closer to the schools to be near their children, often drastically transforming their livelihood. The impact of these northern school experiences has been reported as similar to southern schools (TRC, 2015b, 2015c).
Colonial Ideologies White Supremacy
The ideologies (i.e., social or political philosophies) of European settlers – particularly regarding race, gender, and religion – stood in stark contrast to those held by most Indigenous Peoples. In fact, a key justification
for colonization and colonial oppression was the erroneous belief in white supremacy; that people racialized as white are inherently superior and so should exclusively possess all forms of power and privilege. Anti-Indigenous racism and social exclusion have not only resulted in the inequitable distribution of resources, power, and autonomy, they have created barriers to Indigenous people’s participation in all aspects of political, economic, and social life (Allan & Smylie, 2015; Das Gupta, 2018; Moreton-Robinson, 2015; Paradies, 2016; Perry & McCallum, 2018). Relegated to the bottom of a socially constructed racial hierarchy, after 400 years, Indigenous people continue to experience inequitable social determinants, which directly and indirectly increase their exposure to illness and reduce their capacity to address social determinants of health. Research has firmly established that groups subjected to racial and other forms of discrimination experience more frequent and severe negative health outcomes – in part due to the stress of living in racist environments (Akbulut et al., 2020; Gee & Ford, 2011; Harris et al., 2006; Raphael, 2016; Reid et al., 2019; Williams & Mohammed, 2013). While the level of racism affecting particular groups is difficult to measure, one
Understanding Indigenous Health Inequalities through a Social Determinants Model
19
