8/6/2019 Post Colonial Analysis

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3H

Is it true that the only thing we can ever truly own is ourselves? When a person is

stripped of land and personal property, or when a person has their rights violated and

personal freedoms curbed, the only thing remaining is their cultural and personal identity.

We would like to believe this is true, but Colonialism teaches us otherwise. The methods

of colonizers ensure that the individual selves of natives are stamped out and replaced by

subservient people who are modeled after the colonizers. To do so, colonizers useeconomic, psychological and social forces to fully assimilate natives, which, ultimately,

put them in control.

The mention of colonization usually evokes images of Africa around the mid

1800s. Not many people realize that Canada was also a part of Europe’s colonial

expansion. In Canada, the European school system was still around in the 1930s and was

systematically removing the cultural identity of natives, also doing it through religion. In

“Growing up Native,” Carol Geddes explains how in Canada’s north “travelling

missionaries would come and impose themselves on us” (43), and tell “frightening”

stories and “lecture us on how to lead a Christian life (43). This use of religion is

reinforced when native kids were forced to attend school. Geddes remembers the key

messages of the colonizers: “Indian culture was evil, that Indian people were bad, [and]

that their only hope was to be Christian. (46). As well, she notes that the while they

wanted natives to give up their culture, they never really invited natives to be a part of

western culture. In fact, she recalls how the school system repeatedly segregated the

student activities and courses. Geddes and the other natives “couldn’t join anything the

white kids started” (46). And, “they didn’t even ask the native kids, they just put them in

typing (47). Ultimately, the school system failed to reach native kids, resulting in most of

them leaving school to join the labour workforce. Of course, the employers by this time

were all European. Therefore, this systematic abuse not left many natives ashamed of

their culture, it also propped up an economic system that separated natives and

Europeans.

8/6/2019 Post Colonial Analysis

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4M

Is it true that the only thing we can ever truly own is ourselves? When a person is

stripped of land and personal property, or when a person has their rights violated and

personal freedoms curbed, the only thing remaining is their cultural and personal identity.

Correct? Well, we would like to believe this is true, but post colonial texts suggest

otherwise. Many post colonial writers explore how the cultural and personal identities of people are fragile and in need of protection. In fact, they show how, historically,

colonizers ensure that the individual selves of native peoples are stamped out and

replaced by subservient people who are modeled after the colonizers. To do so,

colonizers use economic, psychological and social forces to fully assimilate natives,

which, ultimately, put them in control.

The mention of colonization usually evokes images of Africa around the mid

1800s. Not many people realize, however, that Canada was also a part of Europe’s

colonial expansion. In Canada, the European school system was still around in the 1930s.

Inseparable from religion and economics, the school system was systematically removing

the cultural identity of natives. In “Growing up Native,” Carol Geddes, a survivor of the

residential school program, describes how colonizers used religion, education and

economics to ensure colonial domination, For example, explains how in Canada’s north

“travelling missionaries would come and impose themselves on [them]” (43), and tell

“frightening” stories and “lecture [them] on how to lead a Christian life (43). This use of

religion was reinforced when native kids were forced to attend “white” school. Geddes

remembers the key messages of the teachers and missionaries: “Indian culture was evil,

that Indian people were bad, [and] that their only hope was to be Christian. (46). As well,

she notes that the while the missionaries wanted natives to give up their culture, they

never really invited the natives to be a part of western culture. In fact, she recalls how the

school system repeatedly segregated the student activities and courses. Geddes and the

other natives “couldn’t join anything the white kids started” (46). Also, during courseselection time at school, the teachers “didn’t even ask the native kids, they just put them

in typing (47). Ultimately, the school system failed to reach native kids or give them

marketable skills for the new economy of the north, which resulted in most of them

leaving school to join the labour workforce. Of course, the employers by this time were

all European. Therefore, this systematic abuse not only left many natives ashamed of

their culture, it also propped up an economic system that separated natives and

Europeans.