Synthesis of “Indigenous Resistance and Racist Schooling on the Borders of Empires: Coast Salish Cultural Survival"

     For hundreds of years, the boundaries that separate the many different territories in the world have been erased and re-drawn as powerful nations and communities urge for expansion of power. During the globalization era attacking a smaller, inferior nation or territory was a minute cost that must be paid in order to grow into a more powerful nation. The benefits of taking over land outweigh the negative side effects. Not only does the superior country gain more land and resources but the leaders make a point to unite the already present community with the new community. This unity is forged often through force and violence. The indigenous people rebel against the force that is attempting to civilize the natives. After the initial rebellions take place, the invading nation makes schooling mandatory for all. The purpose for this forceful education is to show the natives the ways of the new nation. All native culture, language, and lifestyles are demolished and the schooling teaches the new, cultures and ways of the country, forcing assimilation.

     The article “Indigenous Resistance and Racist Schooling on the Borders of Empires: Coast Salish Cultural Survival” by Michael Marker focuses on one example of this historic battle between countries. Border disputes between British Columbia and Washington State have resulted in many racial and religious issues. The US is generally more liberal in freedoms and rights than Canada however both nations have struggled with assimilating natives into the modern day world. These issues date back to the first English settlements on the new world. The native people were living in an unknown world, able to sustain the ways of the community. To the English settlers, the natives were corrupt and immoral because they did not practice Christianity and were uneducated. “Education was the ultimate weapon of colonial conquest in this arena” (Marker 758).  The settlers were at a disadvantage as they did not know the land and there were fewer settlers than natives so education and a little force were the only tools that were available. In the Coast Salish and Washington situation, the school districts were divided  by residential areas in attempts to give everyone a fair and equal chance to education but it was not always so progressive.