Burden of history on RCMP

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A lot of ideas were swirling around the Windspeaker newsroom shortly after we received the news that a mother and her child had been shot dead by an RCMP officer during a botched child seizure on the Tsuu T'ina First Nation on March 22.

We've been taking a very close look at the history of the interplay between Aboriginal peoples and Canadian authorities recently. It seems the stories are related.

Our research tells us there's no reason at all to expect an Aboriginal person to respond well when confronted with a non-Aboriginal figure of authority. Our study of all the injustices piled upon Aboriginal people in this country - the colonizers' racist assumptions of racial superiority; the physical, psychological and sexual abuse at church and state run residential schools; legislation that made traditional cultures illegal, including partaking in ceremonies like the potlatch and sun dance; the pass system which confined Native people to reserves; the forced imposition of the Indian Act; the entire land claim process, not to mention Ipperwash and all the other tragedies where lives were lost in suspicious circumstances - made one point perfectly clear.

If authority figures think they're going into confrontational situations with Aboriginal people without the crushing weight of this shameful history hanging around their necks, they're damned fools.

The government of Canada apologized for one of the above mentioned atrocities last Jan. 7. The limited apology rang a bit hollow with most of our readers because Ottawa hasn't shown the kind of active, enthusiastic, genuine remorse it's going to take to undo more than 100 years of harm and the suspicion that goes with it.

Now is the time.

Canada must face up to its shameful history before another life is lost.

A family member could have been asked to intercede with the woman after the first unsuccessful attempt to enter the house. Calling the police is standard practice in these situations, but should it be?

A show of force without the respect and humility of a genuinely remorseful system is a recipe for disaster.