The only roaring that came from minorities in the 1920s were roars against the injustice they faced. The Great War was deemed a white man’s war, which impeccably illustrated society’s opinion of people of colour and women’s worth in this decade. After a period of such trauma, one would think that Canada would have become united, but this was not the case. Minorities experienced the twenties much differently than those who remember the decade as exciting. For instance, aboriginal people were expected to give up their cultures and assimilate into mainstream society. Also, the Klu Klux Klan had made its way to Canada, which threatened immigrants and people from foreign ethnicities. Finally, women spent the decade struggling for equality with …show more content…
Duncan Campbell Scott, Head of Indian Affairs Canada from 1913-1932, spoke for many when he said, “I want to get rid of the Indian problem. Our object is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada who has not been absorbed. They are a weird and waning race… ready to break out at any moment in… dances.” (Quinlan et al#######) Additionally, native children in residential schools were not allowed to refer to their own cultures in any way, especially through language. The only language they were allowed to speak was English, a language that none of them knew. If caught, the children were severely punished. Many children experienced physical, sexual and emotional abuse while in residential school. Brenda Cardinal, an aboriginal who once had to stay in residential school, describes how school affected her, “I became withdrawn, painfully shy, and I just couldn’t communicate with anyone. I couldn’t receive love or show anyone love. I didn’t even love myself.” (qtd in Freeman-Shaw, Haskings-Winner 38) Residential schools had a very negative impact on those who went through the horrible experiences and many of these former students do not have positive stories to share. By the end of the 1920s, there were eighty residential schools in Canada. The forced assimilation of native children had greatly impacted those who went to residential school and will always remain as a dark shadow cast on Canada’s history.
In addition, the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) made its way to
Since Confederation, relations between the Canadian federal government and the native people of Canada have been strained due to the former existence of the Indian Residential School System. Following the passage of the Indian Act, the first residential schools were established across Canada to assimilate indigenous children into Canadian society through the forced adoption of European customs at the expense of their own culture. During its tenure, approximately 150,000 indigenous children were separated from their communities and families, and forcibly enrolled into residential schools where many would be subjected to physical, and psychological abuses. Despite its malicious practices and objective, the residential school system
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
“Laying there, with someone walking toward you, you can tell what time it is,” he said. “You know what’s going to happen. A fellow doing something to you, fondling you, all hours of the night.” Jacks also remembers a time when two girls tried to escape the school. The school was on a island, so the girls got a boat but they ended up drowning before they could escape. At the school he also recalls the nuns telling him that he was stupid and that he would never be anything. The Canadian government was quite about these allegations of abuse but has paid out $350 million dollars in settlements to victims of sexual assault in residential schools. (Tim Naumetz, The Global Mail) The many cases of sexual assault has been blamed on the Canadian government for not properly screening teachers. Some of the teachers were pedofiles that saw these schools as a gold mine. Though the Canadian government states that they were just trying to modernize the population, some evidence proves otherwise. The main goal of residential schools was to eliminate the savages. The first prime minister of Canada John A. Macdonald spoke on this in the house of commons in 1883. “When the school is on the reserve the child lives with its parents, who are savages, he is surrounded by savages, and though he may learn to read and write his habits and training and mode of thought are Indian, he is simply a savage that can read and write.” This quote
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
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
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.
Residential schools first opened in the late 1880’s with the last one closing in the later 1990’s. The Canadian government was responsible for the initiation of residential schools while it was the churches (Anglican, Presbyterian, United, and Roman Catholic) responsibility to educate and oversee the overall running of the schools. Hanson (2009) writes “The purpose of residential schools was to eliminate all aspects of the Aboriginal culture.” It is through looking at the history of residential schools and facing the assimilation forced upon Aboriginal children and their families, along with the abuses endured that a reconciliation between all involved with the uprising and running of these schools that all can come together in moving forward
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 Canada, “more than 150,000 children attended 132 residential schools.” According to Maura Hanrahan, “Between the mid-1800s and the 1970s, up to one-third of all Indigenous children in Canada spent part or most of their childhoods in residential schools. By 1930, almost 75% of all ‘Indian’ children in Canada, aged seven to fifteen, were in residential schools” . The high attendance rate was due to the fact that it became mandatory to send your children between the ages of seven and fifteen and this was strictly enforced by the Indian Agents and the RCMP. In The Fallen Feather Dr. Mary Thomas speaks of her removal from her home. “I was six and a half, my sister was a year older than me. Just out of the blue they picked us up and took us to residential school in Kamloops. And I can remember my mother would get us all dressed up and ready to go back to school, what a horrible day. We would be all crying we don’t want to go back, don’t want to go back”. As one can imagine, this experience was traumatic for both the
There has been lots of controversy about the Indian Residential Schools in Canada and its long term consequences. The Indian Residential Schools long lasting negative effects on the Canadian Identity and Indigenous peoples are still present today. This essay will outline the legal issues, mortality rates and poor conditions. Lasty the lasting effects from the Residential Schools present today in both the survivors, and the new generations. The conflicts between Canada’s Residential Schools and the Canadian Identity is a very problematic issue that Canadians of both Aboriginal descent and mainstream Canadians are trying to amend.
80 Residential schools were developed and established all across Canada in 1931, and slowly over the years, about 150 000 First Nation students attend the different schools. This happened because many believed that education was one of the biggest factors to assimilation, and so the Canadian Parliament changed the Indian Act requiring all children, ranging the ages of seven to fifteen to go to school . The biggest concerns for the Indigenous at the time was that they had to trek thousands of kilometres from home to the nearest school, unknown of the dangers these parents were sending their children into. At these “academic” schools, English was stressed to speak when interacting with others while native tongue and language was banned , due to the fact, most of these schools were ran by churches. Also because these schools were ran by these churches, Christian religion and ideals were emphasized, while Aboriginal Spirituality and culture was condemned. These poor kids were separated from everything they knew about growing up, and they just threw them into a curriculum and material that is so very different from what they knew and would get penalize from not understanding and would feel like they were an outsider. And they would have to deal with this on the daily. And what made it worse was the fact that many of these teachers were harsh and cruel towards these students, hurting them physically, mentally or sexually, causing trauma they’d never forget in their lives. The
Residential schools in Canada were present for over 100 years and were created by the government to eliminate the Indigenous culture. These schools successfully separated families while creating huge cultural barriers between children and their Native culture (COHA, 2011). These children were forcibly removed from their families and taken to residential schools because Canadians saw Indigenous peoples as “backwards” or “savage” (COHA, 2011). They also believed that they were inferior to Natives and that these schools would help “civilize” aboriginals by replacing their Native traits with Western values (COHA, 2011).
Residential Schools were systems set in place by the Government of Canada and enforced by Christian churches as a way to approach the “issue” of the First Nations. They were used by the government to assimilate the Aboriginal children into European culture. It is significant that Canadians remember this time in history because it's not so far in the past. We see the repercussions to this day. This source shows the perspective of the Government, and supporters of the Government. On the other hand Aboriginal people may disagree, they are still greatly struggling with misfortune due to Residential Schools. The perspective shown in the source should be looked into considering the government's insufficient response to the legacies left behind by Residential Schools. For example we see higher prison rates, more drop outs, and family abuse more than most cultural groups in
First of all, I think it is crucial for you to know what the Residential School System was. The Residential school system was a system established by the Canadian Government and its Church led partners to bring aboriginal children to a school to prepare them for their future and education. However, the real goal of the Canadian Government was to assimilate them into white society, and to get them to submit to the so called
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