Indian Residential Schools

In hopes that the Aboriginal population would be assimilated into Canadian society, heavily influenced by European culture and traditions, the government of Canada established residential schools. They were government funded boarding schools where Aboriginal children were sent to learn about European-Canadian culture. Attendance was mandatory and removing the children from their communities was seen as essential to the assimilation process. The Government of Canada operated nearly every school as a “joint venture” with various religious organizations including the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, United and Presbyterian churches (CBC).

Facts

There were approximately 130 residential schools in territories and provinces across Canada with the exception(s) of Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island (CBC).
Canada’s Indian residential school system began officially in 1892. Most residential schools ceased operation by the mid-1970s, although the government was no longer officially involved after 1969.
Not all residential schools closed in the 1970s. Akaitcho Hall in Yellowknife, the last residential school in Canada, closed in 1996.
Approximately 150,000 Aboriginal students attended the 80 Residential schools that were established throughout the country (CBC).
It is estimated that there are 80,000 people alive today who attended residential school; they are known as the residential school survivors.
These government-run institutions were established to “civilize” the savage Indians. In 1920, Duncan Campbell Scott, the Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, had a mission to fix the “Indian problem” through assimilation. According to Scott and government policy, it was their mission to “kill the Indian in the child” and turn them into respectable Canadian citizens (Residential Schools).
In 2008, the Prime Minister apologized to former students for the abuse they suffered. This was one of many steps taken by the government in addressing the abuse which took place in Indian Residential Schools.

(Source: Where are the Children?)

Experiences

Some residential school survivors have spoken about the positive experiences in these schools, while many others describe their time in the schools as an abusive experience.
Many children were physically, sexually, mentally, spiritually and emotionally abuse. Some died of the harsh beating while others took their own lives. This abuse took place at the hands of those who were entrusted to educate, care for and protect the children.
Many survivors have said that they were sent to school against their parents’ wishes. Upon arrival, their traditional clothing was taken away from them and their hair was cut off. This, along with the fact that their names were changed, was intended to take away their culture and traditions. Survivors have described this as a humiliating and degrading experience.
Those that were abused and that tried to escape or report the abuse did not get help. The people in authority either did not believe them or were abusers themselves. Runaways got in trouble with the police or with the school when they returned.
Most students did not have contact with their families during the time they were at a residential school because the schools were located far away from their communities. The schools were deliberately located far away so that parents could not have easy access to their children.
The residential school system stripped away the identity, language and culture of Aboriginal people; these are the main things that make people who they are.
Many Aboriginal children completely lost their ability to speak their Native language after attending residential schools where they were forced to speak English or French. Upon their return home, many found that they were no longer able to communicate with their parents in their mother tongue and did not have the skills to help them.

(Source: Where are the children?, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada publication – They Came for the Children and Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Interim Report)

Consequences

Court cases began in the 1990s. The cases were filed against the Federal government, the Anglican Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church. In 1998, the government made a Statement of Reconciliation and established the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. The foundation’s purpose was to fund community-based healing programs that focus on addressing the legacy of Indian residential schools.
In 2006, a settlement package was reached: the Canadian government and the complainants settled on a $1.9 billion compensation package to benefit tens of thousands of survivors of abuse at residential schools. The amount of compensation is based on the number of years attended by a particular former student of residential schools: $10,000 for the first year attended plus $3,000 for every year attended thereafter.
The legacy of residential schools continues to affect the children and grandchildren of the residential school survivors. The effects that Aboriginal children and youth experience today are referred to as “intergenerational impacts” of the residential school experience.
The physical, sexual and emotional abuse, as well as substance abuse, that exists in Aboriginal communities today is a direct result of the abuse suffered in the Aboriginal residential school system.
Survivors were not taught skills which they would have learned in a family setting. Many have turned out to be abusers, having been disciplined in a harsh way as children. This disintegration of family relationships has resulted in Aboriginal communities having high crime and mortality rates.
The abuse was ignored and denied for so long by the government that the relationship between the government and Aboriginal people is very strained. However, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada has been created to raise awareness of historical abuses and to confront many of the consequences which exist to this day.

(Source: CBC Archive, CBC News)

Links

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
Aboriginal Healing Foundation
Residential Schools: Canadian Shame
CBC News: Indian Residential Schools
CBC Archive: A Lost Heritage: Canada’s Residential Schools
Where are the Children? Healing and Legacy of Residential Schools