The Establishment Of Residential Schools

Residential schools are coming into perspective as harsh and assimilating institutions. These schools have been in place from 1870s to 1990s and were operated by churches. The intent of these schools were to civilize and assimilate indigenous children at the age of 6-18 into the “European” world. The assumption that Indians were uncivilized came from an ethnocentric worldview and the institutions were as to say “to kill the indian in the child”. Attendance at these schools was mandatory according to the Indian Act of 1920. Often “Indian agents” kidnaped children from their homes if their parents did not willingly hand them over. The children were not permitted to see their families, except on rare occasions. Sometimes the children were told that their parents and tribe had perished in order to break attachments. The schools started off as a way to provide education to First Nations, however, the institutions became known for their harsh methods of instilling

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

In 1876, residential schools became an obligation to every Indian kid. They were forced to say their last goodbyes to their families. Over 150 000 students were forced to attend these poorly built and equipped

The residential school system became prominent in Canada after the passage of the Indian Act in 1876 and was funded by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (“A History of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada”). The original goal of this school system was to educate First Nations children about Canadian tradition and Christianity, as the

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

Residential schools are still having long term and intergenerational effects on Indigenous people culturally, physically and emotionally/mentally. In the 19th century the Canadian government established a program to assimilate Indigenous people into the Canadian society and christianity. During this dark time in Canada's history, many Indigenous children were forced to attend residential boarding schools where they suffered various forms of abuse and neglect. Many children left these schools broken and no longer capable of living a normal life. Although these schools have all been closed down, the trauma caused has been passed down through the generations and is still affecting Indigenous people today.

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 NATIONAL RESEARCH CENTRE ON INDIAN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS. (n.d.). Retrieved April 05, 2016, from http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=815

The first government boarding school for Indians was located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and established in 1879. Founded by Richard Pratt, a former frontier Indian fighter, the school was an attempt at assimilating their culture to that of the white man’s, rather than killing

Some would argue that Residential Schools were made “to Christianize young Indian people and so draw them away from tribal identification and communal

Canada holds a shameful history of operating beyond 130 residential schools for the Aboriginal Children during 1800’s until late 1900’s (“Misconceptions of Canada’s Indian Residential School System” 2007). Due to the implementation of the Indian Act in 1876, more than 100 000 Aboriginal children between the ages of four and sixteen years old were forced out of their homes, separated from their family, and sent to the residential schools to be assimilated into Euro-Canadian cultures (ANISHINABEK, 2013). The residential schools were operated by the churches and were funded by the Government of Canada. The main reason for sending the children to the residential schools was due to the strong belief that the assimilation has to start with the children to make them a civilized human beings as the Aboriginal were seen as “savages”. (NEEGANAGWEDGIN,

Indian Residential Schools were a network of boarding schools that were run conjunctionally by the Canadian government under the administration of the church. Residential schools were founded in 1867 and lasted up until the late 1990’s. There were about 130 schools with around 150,000 children. The purpose of these schools was to “kill the Indian in the child;” Indian children were forcibly taken from their homes and placed in these boarding schools where they were forced to assimilate to the settler Canadian culture. Children were subject to physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and as a result, mortality rates were as high as 35 to 60

In the 19th century the Canadian government believed it was responsible for educating and caring for the country’s aboriginal people. It though that native peoples best chance for success was to adopt Christianity and Canadian customs. Thus, in 1857 the Gradual Civilization Act was passed to assimilate natives. Children were the main targets, because it was believed that it would be easier to mould a young child as opposed to an adult. By assimilating the aboriginal children into the lower fringes of mainstream society, they hoped to diminish or abolish native traditions within a few generations. Schools run by churches upon government funding were created in order to separate these children from their homes. They were later named

Residential schools play a vital role in Canada’s history. In the late 1800’s, the federal government created church-run residential schools to assimilate Aboriginal children to European and Christian ways and in doing so robbed them of their cultural identity. Many children were subject to sub-standard living conditions, barely edible food, disease, emotional, physical and sexual abuse and even death. As a result of these dreadful experiences, there arose a movement aimed at healing the survivors of residential schools. The main concept of this healing is reconciliation. To reach the goal of reconciliation one must agree to gain knowledge and understanding of survivors experiences and accept that a mistake was made by the government

The Indian residential schools were a network of boarding schools for Native Canadians. Children between the ages of 4 to 16 attended these schools. Attendance was mandatory. Residential schools were funded by the Canadian government’s Indian Affairs and Northern Department and were run by churches. The objective was to remove Native children from the influence of their culture and assimilate them into the Canadian culture. In 1931, there were 80 residential schools in Canada, but the number of schools decreased as time passed. The schools operated from 1857 to 1996. In total, about 150 000 First Nations children were forced to attend residential schools and approximately 4000 of them died while going to the schools.