Assimilation In The 17th Century

Taking away Native American children’s language caused many challenges at home. Many children were confused, homesick, as well as resentful. Many of the children attending these boarding schools did not understand why their parents sent them to boarding school. For many it was because family members were, “sick then. He don’t want to take care of a little one so he pushed me to school” (Burich 5). Many children would not understand why they were being sent to these schools, especially since the schools were changing their worlds

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

Indian Residential Schools has been a major contributing factor towards the mistreatment and decreased standard of living for the First Nations people of Canada. Originally founded in the 1840’s and the last to close in 1996 the goal of Residential Schools was to assimilate First Nations people into Canadian society. The assimilation process consisted of the forced attendance (by Canadian law) for every Native, Metis, and Inuit child to attend the “boarding” schools. Residential Schools were ran by Christian, Catholic, and Anglican churches, the schools were also funded by the Canadian government’s Indian Affairs. Treatment students received while attending the schools was unbearable for the young children. After being taken and

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

Before the nineteenth century, the Aboriginal people had their own way of teaching the children in their community, through organic education. In addition to providing knowledge and skills, organic education kept their culture alive (Ravelli & Webber, 2013: pg. 237). This is because the Aboriginal children would also be taught about their culture and its customs. But the Europeans thought, “Canada’s First Nation peoples were in the way of the relentless onrush of capitalist and industrial expansion (Ravelli & Webber, 2013: pg. 238).” This is when the residential education system was established. Since the organic education was what made the Aboriginal culture

The Indian Residential Schools were boarding schools that forced students to leave their families and homes in order to go and continue their education elsewhere. They were formulated with the partnership of the United Churches along with the Government. (Laing,2013:53). The Government and the Churches put these schools in place in order to separate the children from their family and cultural customs and values. The goal was to isolate the children from what they are used to in order to “kill the Indian in the child” and have them pick up the new Euro- Canadian culture and values along with the English Language. In addition to being taken away from their families, the

What was the cause of having residential schools made?  Who did the native people wrong to deserve such discriminatory and harsh treatment? To begin with, we have the causes for the government to open residential schools. It all began with Sir John A. Macdonald who funded residential schools because he thought that the aboriginal people were not civilized enough to live in a modern society. The government, wanted aboriginal people to learn how to read and write because they thought the aboriginals were "savages".  Sir John A. Mac Donald said this because he did not like the way native people have been taught, or their culture, and beliefs.  Residential schools were established so native children could be more successful if the school taught the children the main stream Canadian curriculum. This curriculum consisted of learning Christianity as well as how to speak English or French. They did this so native kids can better understand the Canadian culture, by speaking in another language. The first residential school for the aboriginal people was established near Quebec City, where Catholic missionaries aimed to "civilize" aboriginal boys. Parents didn’t want to send their children to the residential schools, Kids sometimes tried to run away. Similar attempts were made by protestant missionaries in the Atlantic and in the Red River area but also failed. After that we have the cause of the treatment of residential schools. Teacher were often poorly trained; few children received

In the Indigenous community, when the community is faced with a trauma, it takes seven generations for the community to heal (Trimble, 2015). People may underestimate how oppressed and how much suffering the Indigenous communities had to struggle with, and continue to struggle with these issues today. We may underestimate how severe the situation is because many of us were not taught much about the impact of colonization on the Indigenous communities in school. There are many myths people may have concerning Indigenous life experiences, particularly schooling. To address these myths, I would begin by giving a brief history of residential schools. I would then analyze how residential schools have impacted the indigenous community and how they continue to affect them today. I would also mention the current issues children on reserves are facing today regarding school. Lastly, I would mention some of the progress that has been made. I will use the work of Sefa Dei to demonstrate the importance of community in education regarding the Indigenous people.

