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16TuesdayMay62014PlanningtoFireSmartorcleanuparoundyourhomecamporcabinthisspringorsummerYouneedapermittoburnbeoreburningtimberbrushgrassorotherdebrisoutsideomunicipallimits.GetareepermittoburnromyourregionalorlocalEnvironmentandNaturalResourcesofce.Permitstoburnwithinmunicipallimitsareavailableromyourtownhamletorbandofce.MoreinformationonFireSmartandburnpermitsisavailableon-lineatwww.nwtre.comorfromyourlocalENRofce.REMEMBEREVERYFIREISAPOTENTIALWILDLANDFIREHAZARD.DONOTLEAVEANYFIREUNATTENDED.PERMITTOBURNREQUIREDfromMay1toSeptember30MakingthemintonicewhitekidsGwichinhistorianexploresimpactsofschoolsonInuvikareaByMEAGANWOHLBERGCrystalFrasercouldhavebeensenttoliveinGrollierHallforschoolifshehadbeencomingfromasmallercommunityandnotalreadylivinginInuvik.TheinfamousresidentialschooldormitoryiswherehermotheradaughterofaresidentialschoolsurvivoralsostayedwhilegoingtoschoolawayfromherhomecommunityofTsiigehtchic.Thatswhythetopicofhoweducationwasusedtoassimi-lateandcolonizeindigenouspeoplesfromtheBeaufortDeltaregionissuchapointofinterestforFraseraGwichinhistoriancurrentlydoingherPhDresearchontheimpactsofchurchandstate-ledschool-ing-aswellaspointsofstu-dentresistance-inthearea.Therecertainlyisanin-tergenerationalfamilyap-proachthatIwanttotaketothisshesharedinaninter-view.TheresalotofpeopleIknowwhohavebeentouchedbythissubjectandIthoughtitwasprobablyagoodtime.Fraserwhoisinthenalstagesofherdoctoralre-searchattheUniversityofAl-bertasaidshealwaysknewherstudiesinhistorywouldaddressaNortherntopic-Iwantedtomakeacontribu-tionbacktotheNorth-butitwasin2011whentheTruthandReconciliationCommis-sionheldanationaleventinInuviktogathertestimonyonresidentialschoolexperi-encesthatFraserfoundherinspiration.IfollowedthemediaquitecloselyandafterlongtalkswithmyfamilyandmysupervisorIthoughtwhatbetterpersonthanonewhogrewupinthesystemwhoisindigenouswhosinthepositiontoconductthistypeofstudyshesaid.Ithoughtthatwouldbegreat.MakingthemintonicewhitekidsWhileshestillhastwoyearslefttoworkonherthesisFraserwasinYellowknifeatthePrinceofWalesNorthernHeritageCentrelastweektopresentherresearchcompiledfromarchivaldocumentsandinterviewswithover60peo-plefromtheregionincludingformerstudentsteachersandadministrators.Thetopicofthepresenta-tionMakingThemintoNiceWhiteKidshonedinonthecommonalityofcolonizationandassimilationtacticsem-ployedbybothchurchandstate-includingthefederalandter-ritorialsystems-between1950and1996aswellasmomentsandmethodsofsubversiveac-tionbythestudents.Herresearchindicatesthattheoriginalchurch-basedschoolinAklavikdifferedfromsouthernresidentialschoolsinthatwhilereligionEnglishandlabourweretheprimarycom-ponentsofclassroomeducationchildrenwerestillexposedtotraditionalculturebecausetheadministratorsweredependantuponlocalpeopleforsurvival.Thatchangedwhenthefed-eralgovernmenttookcontrolovereducationin1955-atimeofgreatinterestintheNorth.Thefederalgovernment...didanumberofinvestigationsandreportsanddecidedtostartbuildingsettlementstobringlocalindigenousfamiliesintocapitalismintomodernityandapartofthatwouldhavebeeneducationFrasersaid.Whileattemptstocreateamulticulturalcurriculumthatwasregion-specicbeganintheearly70saftertheGNWTtookovereducationFrasersaidthoseeffortslargelyfellat.Theyneverseemedtobeabletohavethenancialre-sourcesorthedeterminationtoactuallyseeitthroughtoim-plementationkindofafailedprojectifyouwillFrasersaid.Thoughitsdifculttomakegeneralizationsatthispointinherresearchasshehastwoyearslefttoworkonherthe-sisFrasersaidthetitleofthepresentation-aquotefromanAklavikman-sumsuptheex-perienceforalotofthestudentsshespokewith.Eventhoughinsomecom-munitiesamongsomefamiliesitwasnotalwaysrequiredforstudentstobesentawaytoresi-dentialschoolespeciallyunderthefederalgovernment-andtheGNWTwasstillusingthislanguageinthe1970s-thelan-guagewasthatthesechildrenneedtobeassimilated.Soitdenitelywasacolonialpolicythatwasstillineffectupuntilthe1970sshesaid.ThatsystemofassimilationspreadoutsidetheschoolandintocommunitygroupslikeGirlGuidesaswellFraserargues.OneofthepointsImakewiththeGirlGuidesisthatitactuallywasanextensionofcolonialeducationinthattheywerelookingtocreategoodCanadiancitizensandifGirlGuidescouldinstillasenseofnationalprideintheCanadianstateiftheycouldmaketheseNorthernkidsfeelclosertochildreninthesouthiftherewasaunifyingnarra-tivethateveryonecouldusethenyouwouldhaveagenera-tionofindividualsIsupposewhowereperhapsmoreas-similatedthanthegenerationbeforeshesaid.MomentsofresistanceWhileshesaidthecolo-nialeducationsystemhasbeenextremelypowerfulinshapingthepoliticalculturalandsociallandscapeoftheBeaufortDeltaincludingleavingalegacyofinter-generationaltraumainsomefamiliesherstudieshavealsounearthedmomentsofresistancewhethersuccess-fulornot.Thosemomentsincludeattemptsateeingschoolofwomenbecomingpreg-nantsotheycouldbesenthomeofoutrightrebellionattheresidencesandothersmallbutpowerfulactsofsubversionlikeoneshownbyayoungGwichinwomanatGirlGuidesShewastoldbyhertroopleaderthatshehadtotakeherbraidsoutbecauseitmadeherlooklikeanindianandsherefusedbecauseshewantedtorepresentherselfinacer-tainwayinfrontofherwhitefriendsFrasersaid.InfusingAboriginalvoicesinmodernhistoryThoughherresearchisnotintendedtobeacomprehensiveoverviewofeducationduringthetimeframeFrasersaidshewantsittostartaconversationandperhapsmovementonintergenerationalhealingforpeopleintheregionaswellasgivelivinglocalpeopleawaytoincludetheirstoriesinmodernhistory.TheresalonghistoryespeciallyamongAborigi-nalpeoplewhereresearcherscomeinandtakewhattheyneedandleaveandyouneverhearfromthemagain.Cer-tainlythatisnotsomethingthatIwanttoreproduceFrasersaid.Asahistoriantheresalargeemphasisonndingyoursourcesatyourarchiveswhetheritstheterritorialorthenationalarchivescollect-ingenoughwrittendocu-mentsthatyoureabletopiecethewrittenhistorytogetherandoralhistoriesaresortofleftuptoanthropologistsorethnologists.ButIthinkthatespeciallyifyourestudyingamoderntopicandtherearepeoplewhocanbringlivedexperiencesthosekindsofinsightstoyourprojectthatisofcriticalimportance.Notonlythatitisespe-ciallyimportanttocapturethevoicesofAboriginalpeoplebecausefortoolonghaveEurocentrichistoriansbeenspeakingonbehalfofAboriginalpeople.SoIdenitelywanttoinfusealocalindigenousvoiceintomyworkandletthepeoplespeakforthemselves.PhotocourtesyofCrystalFraserCrystalFraserspendstimeatafamilyshingcampnearTreeRiverusedbyherrelativesfromTsiigehtchic.EducationHistory