Residential School Essay

Since there was always a strong bond between children, parents, and other members of the tribe, the “loss of the children to school was… like a death in the family and community” (Devens 288). Because this bond was severed at a young age, children had to grow up without the love and guidance of their tribe and instead with the harsh punishments that teachers gave out when the children did not follow instructions. Not only were children torn apart from their tribal community, but when they graduated from their respective boarding schools and returned home, there was a language barrier between their tribe and themselves, leaving children unable to communicate with their families. Since boarding schools were taught in English, there would be punishment if any teacher found a student speaking their native language. There was an emphasis of not speaking their native language at school and instead learning English, American Indian children pushed their native language to the back of their mind and eventually they were unable to speak it at all. These dramatic effects of boarding schools impacted the American Indian community greatly, much more than the land allotments, as family and tribe values and the education of their children were more important to them than the land allotments. American Indian children

Native Americans have been neglected, abused, and tormented since the 1700’s when their land was abruptly invaded by Europeans. Europeans declared this “unknown” territory to be their property from then forward and did anything and everything to make sure this would happen. This included forced assimilation, where Natives were stripped of their cultural traditions and forced to assimilate to an english speaking, westernized culture (McLeigh, 2010). This included taking children from their families and sending them to boarding school to learn a new language, new cultural traditions, and new religious practices. Starting in 1860 and lasting until 1970, children were taken from their families at a young age and often lost touch with their family

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

Then the Europeans would raid Indian villages looking for these children some children were there so long they didn't remember anything about their past, so when the Europeans took them some would have to be dragged off because this was the only home that they knew, some of them would run away back to the Indian village they came from.Then in about 64 years later most of the native americans were put on Indian reservations.In less than 10 years Indian reserves were very common and people just put the Native Americans in these reserves without a thought on how they felt.The only other option that the Native Americans had was they had to join the society of the white people the Americans basically eradicated all of the Indians culture.When the elders would die the culture died with them because they could not pass the

In 1876, the Indian Act was passed. This act enforced a law that required all First Nations, children below the age of 16, to attend residential schools until they were 18. To elaborate, these schools were run by not only the church, but funded by the government. Children were dragged from their homes; their ways of life, family, and friends stripped from them. While attending these schools, the native children were forced to dress, talk, and act like the white people. Any trace of First Nations culture was stripped away, leaving a raw, abused Indian. Native children experienced sexual, and physical abuse. The Christian faith was forced upon them. If the did not speak English, or follow European customs, and ways, they faced cruel consequences.

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 First Nations children were greatly affected by the residential schools, as it left them physically and emotionally damaged from the trauma of being isolated from their families and cultural values; being abused (physically, verbally and sexually) while also being discriminated against, which had lasting effects. Although there were many other tribes who were also neglected, such as the metis and the units, my focus will be on the First Nations boys and girls who were affected by the residential schools and how it continues to affect them in today 's society. Throughout this essay, I will be proving examples and research to show what the residential schools were followed by what type of effects it had on the boys and girls who were forced to attend the schools.

Children had to go to schools specifically for Indians. They were taught to read and write English, and were forced to convert to Christianity ("Life on the Reservations"). They also were forced to look and dress like Americans. The population dwindled rapidly. Without their old ways of life, many people died on the way to the reservation, on the reservation (due to alcoholism, poverty, and

Usually, the schools were built in areas where they were far away from the Aboriginal homes, which therefore cut off ties with family and community influences. In these residential schools, children were stripped of their identity of their heritage where they were forbidden to speak their native language and where only English was allowed to be spoken; not allowed to wear their native clothing, this caused children the loss of their belief in their traditions of their native culture due to not being able to put them in practice because they were the “Other” which is considered inferior (rel after 304). The most horrible things of this residential school if the children did speak their native language or did anything native such as rituals they were punished. The Aboriginal children went through a cruel amount of abuses through emotional, physical and sexual which are life threatening to the children, this is considered a scaring and impacted many Aboriginal people with repercussions of the loss of

The Native Americans began to be stripped of their customs and even forbidden to speak their native languages (All About history.org 2002). Children were taken from their tribes and sent to schools to civilize them forcing the children to abandon their heritage. Eventually U.S. government forced the Native Americans to live on ‘reservations’ were the majority of Native Americans still reside today. Thousands of Native Americans suffered with this relocation there was five tribes total “Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole and a few others (Bryan, 2007). Theses Native Americans were promised the Indian Land where they would be free from any settlers and able to live free on Indian land. Many consider these Native Americans are as very resilient people.

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.

Soon children were removed from their homes and placed in Indian Boarding Schools some of which were off the reservations. The goals of the boarding schools, which were run by the religious orders that were being paid by the government for the purpose of assimilating the young Indian population and desecrating their culture, were to Christianize Native Americans in hopes that they would accept our capitalistic system. “Kill the Indian…Save the Man”.

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.

In the late nineteenth century, the effort to ‘civilize” native Americans entailed removing children from their families and placing them in boarding schools where they were forced to adopt European culture. They were forbidden to speak their traditional language and were forced to abandon their religious beliefs in favour of Christianity.

            The Native Americans were forced to change their religion, culture, and ways of living to live as a white man. They had no say they either had to accept and if they did not there would be repercussions. According to Dr. Gayle, he states