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Social changes in the 1950s and 1960s
The sixties social changes
The sixties social changes
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The term “Sixties Scoop,” was created by the writer, Patrick Johnson to describe “the taking of thousands of Native children from their families, communities, and peoples during the 1960s to early 1980s” (Steckley and Cummins, 2008, 274). In the 1960’s, the government generally believed that an extension of child welfare services to reserves would be a practical approach of solving some of the problems on reserves. Although the social services may have had good intentions, “little attention was paid to the effect that extending provincial services would have on Indian families and communities [and there did not appear] to be any concern that provincial services might not be compatible with the needs of Indian communities” (Lloyd 2009). The majority of children that were placed for adoption were relocated to distant communities, different provinces and some were also placed in the United States to the dwellings of middle class Caucasian families. Across North America, the scattering of Aboriginal children contributed to damaged identifications with traditional First Nations culture (Alston-O’Connor 2010). Consequently, the Sixties Scoop caused irreversible psychological, emotional and spiritual damage to not only the individual, but to the families and the community too. In the 1950s and 1960s, the government began abolishing the compulsory residential school education among Aboriginal people. The government believed that Aboriginal children could receive a better education if they were integrated into the public school system (Hanson). However, residential schools were later deemed inappropriate because not only were the children taken away from their culture, their families and their people, but the majority of students were abus... ... middle of paper ... ...m http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/government-policy/sixties-scoop.html Sinclair, R. (2007). Identity Lost and Found: Lessons from the Sixties Scoop. First Peoples Child & Family Review, 3(1), 65-82. Retrieved December 6, 2013, from http://www.fncfcs.com/sites/default/files/online-journal/vol3num1/Sinclair_pp65.pdf Smith, C. (2013, September 1). A Legacy of Canadian Child Care: Surviving the Sixties Scoop. Briarpatch Magazine, 1. Retrieved December 6, 2013, from http://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/a-legacy-of-canadian-child-care Steckley, J., & Cummins, B. D. (2008). Full circle: Canada's First Nations (2nd ed.). Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall. The Justice System and Aboriginal People: Child Welfare. (n.d.). The Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission. Retrieved December 12, 2013, from http://www.ajic.mb.ca/volumel/chapter14.html
Residential schools undoubtedly created detrimental inter-generational consequences. The dark legacy of residential schools has had enduring impact, reaching into each new generation, and has led to countless problems within Aboriginal families including: chemical dependence, a cycle of abuse in families, dysfunctional families, crime and incarceration, depression, grief, suicide, and cultural identity issues (McFarlan, 2000, p. 13). Therefore, the inter-generational consequence...
During the 19th century the Canadian government established residential schools under the claim that Aboriginal culture is hindering them from becoming functional members of society. It was stated that the children will have a better chance of success once they have been Christianised and assimilated into the mainstream Canadian culture. (CBC, 2014) In the film Education as We See It, some Aboriginals were interviewed about their own experiences in residential schools. When examining the general topic of the film, conflict theory is the best paradigm that will assist in understanding the social implications of residential schools. The film can also be illustrated by many sociological concepts such as agents of socialization, class inequality, and language as a cultural realm.
This article shows the history of Indigenous women in Canada and the specific laws during various periods of the history of Canada that influenced the health issues in Indigenous women. The article introduces the laws of Indigenous society prior to colonization, in which women and men were seen as equals, which is necessary to maintain the health and survival of the community. The Indigenous women were considered sacred because of their ability to create new life, and their ability to make decisions on economic and social aspects. With the colonization and the imposition of European laws and traditions, Indigenous women did not possess legal status or social origin, which caused them to become dependent on their father and husbands. The article cites that this situation began during the fur trade, where Europeans refused to deal with women for sale or trade.
Canada likes to paint an image of peace, justice and equality for all, when, in reality, the treatment of Aboriginal peoples in our country has been anything but. Laden with incomprehensible assimilation and destruction, the history of Canada is a shameful story of dismantlement of Indian rights, of blatant lies and mistrust, and of complete lack of interest in the well-being of First Nations peoples. Though some breakthroughs were made over the years, the overall arching story fits into Cardinal’s description exactly. “Clearly something must be done,” states Murray Sinclair (p. 184, 1994). And that ‘something’ he refers to is drastic change. It is evident, therefore, that Harold Cardinal’s statement is an accurate summarization of the Indigenous/non-Indigenous relationship in
The stolen generations of Aboriginal children were taken away from their families by the government, churches and welfare bodies so they could be brought up in institutions or fostered out into white families with the hope that these children would be integrated into white society. Beginning in the 1830’s and ending in the early 1970’s, many children were taken from their families in an attempt to eradicate the Aboriginal race and culture. The Australian government’s policy and practice of removing the Aboriginal children from their families was violently enforced during that time period, unfortunately this official government policy was in effect until 1969. During my research it appears that the practice of mistreating Aboriginal
Over the past decades, Aboriginal people (the original people or indigenous occupants of a particular country), have been oppressed by the Canadian society and continue to live under racism resulting in gender/ class oppression. The history of Colonialism, and Capitalism has played a significant role in the construction and impact of how Aborignal people are treated and viewed presently in the Canadian society. The struggles, injustices, prejudice, and discrimination that have plagued Aboriginal peoples for more than three centuries are still grim realities today. The failures of Canada's racist policies toward Aboriginal peoples are reflected in the high levels of unemployment and poor education. Presently, the state shapes the construction and social reproduction of racism, racialization, and sexism as experienced by Aboriginal people in Canada.
