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About |
About
John C. Payette
John, a member of the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve on the Manitoulin Island, has a Bachelor of Education in Native Studies from Brock University, St Catherines, Ontario.
Born in 1945, John grew up in an urban environment at a time when there was still a government policy that mandated Indian children be placed in Residential Schools purposely to strip these children of their Native language, customs, and traditions. The realization of the fate of other children from his home Reserve manifested itself through the years into a self-guilt. John realized he was a Native child that had escaped the horrors of Residential Schools primarily because his father ensured he grew up speaking English off the Reserve.
Because of the government policies towards Natives, John never got to learn to speak the Ojibwe language that his father wanted so much to teach him. His father's fear of John being sent to one of those residential schools if he were to teach him his Native language was real. Growing up in the 50s, and 60s, John felt the ever-present condescending attitude towards him simply because of his Native looks. This life experience left John scarred in a different way than those growing up on his home Reserve.
Born in 1945, John grew up in an urban environment at a time when there was still a government policy that mandated Indian children be placed in Residential Schools purposely to strip these children of their Native language, customs, and traditions. The realization of the fate of other children from his home Reserve manifested itself through the years into a self-guilt. John realized he was a Native child that had escaped the horrors of Residential Schools primarily because his father ensured he grew up speaking English off the Reserve.
Because of the government policies towards Natives, John never got to learn to speak the Ojibwe language that his father wanted so much to teach him. His father's fear of John being sent to one of those residential schools if he were to teach him his Native language was real. Growing up in the 50s, and 60s, John felt the ever-present condescending attitude towards him simply because of his Native looks. This life experience left John scarred in a different way than those growing up on his home Reserve.