Use Of Residential Schools

The first residential school opened in Canada in the 1830’s and closed in 1996, these schools were made for indigenous children. The children did not leave at free will they were “forcibly taken from families — sometimes at gunpoint — and flew them to remote locations they could not escape — sometimes in tiny handcuffs — where they were submitted to a program” (Staniforth). When the children arrived they were stripped of their clothing, cut their hair and given European clothes and the “European look”. They were not allowed to speak in their own language or practice their traditions, aboriginal culture and spiritual beliefs were seen as unequal and thought that the children should learn the ways of Euro-Canadians and only speak English or French. They forced these children to practice a catholic faith and attend church, if these rules amongst many others were not obeyed they would experience severe consequences. The consequences ranged anywhere from being physically, mentally, emotionally and even sexually abused. The schools were ridden with pests, illness, lice and were overpopulated, children were even experimented on to see the effects of malnutrition. The lack of funding for these systems caused them to use children as labourers and said that it “built character”(Staniforth). The education was very limited and the girls were

Residential Schools were systems set in place by the Government of Canada and enforced by Christian churches as a way to approach the “issue” of the First Nations. They were used by the government to assimilate the Aboriginal children into European culture. It is significant that Canadians remember this time in history because it's not so far in the past. We see the repercussions to this day. This source shows the perspective of the Government, and supporters of the Government. On the other hand Aboriginal people may disagree, they are still greatly struggling with misfortune due to Residential Schools. The perspective shown in the source should be looked into considering the government's insufficient response to the legacies left behind by Residential Schools. For example we see higher prison rates, more drop outs, and family abuse more than most cultural groups in

The purpose of residential schools enforced from 1920 to 1996 under the Indian act was to “kill the Indian in the child” (Hanson, 2006). The system was brought into North American by Europeans and Catholics and was majorly run by nuns. The Europeans believed that aboriginal people needed to become more civilized, influencing them with their culture. This is when Nicholas Flood Davin, who was studying industrial school systems in the United states at the time recommended that Canadian aboriginal children needed to be taught through “aggressive civilization” (Hanson, 2006). Davin believed that to take the Indian out of the child it had to

During the time residential schools existed, the Aboriginal population of Canada was forced to endure appalling treatment. Residential school is regarded as a thing of the past by high school history books, but is that really true when the oppression and abuse that occurred in residential schools has had a long-term effect on Aboriginal peoples? Intergenerational effects of residential schools include post-traumatic stress disorder, high rates of addiction, abuse and violence, probable deadly illnesses, and elevated statistics of suicide in Aboriginal communities. A substantial number of authors, historians, and researchers attest to the fact that residential schools have influenced a number of generations of the Aboriginal people of Canada.

During the 19th century the Canadian government established residential schools under the claim that Aboriginal culture is hindering them from becoming functional members of society. It was stated that the children will have a better chance of success once they have been Christianised and assimilated into the mainstream Canadian culture. (CBC, 2014) In the film Education as We See It, some Aboriginals were interviewed about their own experiences in residential schools. When examining the general topic of the film, conflict theory is the best paradigm that will assist in understanding the social implications of residential schools. The film can also be illustrated by many sociological concepts such as agents of socialization, class

Residential School (1931-1996) treated aboriginals unfairly and assumed that aboriginal culture is unable to adapt to a rapidly modernizing society. It was said that native children could be successful if they adapt to Christianity and speaking English or French. Native students were not encouraged to speak their own language

The purpose of Canada 's residential schools was to assimilate First Nation peoples into mainstream Canadian Society, like the Indian Act. The Residential Schools damaged First Nation people because it disconnected the children from their history, language, family, and culture. Residential Schools taught children that their culture wasn 't worth preserving. Some legacies of Residential Schools include alcoholism, poverty, and increased chances of becoming a prostitute or abuser (physical, emotional, sexual, and psychological). Statistics prove that people who have been

These schools were created for the reason of teaching Aboriginal children the Canadian language and culture in the hope that they will become assimilated into it. Every Aboriginal child under the age of 16 will be forcibly removed from their homes and put into residential schools. Often if children spoke their own language or practiced their own cultural traditions they were punished physically and verbally. They would be abused and many students would deal with emotional damage for the rest of their lives. The death and disease factors also had a large impact on the Indian children, at least 4000 Aboriginal children died from tuberculosis and the spanish influenza. By the 1940s and 1950s, residential schools have restricted nutrients and dental care for multiple students creating an unhealthy lifestyle (The Canadian Encyclopedia "Residential Schools."The Canadian Encyclopedia. October 10, 2012. Accessed July 7,

The drastic cultural impact of residential schools on First Nations people has been extensive, as it is mentioned in the novel Keepr’n Me by Richard Wagamese. Keeper’s statement in this book, “Only thing they did was create a whole new kinda Indyun. We used to

Indigenous Residential Schools were experimented in parts of Canada was early as the 1620s but they had very minimal success in accomplishing what they wanted. Missionaries ran the residential school but found it hard to recruit students, keep them at school, and they complained that they could not physically punish the children. The state got involved in the schooling of Indigenous children after Canada became a country in 1867 (Blackburn, 2012, p. 290). Canadian residential schools were also inspired by a similar practice in the USA in the 1880s. Their plan was to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture. The schools were operated by Christian churches and they thought that by removing Indigenous children from their parents and communities they would be more quickly assimilated (Woods, 2013, p. 173-174). Figure 1

Residential schools were a place where thousands of Indigenous children would go to learn but instead get abused very badly. Residential schools existed about a hundred years ago. These tragic schools were established because European people wanted the Indigenous people of Canada to be assimilated into Euro-Canadian. The European people thought that their civilization was the greatest human achievement. A lot of residential schools opened within Canada’s provinces. Life at residential schools was very cruel because the students got limited time to learn and more time to do exhausting chores. The children also got brutally abused for various things including if they offend the nuns and priests working in the schools. By the time the children had finished attending the residential schools they had almost forgotten everything about their culture and traditions. Residential schools treated children very poorly which caused some long-lasting effects that still impact Indigenous people today.

It all began, when Europeans took over. They took The First Nations land, peace, freedom and destroyed their motherland by causing vomits and poisons to the river. That wasn’t enough for them, instead the Europeans wanted to change The First Nations so that they could become like them because they thought they were better. So they created residential school’s. Over 150,000 of The First Nations and Inuit childrens at the age of 7 and up were taken away from their homes and forced to attend residential school.

Residential Schools: A Case of Aggressive Assimilation The Canadian government assumed that it was accountable for the care and education of Aboriginal children. The Residential School system was developed to ensure the assimilation of every Indigenous child in Canada. These schools were terribly unsafe for children and exhibited horrible living conditions, including abuse, malnutrition and isolation. Conditions in residential schools continue to negatively impact communities, generations later, contributing to violence, alcoholism and surprising statistics seen from Aboriginal communities.

For the children that when to residential schools, it could cause great emotional trauma. This trauma could include identity and culture loss. Which could lead to suicide or even confusion of culture. The residential school system was made to “beat the indian out of the child.” But, instead of doing this is just caused the child and even their parents a horrible,terrible childhood/life. Therefore residential schools were an awful thing to do to a child and the purpose was not exceeded.

THE AFFECTS OF RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS: A LIST By: Sanchia Nawar - Residential schools were religious schools ran by the government and churches which were made to assimilate First Nations, Indigenous, Metis, and Aboriginal children into European culture. - Lives and communities were messed with because of residential schools, which caused many long term problems among these people. When children went home from residential schools, they normally felt out of place.