Canadian Political Cartoon Analysis

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

From the late 1800’s to 1996 more than 100,000 aboriginal children attended residential schools in Canada. At a majority of these government operated schools there were reports of emotional, physical, sexual and spiritual abuse along with punishment for cultural activities. Residential schools were implemented to liberate aboriginal people from their savage ways in order for them to survive in the modernizing society.1 To a majority of the current Canadian population, impacts of residential schooling are a part of a distant past, disassociated from today’s events, this misconception. Long lasting impacts as a result of residential schooling include minimal education leading to poverty, stigmatization by the non-aboriginal public, abuses of aboriginal rights in areas such as land and the environment and the growing loss of Indigenous cultures in younger generations. With the continuing misconception of the history and lasting impact of residential schools conflict between Indigenous people and the Canadian Government has not ceased, but increased.

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

Residential school happened in the past, but still affect us in today's world. Globalization and Residential school's go hand in hand in the history books. Globalization created the residential schools; Euro-Canadian culture was the Canadian government's foremost concern, therefore, they created religious schools which accustomed the indigenous children to their society. The churches easily made it into a cultural genocide. The children were abused; physically, spiritually and sexually. The children were malnourished for the most part, and were used to run experiments. They died from tuberculosis, freezing to death, or starvation. The source claims that we should not judge the Canadian government with our modern perspectives about them running the residential schools, and that the churches were operating due to the Canadian government. The Euro-centrism of the Canadian government led them to the residential schools, they believed that they should be the ones that give the children good benefits; like how to survive in the society. The churches part in this plan was to give them a good home where they were cared for. The government abused their power, their rank, and trust. The source is incorrect, because the government and the churches should be judged from a modern perspective, because the government could have learned from past mistakes, the churches chose to abuse the students, and they were not helping the students integrate into society, but rather creating social

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’s were introduced back in the 1870’s, they were made to change the way native children spoke their languages and how they viewed their cultures. The residential school system in Canada was operated by the government, where the native children were aggressively forced away from their loved ones to participate in these schools (1000 Conversations). The government had a concept, where they can modernize the native children, aged of three to eighteen and extinguish the aboriginal culture. In the twentieth century the Canadian Public School’s had arrived and had improved treatments than residential schools. In Contrast, the treatments within these schools were both different, whereas Canadian public school students had more freedom than residential school students because children were taken away from their families. However, the treatment in these schools were different and some what similar. Even though Residential schools and Canadian Public schools were similar in some form, there were numerous amounts of differences in how the children were taught, how they were treated and how their living conditions were like throughout these schools.

This image serves as a reminder of how different Indigenous youth were seen in their traditional ways of life, but also how different the residential school systems forced them to be on a surface level. What the photos do not show is the families that had their children stripped away from them, and the countless children that were forced to leave their families and culture behind. Without background knowledge of this photo as well as context, one might see these ‘before and after’ photos as successful assimilation through residential schools. Thomas Moore Keesick is not a success story; he died as a result of the horrible conditions and treatments faced in the residential school – something the photo does not

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

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

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 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

Residential Schools were and still are a significant part of Canada’s history. They have had negative social and psychological effects on survivors and even their families. Grant Severight, Richard Wagamese, and Rita Joe and so many more are incredible authors who share their experiences on Residential Schools from either their or their families’ perspectives.

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

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

The second source is an image of a first nations child, before and after living in a residential school. In the “before” picture the child is wearing traditional clothing such as a fur coat, and a long necklace, and as well has long braided hair. The First Nations child is also leaning against what appears to be a straw bale. In a stark contrast the “after” image has the child wearing a european style coat, pants, shoes, and has very short hair. The child is also leaning against a concrete fence with ornate designs on it. This picture exposes the visible results of residential schools. It gives a positive view of residential schools. The image shows how the schools accomplished preparing the child to participate in modern society. Although