The Canadian Government Enacted An Indian Act

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.

The Indian Act is the principle document through which the parliament administers indian status. This act discriminated lot of First Nations rights and freedoms. The Indian act was first signed in 1876, critics argue that the act assumes that federal government officials are the best judges of the needs for the First Nation people. In a recent conversation with an Aboriginal social worker. We discussed how this changed her worldview as her children are leaving in the end of the summer to residential schools. She complained that her children are going to forget who they are and what they represent for their ancestors, and their legacies will turn into fantasies. As she continued she mentioned how the government is trying to assimilate First

From the 1870’s until the last school closed in 1996, at least 150,000 Indigenous children attended residential schools in Canada. More than 130 government mandated schools existed across the country. These schools were church administered, with the express purpose of forcibly removing Indigenous children from their native culture, in an effort to assimilate them into Euro-Canadian culture and thereby “kill the Indian in the child”. Countless families were torn apart as the Canadian government placed

In addition to the Indian Act came another mechanism called residential schools. According to Frideres (2011) residential schools were an educational institution established by the Canadian government and the Roman Catholic missionaries for the purpose of forcing native people to abandon their culture and adopt “a more superior” way of living. The first residential school was established in 1874, after which the number of these schools rapidly spread all

Since the colonization of Canada First Nations people have been discriminated against and assimilated into the new culture of Canada through policies created by the government. Policies created had the intentions of improving the Aboriginal people’s standard of living and increasing their opportunities. Mainly in the past hundred years in Canadian Society, policies and government implemented actions such as; Residential schools, the Indian Act, and reserve systems have resulted in extinguishing native culture, teachings, and pride. Policies towards the treatment of Aboriginal Canadians has decreased their opportunities and standard of living because of policies specified previously (Residential schools, the Indian Act, and reservation systems).

An agreement called Indian Residential Schools Settlement Act is where Native Canadians is taken away from their families and placed in Canadian residential school system during 20th century. That demonstrates the consequences of assimilation in every residential schools. Devaluation of their culture and religion is one of the consequences of imperialism addressed by the policy. Natives are forced to have European culture and leave their own culture to fit in with everybody else; going to a residential school is one of the most common ways of assimilation. Residential Schools in Canada started in 1831, where natives have encountered traumatic, physical and sexual abuse from the schools that were directed by churches. Any communications with

First Nation Peoples within Canada have been facing many injustices in their homeland since the dawn of colonization. The most unraveling point to First Nation assimilation was the formation of the consequential Indian Act and residential schools resulting in a stir of adversity. As racist ideologies within Canada developed, upheaval against such treatment was undertaken as First Nation communities fought back against government land claims and eradication of treaty rights. In attempt to make amends, proper compensations from the injustices within residential schools have been released and the key for the future is allowing First Nation self-government. Ideals with the intent of ultimate assimilation have been standardized unto First Nation

The history of Canada’s Aboriginal people is one of extreme complexity and not something that can be simplified into a single paper. However, the purpose of this essay is to better grasp and understand just one component of the many that make up the history of these people which is the period that residential schools were in place. Residential schools had an immense impact on the Aboriginal people of Canada and the effects are still being felt by many of them to this day. To understand the impacts of these institutions, one must first be aware of the history behind them. The introduction of Canadian Residential Schools, their successfulness, and their lasting outcomes on individuals will be analyzed throughout this essay.

The original intentions for the residential schools were to “remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture.” These two objectives make it clear that in the past we viewed the Aboriginals as unequals, we treated them as if we were superior, trying to rid them of their culture and spiritual beliefs. The motives of assimilation were wrong and have no place in Canadian identity.

The British North America Act of 1867 and the subsequent Indian Act of 1876 gave the Canadian government, under prime minster John A. Macdonald, full control over the nation’s Aboriginal people. The government used this power to establish boarding schools for Aboriginal children. An estimated 144 residential schools operated at different times between the late 1800s and 1996 throughout Canada. These schools were established with the purpose to enhance assimilation of Aboriginal children into the Canadian culture of British and French heritage. However, despite these misguided government attempts lasting more than a century, the Aboriginal culture and civilization could not be eradicated, and the residential school system as originally conceived proved to be a failure.

Residential schools have been a part of Canadian history for many years, and it has left a large impact on many first nation communities in the 20th century such as families dealing with the effects of separation and loss of traditions, children having their natural community and supports violated and lastly how it impacted Canada as a whole. Primarily residential schools not only affected indigenous children but their parents who were left behind as well.in the 20th century, children were highly valued, greatly loved members of the community (Florence,25). parents had to manage the overwhelming impacts of division and the danger of losing the attached connection between their children. Life at residential schools resulted in having their hair cut, they were stripped out of their own clothes and forced to wear uniform-like

In the 19th century the federal government of Canada decided that they were responsible for the aboriginal people 's assimilation into mainstream society and that they, the aboriginals, needed to adopt the British and French also known as Euro-Canadian culture, as their own. Government officials knew that the aboriginal children would be easier to mold than the adults, and therefore created residential schools specifically for them and deemed attendance mandatory. The majority of these schools were run by churches and thus one might then assume these aboriginal children were provided with a good and solid upbringing and education. But in this paper I will prove this assumption not only to be incorrect, but that the treatment of the children by all those involved was immoral and unethical.

The Indian Act was an attempt by the Canadian government to assimilate the aboriginals into the Canadian society through means such as Enfranchisement, the creation of elective band councils, the banning of aboriginals seeking legal help, and through the process of providing the Superintendent General of the Indian Affairs extreme control over the aboriginals, such as allowing the Superintendent to decide who receives certain benefits, during the earlier stages of the Canadian-Indigenous' political interaction. The failure of the Indian Act though only led to more confusion regarding the interaction of Canada and the aboriginals, giving birth to the failed White Paper and the unconstitutional Bill C-31,

On June 11th, 2008 former Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized to the Aboriginals saying “today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm and has no place in our country” (CBC news). The Aboriginals, waiting for this moment to occur in Canadian history responded with sorry is not enough. Assimilation is defined as absorbing a culture or adapting to a nation. The wrong in what happened in the historical past was assimilation was attempted in very wrongful unforgiving way, actions indeed do speak louder than words. The real question could be why was assimilation such a key goal? Did it play a part into why Aboriginals culture slowly is eroding? Some may say that the lack of Aboriginal Culture in our days, today was caused by a reason that had nothing to do with the Government of that time. With the White Paper being rejected, it lead to Canadians thinking that Aboriginals denied a “great offer”. But none of the canadians came to realize how unfair the terms the Aboriginals received were. The Indian Act was a way the government used to be successful in assimilation in a lot more secretive manner. Whereas the Residential Schools practically were screaming out “assimilation”, their goal was made a lot more clear after the Residential Schools came out. This essay will argue that Indian Act, Residential Schools, and the White Paper was an assault to their culture and an erosion of their values/practice .

People often view Canada as a very innocent country. Despite Canada currently being such a friendly country, it is impossible to deny some of the atrocious actions that Canadians have done in the past. A less known example would be the discrimination against the Japanese since their immigration to Canada in the late 19th century. This discrimination reached its peak during World War II; using the war as an excuse, Canadians forced people of Japanese decent out of their homes, and they forced them to remain in internment camps. However, these acts pale in comparison to the horrendous acts towards the Canadian Aboriginal Peoples. In particular, the formation of residential schools. This paper will discuss how the Aboriginal Peoples were