She describes the government as, in the past, having frowned upon the Aboriginal culture and deemed it unfit to raise children in. As a result, the government imposed its authority and took children away from their families and placed them in residential schools to assimilate them (Maxwell 420).
In order to determine if genocide had actually taken place, survivors have documented instances of abuse through “oral and written statements.” In addition, many have concluded that the introduction of residential schools may relate to “cultural genocide” and “ethnocide”, in which the Canadian government attempted to destroy aboriginal languages, cultures, and religions in order to force assimilation of Native American
Residential schools were founded in the late 1800’s by churches and the Canadian government. The primary objective for the residential schools was to isolate aboriginal children from their family and cultural influences in order to assimilate them to Euro-Canadian culture. To this day, poverty, weak parenting skills, mental health issues and substance abuse continue to have an effect on aboriginal people. Predominantly victims of residential schools, their developing years were crippled by negative living conditions and mistreatment. Alienation from their families and culture, compounded by poor teaching has had a long-term impact on the lives of thousands of aboriginal people.
The Indian Residential School System was run by the Canadian Government with the help of various churches with the objective of “killing the Indian in the child” (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada 2015). An estimated 150 000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children passed through the Residential School System between 1867 and 1996, and life for these children was lonely and alien (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada 2015). The Canadian Government has tried to maintain mutually respectful relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, however, their efforts to reconcile with Indigenous people have not been adequate to heal the wounds of cultural genocide left by the Indian Residential School System. The Canadian Government has relied too heavily on formal apologies and promises rather than on implementing policy changes when attempting to reconcile with the Indigenous people. Although the government has tried to
We are all a product of our history. Unfortunately, the Aboriginal community of Canada’s past is quite devastating. Although residential schools were decades ago, we are still seeing the aftermath of them lingering amongst us today. Some very apparent examples of mental health issues due to this fallout are: depression, suicide, and violence. “The effects of colonization and governmental policies of forced assimilation continue to cause acculturative stress and marginalization amongst the Aboriginal population.” Residential schools put a huge gap in cultural life as those students were raised without the love or the benefit of oral tradition passed along from their ancestors. In contrast, they were only capable of passing their torturous experiences
Furthermore, Indigenous children received poor education while in residential schools and this negatively affected the indigenous population since it lead to things such as unemployment, poverty, substance abuse and family violence (PostMedia News, 2015). Not only that, but residential schools significantly affected the indigenous culture and language because children were forced not to speak their languages of origin and were punished if chosen to do so (PostMedia News, 2015). This affected indigenous people for generations because many individuals who were in residential schools were unable to pass down their culture and language down onto their own children. This has left an imprint on the indigenous community for years. Moreover, It’s important to learn about the rights of Indigenous peoples because, for centuries they’ve had many things taken away from them such as the land they live
One of the most harmful effects of the residential school system was the lack of proper education, causing unemployment, limited jobs and poverty for many residential school survivors.9 These limitations impacted the educational and economical potential of their children as well.10 Admittedly, Aboriginals living on reserves are exempt from paying property and GST/HST taxes.11 Although this policy eases some of the economic burden for Aboriginals, it does not help Aboriginals who do not live on reserves. Furthermore, reserve schools are underfunded, again undermining the educational and economical potential of Aboriginals.12 Aboriginals’ income is significantly lower than the income of non-Aboriginals, and they experience much higher rates of unemployment and poverty.13 Despite calls for action to help Aboriginals with education and employment opportunities, the Canadian government has not listened and the socioeconomic gap between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals has widened.14 More needs to be done by the government to address the poor Aboriginal socioeconomic
The Canadian Residential School system has left a lasting legacy on multiple generations of First Nations people across the country. Even in their old age, they are still affected by the efforts of the Department of Indian Affairs to assimilate the First Nations people into the new settler’s society. Cecile Kelto provided a first-hand account of what occurred within the walls of schoolhouse, and while it is quite emotional, she may not the picture that one many hope for as she believes that she ‘had it better’ than others that she went to school with . Her interview is still an important, though, as it shows that so much more was going on than just physical and sexual abuse because she was still traumatized by other factors that are identified
Residential schools opened up in 1857-1996, solely for the purpose of absorbing Aboriginals into Christianity and the English culture because their beliefs and cultures were seen as negligible. Former residential school students are called “survivors.” The results of these residential schools cause direct as well as long term effects towards Aboriginals. The survivors are not the only ones affected. Relatives, children and friends of the survivors are affected as well. The historical legacies of residential schools include loss of identity, culture/ religion, destruction of families, and high suicide rates/ mental disorders.