The Indian Residential School System

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

Theodore Fontaine is one of the thousands of young aboriginal peoples who were subjected through the early Canadian system of the Indian residential schools, was physically tortured. Originally speaking Ojibwe, Theodore relates the encounters of a young man deprived of his culture and parents, who were taken away from him at the age of seven, during which he would no longer be free to choose what to say, how to say it, with whom to live and even what culture to embrace. Theodore would then spend the next twelve years undoing what had been done to him since birth, and the rest of his life attempting a reversal of his elementary education culture shock, traumatization, and indoctrination of ethnicity and Canadian supremacy. Out of these experiences, he wrote the “Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools-A Memoir” and in this review, I considered the Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd publication.

This can be seen most prominently through the forced acceptance of placing many Indigenous children in residential schools. The federal government conducted the residential school system to isolate children from the influences of their families, homes, culture, and traditions, to assimilate them into the dominant culture of the time. Not only was this wrong but, it was legal. In the early twentieth century, compulsory attendance was integrated into the Indian Act. Children received an inferior education and experienced loss of language and culture. In addition, due to their removal from families, Indigenous children were never nurtured in a family environment, which transcended generations of Indigenous families. Moreover, the injustice faced by Indigenous families has been acknowledged by the Canadian government. For instance, in the 1990s the federal government and churches involved with residential schools acknowledged the true purpose of these schools were to "kill the Indian in the child,” according to Stephen Harper, during his formal apology. The Canadian government openly acknowledges the racism that the Indian Act built upon and the damages done by the residential school system in

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

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.

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

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.

From 1863 to 1996, many Indigenous child were forced to attend residential schools, where they were separated from their families and culture and experienced neglect, abuse and trauma (Bombay, Matheson, & Anisman, 2011, p.367). This essay will explore the history and purpose of residential schools, how it impacted Indigenous children and families at the time of the events, and how to this day it still affects them. Indigenous Residential Schools impacted the First Peoples of Canada physically, mentally and emotionally which resulted in their loss of identity, culture, spirituality, and traditions in the past and present.

Residential schools were mandatory for all Aboriginal children to attend. These schools “separated children from their families and communities, forcing them to speak English and worship according to European Christian customs while inflicting great physical, emotional and sexual abuse, poor living conditions, lack of adequate medical care and food on them.” (Cooper & Salomons 2010, 34). Cooper & Salomons (2010) argued that the motive of residential schools towards girls was to din male-controlled norms into Aboriginal societies so that women would lose their leadership and voice in the society. The impact of colonialism and residential schools are a large contributor to violence perpetrated against Aboriginal women in Canada today, “…the residual impacts of residential schools are felt by the families of missing and murdered women…”(Cooper & Salomons 2010, 34), even till present date.

After days, months, years of being physically and sexually abused, shamed, bullied, breaking ties with their families and having their identity stripped because they were “different”; let anxiety and depression start to get ahold of them. “Separated from their parents, they grew up knowing neither respect nor affection. A school system that mocked and suppressed their families’ cultures and traditions, destroyed their sense of self-worth.”(TRC Introduction). This introduces the idea of depression and anxiety beginning to unfold as words can not explain the pain and hurting they went through. “Children who had been bullied and abused, carried a burden of shame and anger for the rest of their lives. Overwhelmed by this legacy, many succumbed to despair and depression. Countless lives were lost to alcohol and drugs.”(TRC Introduction). There is no doubt that the Canadian government was racist towards the First Nation Peoples. The racism lead to the school system and the Survivors depression and anxiety. “The residential school environment was deeply racist. It presumed the intellectual inferiority of the children and it demeaned Aboriginal culture, language and parenting. The students were treated as if they were prisoners who required strict discipline simply because they were Aboriginal.”(TRC 227). Racism and the feeling of anger

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.

In Louise Erdrich’s Famous work of poetry, “Indian Boarding School: The Runaways”, shows how the context of the work and the author play major roles in understanding the poem from different aspects and angles to see between the lines of what we really call life. The Author Louise Erdrich is known for being one of the most significant writers of the second wave of the Native American Renaissance. She is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and her writing on Native American literature is seen throughout the world. Through word decision, repetition, and symbolism bringing out her incredibly fierce tones, the author recalls the hurt and enduring impacts of Native American children being forced to attend Indian boarding schools. These schools emerged of a post-Civil War America in an effort to educate and also “civilize” the American Indian people.

The implementation of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement began on September 19, 2007 following the consensus reached between legal counsel for former students, legal counsel for the Churches, the Assembly of First Nations, other Aboriginal organizations and the Government of Canada to achieve a fair and lasting resolution of the legacy of Indian Residential Schools. The implementation of this historic agreement brings a fair and lasting resolution to the legacy of Indian Residential Schools. Former students can now benefit from the individual and collective measures provided by the Settlement Agreement.

First Nations people have been living on this land for more than twelve thousand years, their way of life, culture and native language has proven to be strong and successful. First Nations people educated their children about their culture and ways of life through everyday living. The children would learn through demonstrations, group interactions, participation of daily tasks and through stories and spiritual rituals, it was a community wide responsibility. The children would learn the beliefs, values and skills and knowledge to be ready for adult life. Since the first Europeans colonizers, the First Nations people have been encouraged to assimilate to be more like their way of life.

Residential schools were purposely built farther away from first nation civilizations to reduce contact with the first nations children and their families. Residential schools harmed children by forcing them to leave their homes, not allowing them to use their native languages, and exposing many of them to physical and sexual abuse. The residential schools forced the first nation children to speak only english and french. The residential schools also left a permanent scar on first nations by causing post-traumatic stress Disorder, alcoholism, substance abuse, and even suicide. The parents and families of the first nations children resisted the Residential schools. The families were forced to go into hiding from the government officials rounding up the first nations children. When parents told the government that the schools were abusing their children the government dismissed it as an excuse for their children not to attend the schools when in fact the children were being abused. Children from the ages of 7 to 16 were forced to attend the schools and children of all ages were abused. The first nation children were abused by their very own teachers and administrators. The types of abuse the children faced were physical and sexual assault, malnourishment, and harsh discipline that would never have been allowed in normal schools back then. The schools were overcrowded, had poor sanitation, insufficient heating, and a lack of medical