Is Canada Committed Acts Of Genocide?

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.

Knockwood explains the enforcement of residential ideologies as a “combination of physical intimidation and psychological manipulation which produced terror and confusion” (12). The premise of residential schools was to strip Indigenous children from their culture and Indigenous identity, forcing them to only speak English, or face severe consequences. Despite the government and churches best efforts, many Indigenous children still maintained their cultural roots and kept their language while at home. This governmental need for assimilation has had lasting impacts far beyond the scope of active residential schools. Neeganagwedgin notes, “while the schools may be physically closed, the legacy lingers” (34). Beyond this, she urges, present-day institutions still function in a way that continues to undermine and systematically deny, “Indigenous peoples their inherent rights as First Peoples” (Neeganagwedgin 34); such as the justice system, child welfare and the education systems.

With the last residential school shutting down just over twenty years ago, Monchalin’s examination of the impacts of residential schools illustrates the prejudice and discrimination against Indigenous peoples within Canada’s recent history. Not far in Canada’s past is the use of the word “civilizing” to describe the forcing of children from their homes in attempt to eliminate any affiliation with their Indigenous culture and traditions. Based on this, while reading through this chapter I feel that it is important to note the terminology used in the descriptions of these schools and the abuse that took place within them. By looking at the terminology used throughout the chapter, it can be seen just how discriminatory and bigoted Canada’s history

Michael Downey’s essay, “Canada’s ‘Genocide’: Thousands Taken from Their Homes Need Help” (Downey 445-448), imparts a harrowing account of the hardships and trauma induced by the controversial child apprehensions, often referred to as the ‘Sixties Scoop.’ The essay opens with Downey’s heart-rending recount of Carla Williams’ story, detailing her first-hand experience as a subject of this abuse, who managed to survive and come out triumphant. This explicit topic introduction foreshadows and gives invaluable warrant to his thesis: that the forced adoptions that occurred within Aboriginal communities during this era resulted in cultural and individual upheaval, as well as a belief that both the individuals and communities affected can

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

“Where are they taking me, mom?! Help!” These were the screams of an Aboriginal child when he was dragged to a car that drove him away from his family. Aboriginal kids were forcefully abducted and placed at poorly built and equipped residential schools. Residential schools are a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. Like a disease, these schools spread so fast on Canadian land. They were every Indigenous child’s nightmare. Kids who attended were traumatized due to the mental, physical, and sexual abuse they suffered. Canadians felt superior to Aboriginals which lead them to use their power excessively to civilize these communities. This issue is considered to be one of the darkest chapters in Canadian history. It has a significant impact on Aboriginal communities. Indians suffered a loss of culture and identity. This issue violates various human rights such as; Freedom of language, freedom of culture and religion, freedom of choice, and the freedom of safety and health. The two groups in this controversy are the aggressors; Canadian government, and it’s churches, and the victims; the aboriginals. The question is, is the Canadian government doing enough to make it up to those who suffered the ill effects of residential schools?

The Residential School System was formed in the 1880’s, and ended in the last few decades of the 20th century. These schools were implemented by the government and aimed to educate aboriginal children by the church’s teaching. The actions taken to integrate aboriginals into Euro-Canadian and Christian ways of a normal Canadian society, were often damaging to the students. This system forced children to separate from their families for a long period of time, and most who attended ended up being abused by those who worked there. Assimilation is inevitable to an extent, but a culture may be able to stay alive while following the nations collective ideas and laws.

From 1879 to 1996, Canadian Aboriginal parents were forced to send their children away to government residential schools administered by the Catholic Church. Over the course of the system's existence, approximately 30% of native children, or roughly 150,000, were placed in residential schools nationally. It has been estimated that at least 6,000 of these students died while in attendance ("Residential School History: A Legacy of Shame"). A residential school was an educational institution established by the Canadian government and the Roman Catholic missionaries to see Native People abandon their cultural heritage and adopt the presumably civilized ways of Europeans; Including wearing European clothes, living as “whites”, speaking English,

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.

Before the educational system as we know it formed, indigenous children from all across Canada were, in most cases, taken from their families to be put into industrial schools (later known as residential schools). These church-run schools were made to Westernize Indigenous children making them forget their culture, language, and previous way of life. Brutally punishing them if they disobeyed the rules. It is hard to believe these schools were being run from the early 19th century up to not long ago in 1996. Most people in Canada were never taught about the traumatic past the indigenous youth endured for so long. So why aren’t all Canadians educated on our dark past? The goal of this paper is to explain why it should be mandatory for every Canadian to learn about the history of residential schools.

This research explores how the residential schools established in the 19th century affected the Native population and the Canadian government. This has been done by examining primary sources such as digital archives, books, statistics and reports. Upon examination of these events, it becomes clear that residential schools had a long term negative impact on the Aboriginal communities and created a negative image to the Canadian government. Despite the government’s goals of assimilating the Native population, that nation was able to survive and will keep passing on their beliefs to the future generations.

Residential School are an aspect of Canadian history that will haunt our nation. Derived from the Anglican Church, Methodist Church, and Roman Catholic church’s desires to educate and convert the indigenous people of the land. (Miller, 2008) The churches thought that the indigenous people were savages and needed to be assimilated into their beliefs. (Hanson, n.d.) 30% of indigenous children were forced into Residential Schools, 6,000 died while in the care of these boarding schools. (Tasker, 2015). These institutions used methods of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse to sterilized these children such as piercing the tongues of children with needles who dare to speak their native language

Residential schools were built up with the assumption that aboriginal culture was not able adjust to a quickly modernizing society. It was believed that local aboriginal kids could assimilate if they absorbed into standard Canadian culture by embracing Christianity and communicating in English or French. Students were discouraged from speaking their first language or practicing native traditions. If they were caught they, would experience severe punishment. Consistently, students lived in substandard conditions and persevered through physical and psychological mistreatment. Since all correspondence from the kids was composed in English, numerous guardians couldn't read and didn’t know what they were getting their kid(s) into. As indicated

150,000 aboriginal children were removed and separated from their families and communities to attend residential schools from 1831 to 1996. The canadian government encouraged changing aboriginals ways (Miller, 2012). This happened around the 1870s when the implication of the Indian Act required the Canadian Government to provide the indigenous youth with education and integrate them to Canadian society. The Residential schools were originally made by Christian Churches and the canadian government. There were over 139 schools located in every province and territory except Newfoundland, New brunswick, and Prince Edward Island (“residential school system”, 2016). For the most part the students experience at the residential schools were quite

Canadian citizens understand genocide to be a terrible thing that other countries have done, or are doing. The eradication of an entire population of civilian women, men, and children along with their culture and national sovereignty is something we condemn in our media. When we see genocide happening elsewhere, we debate when we should step in with economic sanctions or military action when it is time to put a stop to a crime against humanity. Rarely, if ever, do we examine our own history long enough to understand that Canada was created by people who committed genocide against the people who were already living here.