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By GSU staff rep Mason Van Luven
Colonial systems, like that of Residential Schools, do not simply end. The institutions we depend on - education, government, healthcare - were once informed and climatized to the events of then; or what we might call history. Though legislation has changed, and the doors to many of these places have been closed, they reverberate today. Mark Twain once said, “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes”, and history wears different masks to hide its true intent.
Today, systemic issues disproportionately affect indigenous communities. Poverty affects one in four Indigenous peoples, and four in ten of Canada’s Indigenous children live in poverty. Of those children who live with a lone parent, more than half live in poverty. Indigenous peoples face disproportionate rates of food and housing insecurity, too. These circumstances then intersect with one another, and begin a compound effect where one reinforces the other, resulting in an ever broadening list of issues that perpetuate colonial systems.
There is so much more to learn!
GSU is building a truth and reconciliation lending library. If you have resources you would recommend for our library or are interested in borrowing a book, contact staff rep Mason Van Luven at Mason@gsu.ca.
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