Boarding schools = "holocaust"?

Public outcry continues over Lawrence Joesph comparing the holocaust to the residential school experience

Jewish history prof. and journalist debate Joseph's comments

By Bre McAdamThere's been public outcry after Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River NDP candidate Lawrence Joseph compared the holocaust to the residential school experience, but a Jewish history professor and a Saskatchewan journalist think it depends on how you define holocaust.

"It means a burnt offering to the Gods," stated University of Toronto Jewish history professor Dr. Frank Bialystok. He says it all comes down to differentiating THE holocaust as a specific historical genocide, and A holocaust being any type of horrific event.

Eagle Feather News editor John Lagimodiere believes the residential school era is Canada's holocaust, and that it has left lasting effects.

"Parents had no choice but to have their children rounded up and taken. So there are comparisons," said Lagimodiere, who believes you can break down the definition of holocaust to mean widespread destruction. "You can make a fair argument that that kind of destruction did happen in the community from the policies in the residential schools and the outcomes."NDP candidate Lawrence Joseph defends residential school, holocaust comparison

Saskatchewan NDP candidate says similarities between holocaust and residential school experience

By Bre McAdamNDP candidate for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River Lawrence Joseph is defending his comparison of the residential school experience to the holocaust made at a candidates forum in Meadow Lake Tuesday.

Joseph says he was responding to a specific comment made during a debate on compensation for residential school victims.

"Somebody made a comment to the effect that basically people should get on with their lives and forget. No they shouldn't. They should never do that."

Joseph stands by his comparison, telling News Talk Radio that in his opinion, there are similarities between the two historical tragedies.

"If you look at the dictionary at holocaust it describes an effort to clean-up a race. Without any doubt in my mind that was what the government wanted to do," said Joseph, who claims he wasn't trying to offend anybody but understands there will be some backlash.'Holocaust' comment not appropriate:  LaytonNDP leader Jack Layton says it's not appropriate for one of his Saskatchewan candidates to call the Indian residential school experience a "holocaust."

Speaking to reporters in Thunder Bay, Ont., on Wednesday night, Layton said he's glad Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River candidate Lawrence Joseph has apologized for using those words.

The Holocaust is a term commonly used to describe the systematic murder of six million Jewish people by the Nazis during the Second World War.

Some historians and former residential school students have likened the residential school system as Canada's own holocaust, referring to the abuse and systematic racism experienced in the schools during last half of the 20th century.

Layton said he understood where Joseph, a former chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, was coming from.

"There's no question that the residential school experience was devastating for a great many aboriginal Canadians. And emotions overtook him," Layton said.Comment:  I think Layton's position is a good one. Yes, we can understand why Joseph made the comparison, even though it's overblown.

Comparing the Native holocaust to the Jewish Holocaust overall is fair. But the boarding-school experience didn't result in the mass murder of millions of Indians. It was only one small part of the Native holocaust.

In that sense, Joseph's comparison misses the mark. Let's save the term "holocaust" for cases where it really and truly applies.

For more on the subject, see German Canadians Protest Holocaust Exhibit, Gover on Indians and Jews, and Jewish Politicians Want Indians to Disappear.

Train the Holocaust game

The Board Game No One Wants to Play More Than Once

By Jamin Brophy-WarrenThe phrase “board game” usually connotes the likes of ”Monopoly” or “Yahtzee”--fun pastimes for the beach or family outings. But Savannah College of Art and Design professor Brenda Brathwaite has created a game which is far from a trivial pursuit.

Brathwaite created “Train” to explore the tragedy and devastation of the Holocaust. It made its debut last month at the Games for Change conference in New York City. Players load boxcars with tiny yellow figurines and are asked to move the trains from one end of the course to the other. They pull cards that either impede their progress or free some of the characters. Once a train reaches the “finish line,” the game is completed and it is revealed that the destination of the trains is Auschwitz. Nobody “wins.”How people react to the game:Not all players have the same experiences. I understand that someone who played the game compared it to “Halo”?

Yes, that has happened only once, and it was incredibly surprising to me, to the other players and to the people watching. It is not a common experience. The woman later told me she felt guilty about it, though. I think her callousness was an incredible learning opportunity for all of us. Some people approach the game and see it for what it is immediately, and their reaction is no less visceral than those who play the game. There are those who play all the way until the end and then realize where the trains were going-and it is such a steep drop. People become nauseated. Their faces flush. People have cried. There is always a one-hour period of discussion after (or two hours at MIT).

With that singular “Halo” exception, no one has ever wanted to play again. There is then the second experience, one of watching the game being played. I have watched it dozens of times now, and it still nauseates me when people put the passengers in the cars. I am fascinated when one player figures it out--puts it together--and suddenly stops his or her progression toward the end and instead works diligently to thwart everyone else. This player will often immediately request the rules wondering how he or she can subvert the system to save everyone. The dynamics of the experience are fascinating, moving and emotional for everyone, me included.Comment:  This is a great rejoinder to the designer who developed the King Philip's War game. His game is full of factual historical content. It tells you the war happened and shows how it was fought. You apparently get a great sense of the military strategies.

What it doesn't seem to have is an emotional or moral content. People don't feel bad if the colonists massacre the Indians or win the war. A horrible tragedy is reduced to an academic exercise.

The Train game is the opposite. Apparently you don't get a lot of factual or historical information about the Holocaust. In fact, many people don't realize they're playing a Holocaust game until the end. But the game makes the harm of genocide clear. People have intense emotional reactions that are undoubtedly more profound than any intellectual game could impart.

Brathwaite said she invented Train after her daughter learned about the Middle Passage in school and treated it like a vacation cruise. That's kind of how I imagine people will react to King Philip's War. If it's a smart and engaging game, as it seems to be, people will say, "Gee, that was fun. Let's play again!" Which isn't exactly the reaction you want from a game like this.

Brathwaite says she's also making a Trail of Tears game. It would be interesting to compare that to the King Philip's War game. I suspect they'll impart rather different lessons about the rightness or wrongness of America's war against Indians.

For more on the subject, see Protesting King Philip's War Game and Reactions to King Philip's War Game.