"Indigenous Resistance" Response

In the article "Indigenous Resistance," author Michael Marker evaluates the indigenous people of the Coastal Salish region between the border of Washington State, USA and British Colombia, Canada and the efforts for assimilation over the years. Marker discusses the issue of Salish youth in public schooling situations. In the public schools of Washington State and the church-run schools of British Colombia, these indigenous youth faced enormous amounts of bullying and racism. There were boarding schools that were established specifically for the Coastal Salish youth, but when they closed, they faced these severe bullying issues. Parents were afraid to put their children into these public school situations and searched for alternative to avoid the trauma of the bullying in school, such as the residential schools that were also for the Coast Salish children. With a racism comparable to that of the racism against African Americans, the Coast Salish families actually wanted their children to be separated from the bullying problems of the public and church-led school systems of the United States and Canada.