This story was written as an assignment for the Public Relations program at St. Clair College. All statements and facts are real.

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Two decades after the closing of the last residential school, Natives from different backgrounds are aiming for post-secondary education

Hailey Smith, 19, is studying web design at St. Clair College. Her sister, Deanna, 21, is a Windsor-based artist who is aiming to get a degree and become a teacher. Tom Lockhart, 55, studied Health Sciences until his very own health problem took him out of college. Muriel Sampson, 42, has a master’s and is urging her daughter to pursue higher education as well.

In common, they all share a similar family background: they are Natives and are aiming to break the stereotype that surrounds many Inuit, First Nations and Metis communities in Canada.

“The number of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit students have increased each year that I have worked at St. Clair College,” said Sampson, who is also a learner advisor at the institution.

A dark collective memory

For decades, school resembled a dark place for many who descended from the first inhabitants of the Americas. The forced removal of nearly 150 thousand indigenous children from their families to be placed in residential schools is still a strong memory. The institutions were designed to extract all the native culture from the girls’ and boys’ lives and replace it with Catholic and White people’s way of life. Despite this nightmare, many Metis, Inuit and First Nations insisted on getting an education for their families.

“My grandmother had an education savings plan for me,” said Sampson. “As a child, my family encouraged me to go to school and get good grades so that I could go to college or university. My father, aunts and uncle all have post-secondary educations.”

The last residential school was closed in 1996. In the same year, Guy Freedman’s daughter was born. She is now going to university.

“We are living in a modern society. Our young people are not very different from others. They want the same connectivity, the same things,” said Freedman. “Younger Indigenous are making a huge comeback.”

Besides being a father, he is also the president of the First Peoples Group, a company that works to develop positive connections between indigenous associations and other entities. Among their clients are city halls, universities and a 100% First Nation-based air flight company.

The burden of going first

But the idea that First Nations, Metis or Intuits can pursue their careers and be successful in technologically advanced areas is still something distant in the mind of many non-indigenous.

“It is difficult, because when people think Native American or Native Canadian, they always see the red dress, and the deerskin and the buffalo, they see us as being traditional. Actually, Natives were always moving with the times, we want to stay on top of things,” said Hailey Smith, a First Nations web design student.

She feels pressure for being the first generation of her family to go to college. Her sister, Deanna* shares the feeling.

“We have this stereotype that ‘Indians don’t graduate.’ So we have that pressure to prove them wrong, to go and do something,” said her. Hailey agrees. “There is this pressure on me being the first generation to go ‘make a name.’ So it is difficult for a lot of other Natives too, because they are facing the same thing. They want to make that name. They don’t want to be the stereotypical alcoholic Native that everyone perceives us to be.”

The urge for Natives to go to university now also has a root in the economic and political uncertainty. Today, Canada provides funding for those who are recognized by the government as “status Indian.” But some are afraid the benefit won’t last forever.

“There is uncertainty with Indigenous Post Secondary funding. I encouraged my daughter to go to college to get a diploma while it is still an opportunity that she has,” said Sampson. She also believes that her example can show her children how important a post-secondary education is. “It was a motivator for me to get my Masters of Education because I wanted to be a role model. If I was encouraging that expectation from my child or other students, I wanted to show them that it was possible by doing it myself.”

The pursuit of postsecondary education also is, for many, a way of improving the living conditions of their communities. Lockhart recalls facing prejudice in treating his health. Because he had a severe problem with the liver, the doctors first connected his illness to alcoholism.

“But I don’t drink. I had a non-alcoholic type of cirrhosis because of diabetes. There is this stereotype of the drunken Indian. It is hard to find a decent doctor,” said Lockhart.

He believes that if more Metis, Inuit and First Nations graduate in the health field, the better and more appropriate services they will be able to get for their communities.

*Deanna is also the artist behind the images that illustrate this story. More of her work can be found here.