mushkegowuk logoNothing short of a “cultural genocide.”

That’s what a report on Canada’s residential school system said Tuesday, a culmination of six years of study.

Mushkegowuk Council Grand Chief Lawrence Martin says he had a mixed reaction.

“That’s a heck of a lot of recommendations,” he said, referring to the 94 recommendations, adding it will take time for the government to get through them all and contemplate them.

Martin adds on the positive side, the report holds great detail into the 120+ year history of the schools for the public, and schools to see.

“I kind of see that kind of material being used to develop curriculum’s and (help students) develop a better understanding of First Nations people of Canada,” he said.

The recommendations include everything from greater police independence and reducing the number of aboriginal children in foster care to restrictions on the use of conditional and mandatory minimum sentences.

When it comes to moving forward, Martin says a big thing for First Nations will be economic development.

He says that way, it will help people get out of poverty and give them the opportunity to travel, go to counselling services and provide financial support.

Martin says he was talking to a colleague in Montreal Tuesday, and that person asked how he can help the situation move forward.

Martin found he had to explain the history so the person could understand.  In that, he says education is important to growth and making Canada a better country for First Nations people.

The scope of the commission and its report is staggering. The full report, weighing in at six volumes and thousands of pages, will be released later this year.

It goes so far as to recommend additional CBC funding, a statutory holiday to honour survivors and an apology from the Pope on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church.

It also calls on federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments to fully adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as “the framework for reconciliation.”

It says the Canadian government essentially declared Aboriginal people unfit parents by establishing the system of more than 130 schools, administered mostly by Roman Catholic, Anglican, United, Methodist and Presbyterian churches.

Martin says while it’s important to move forward with all this, there is still some healing to be done.

(With files from The Canadian Press)