The school systems and the courses being taught are not up to proper standards for First Nations people. The author, Carr-Stewart writes the article “A Treaty Right to Education” to prove to her audience the schooling systems need to change and have been inadequate for many First Nations people. The author shows very strong arguments throughout her article. A main argument presented is that First Nations children deserve the proper education and teaching as non-First Nations children whom are provincially funded versus First Nations children’s education, which is federally funded. She argues that assimilation is a technique used by the crown in order to achieve their goals. The crown is slow and unwilling to help First Nations people in most cases, while this causes tension between the relationship of the crown and First Nations people. Lastly, another argument Carr-Stewart presents is a claim that the schools on reserves are inadequate and lack many fundamental pieces to a proper child’s education including: proper course material, funding, buildings and teachers. Carr-Stewart shows various strengths and weaknesses throughout her article “A Treaty Right to Education”. Repetition and unnecessary content is found within Carr-Stewart’s article. She shows repetition within her quotations and while adding unimportant information; she leaves out several important ideas that could have improved her article. While the article by

Each boarding school had a set of tight rules designed to assimilate the children in such a way that they forgot or rejected their native culture. The children were forced to leave behind their original religion and properly observe the Sabbath every Sunday (“Rules” 53). They were strictly forbidden in speaking in their native dialect and were not allowed to keep their native dress but had to adopt a uniform style of clothing (Stone). Also the children were taught to enjoy the games of the young white children rather than being able to play the games of their childhood (“Rules” 54). These policies assimilated the children of the First Nations by giving them a new Americanized way of thought based on a Christian Anglo-Saxon view of the world and bestowing upon them an Americanized outward appearance by teaching them to play, act, and dress like white American children.

There are still many Canadians out there who don’t know much about residential school. All Canadians should learn more about our past and the many terrible things that occurred to First Nations people while in residential schools, and even out of the schools. For many years First Nation Children were taken away from their family and sent to residential schools, which were run by religious institutions. The school’s main goals were to get rid of the Indian in a child, and they would strip them naked of who they were and where they came from. The book Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese gives us a clear insight into all the hard times that a child might have to go through while in a residential school. The book also shows what their lives would

By learning about what happened during the time of the residential school system, Canadians can prevent further injustice to be done towards people of different ethnicities. An example of this is when the last residential school was closed in 1996. This event shows how Canadians were able to realize the negative effects of the residential school system, and correct the mistake. Moreover, learning about the residential school system also helps Canadians of different ethnicity coexist in this multicultural country. Through hearing the thoughts of the Aboriginal people and understanding how they were mistreated, Canadians gain sympathy towards them and become more open minded to the lives of people of different ethnicity.

The lessons at the residential schools were solely taught in French or English and the only religion allowed to be practised was Christianity. Students were strictly forbidden to speak their own languages, even though many knew know other. These rules were rigorously enforced and many former students speak of severe punishments including beating whipping, being shackled to their beds and needles being pushed through their tongues if these rules were broken. If the schools had truly been to help the aboriginals adapt, instead of trying to end their way of life, there would have been no need to punish the children for speaking their native language. Because of these punishments, and never speaking their mother-tongues from the time of arrival at the residential schools, many students lost the ability to speak their native language. A residential school survivor, Freda Simon, told her story of going to a residential school only speaking her indigenous language, and realizing her sister(who came two years earlier) not able to speak their language anymore. Being able to suppress the indigenous languages, culture and traditions which caused a major overall loss of the indigenous way of life, disrupted the natural balance of the Indian communities. In aboriginal societies many cultural traditions and spiritual beliefs are taught by the elders. But as a result of the

For the time in which Residential Schools were attended, children were affected physically and emotionally. Primary objectives of the system were to remove, then isolate children from family and cultural influences, and to assimilate into dominant culture (Harper). This underfunded system alienated children from their families for extended periods of time, prohibiting acknowledgement of Aboriginal heritage, culture, or to speak mother tongues

Children were taken away from their homes and told everything they knew was wrong. They were sent to boarding schools to change their culture. These boarding schools were run by the United States government. The government's goal was to civilize Native Americans. They sent children to these schools against their will. Native American children were educated like Americans and they had to change their native ways to be more like whites (Cayton 266). Teachers abused their students and beat their native ways out of them. They were not allowed to see their families so they would try to escape, but their attempts were unsuccessful. The United States government’s Boarding Schools of the mid-late 1800s irreparably changed Native American culture.