N.L. schools ordered to destroy new books containing 'inaccurate information' on Indigenous people

Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Education ordered its schools to destroy thousands of books purchased two years ago because they contained "inaccurate information" about the territories, culture and history of the province's Indigenous peoples. 

On Feb. 3, school administrators were told to shred some 8,600 textbooks, purchased for $202,140 in January 2023, a decision made after the government's Indigenous Education Advisory Committee reported the books "did not accurately reflect the cultural reality in Newfoundland and Labrador," according to department spokesperson Lynn Robinson.

On Wednesday, the department listed the numerous problems identified with four books in the Passe à l'action pour la réconciliation series used by Grade 7 and 8 French immersion students.

In a statement, it said the textbooks indicate that the Turtle Island creation story is used by all Indigenous peoples, which is not the case. It also said the books include "stereotypical" descriptions of Indigenous lifestyles, citing as an example: "eastern peoples hunt caribou and western people fish."

"Some Newfoundland and Labrador Indigenous peoples did not see [an] accurate depiction of who they are and their related territories," reads the statement, adding that the books include "inaccurate statements that no Indigenous peoples pay taxes, all receive free post-secondary education, etc."

According to the department, the textbooks also state that elders are the oldest members of Indigenous communities and that all Indigenous groups have clan systems, which is not necessarily true for Inuit and First Nations in Newfoundland and Labrador. 

In addition, the department said that while the books mention former prime minister Stephen Harper's apology to residential school victims in 2008, they make no mention of former prime minister Justin Trudeau's apology to Newfoundland and Labrador survivors in 2017.

Provincial Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell declined an interview Thursday.

"How did they end up spending this amount of money on a resource only to realize a year and a half later there was inaccurate information? ... Did anyone read them?" said NDP Leader Jim Dinn.

"The department says it's routine for them to dispose of outdated and inaccurate information, but here's my question: these books are relatively new, they were introduced in Sept. 2023…. This was a relatively new resource, so how did it get into the schools in the first place?"

Radio-Canada obtained a copy of one of the textbooks, a 40-page book entitled Passe à l'action pour la réconciliation - Des communautés unies, whose last page shows that the book's advisory and revision committees included no representatives from Newfoundland and Labrador.

In January, Dinn shared with Radio-Canada a leaked memo sent to the province's English-language schools instructing principals to "destroy" textbooks from the Passe à l'action pour la réconciliation series.

"We are perpetuating stereotypes, when the whole purpose of Indigenous education is to break down those stereotypes," Dinn said. "This is not helpful."

The department said schools were asked to destroy the books "so that they would not remain in circulation and risk perpetuating inaccurate information."