Did you know Aboriginal children make up only 4% of the national population? (Bird &Macadam, 83). This is not a very large number but 80-95% of that number 4% of children was sexually abused. This number is so high because these children were not treated equally like other nationalities. They were placed in residential schools, where priests, nuns and other people could get away with inappropriate actions, simply because these were Aboriginal children. Residential schools were designed to present children with a new way of living so they could make their own decision on how they would like to live after examining other options but rather than benefiting these children, it scarred them for many, many generations. These schools were nowhere …show more content…
The way these kids grew up, with incest, sexual and physical abuse and brutal punishments led to poor parenting skills which damaged future generations. We all know drinking during pregnancy greatly affects babies but these people did not only drink as pregnant adults, most started drinking at the age of 11. The Aboriginal adults that became parents were not capable of raising their children properly because they did not know how to show affection or relate to their kids on any level (Fournier, 83). When the parents were younger and in the residential schools they could not bond with anyone which also led them to become incapable of bonding with their children (Fournier, 83). An even more sad fact is that some Aboriginal kids literally had no concept of what family was (Tunstall 112). These kids did not know what a dad is, what he should say, what he should do or what his ole was. This was a result of being taken away from their family and put in a residential school. Some kids did have family however it was not technically their family. Social workers thought it was a good idea to place these children in middle-class white families. However this isolated the kids more and made them more vulnerable than they were in the residential schools. They were still abused in these home (sexually and physically and were treated as not even …show more content…
Some of (most of) the people on the residential schools took the pain out on themselves which led to gasoline-sniffing addictions, drug abuse and alcohol abuse. The abuse of drugs and alcohol only made them more vulnerable. You cannot erase the damage done or make someone forget about all of the times they were hit, raped or discriminated against. A large amount of these people have post-traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks, insomnia, uncontrollable anger, addictions, eating disorder, etc. and none of which can be fixed by an apology or programs (Johnston, 51. There has been at least 5 or 6 generations affected by the ripple effect of residential schools, turning into angry, poorly educated and unexperienced-in-parenting strangers. The punishment these people faced also stuck with them for long time, they were humiliated for doing simple things that they were unreasonably punished for. Aboriginal people suffered through a lot, facing discrimination, deculturalization and abuse and many managed to survive. These people should not have grown up this way, surrounded by people they cannot trust, incest, rapists and abusers. They should not have been forced into an unsafe learning environment that did anything but teach them but rather scar them for life. A school should not scar generations and generations of people,
This again shows the traumatic effects of residential schools and of cultural, psychological, and emotional upheaval caused by the intolerance and mistreatment of Aboriginals in Canada. Settlers not only displaced Aboriginal people from their land and their homes, but they also experienced emotional trauma and cultural displacement.
The over-representation of Aboriginal children in the Canadian Child Welfare system is a growing and multifaceted issue rooted in a pervasive history of racism and colonization in Canada. Residential schools were established with the intent to force assimilation of Aboriginal people in Canada into European-Canadian society (Reimer, 2010, p. 22). Many Aboriginal children’s lives have been changed adversely by the development of residential schools, even for those who did not attend them. It is estimated that Aboriginal children “are 6-8 times more likely to be placed in foster care than non-Aboriginal children (Saskatchewan Child Welfare Review Panel, 2010, p. 2).” Reports have also indicated that First Nations registered Indian children make up the largest proportion of Aboriginal children entering child welfare care across Canada (Saskatchewan Child Welfare Review Panel, p. 2). Consequently, this has negatively impacted Aboriginal communities experience of and relationship with child welfare services across the country. It is visible that the over-representation of Aboriginal children in the child welfare system in Canada lies in the impact of the Canadian policy for Indian residential schools, which will be described throughout this paper.
Kids were scattered across the country and family ties were obliterated forcing families to grieve their lost relatives This was devastating because in the First Nations culture, children are valued very highly, and those without children are viewed as being disadvantaged. The removal of children introduced problems of alcoholism, emotional stress and low self-esteem in Aboriginal communities. The events that played out “weakened the traditional family structure, and in doing so, weakened Aboriginal society as a whole”. An entire generation was not taught about their Aboriginal culture , traditions, customs or values, and this played a major role in the shaping of their
Living in Canada, there is a long past with the Indigenous people. The relationship between the white and First Nations community is one that is damaged because of our shameful actions in the 1800’s. Unnecessary measures were taken when the Canadian government planned to assimilate the Aboriginal people. Through the Indian Act and Residential schools the government attempted to take away their culture and “kill the Indian in the child.” The Indian Act allowed the government to take control over the people, the residential schools took away their culture and tore apart their families, and now we are left with not only a broken relationship between the First Nations people but they are trying to put back together their lives while still living with a harsh reality of their past.
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.
Aboriginal people in Canada are the native peoples in North America within the boundaries of present-day Canada. In the 1880’s there was a start of residential schools which took Aboriginal kids from their family to schools to learn the Roman Catholics way of culture and not their own. In residential schools Aboriginal languages were forbidden in most operations of the school, Aboriginal ways were abolished and the Euro-Canadian manner was held out as superior. Aboriginal’s residential schools are careless, there were mental and physical abuse, Aboriginals losing their culture and the after effects of residential schools.
When residential schools were still around, the priests and nuns took away the kids from their families without their approval by using force. Many of the kids were physically and sexually abused, forced to learn English and adopt Christianity. The first nation children were not allowed to follow their culture, they were owned by the Europeans, and this is what happened to the third estate where they were forced to obey the laws of the corrupt people. Some kids were injured and even killed in the process. These acts show how the priests and nuns “killed the Indian in the child.” Residential schools were eventually shut down in 1996. Taking away the child by force without the families’ permission, killing their culture, and abusing them shows how they took away the rights of the First
This essay will discuss the Aboriginal Education policies in Victoria and Federally and how these policies impacted upon the children of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. This essay will further analyse the impact these past policies had on the Aboriginal and Torres strait Islanders’ families and children’s education and how current policies were put in place to assist indigenous students’ access to education. Further to this an analysis of how teachers can implement these changes in the curriculum and classroom.
“To kill the Indian in the child,” was the prime objective of residential schools (“About the Commission”). With the establishment of residential schools in the 1880s, attending these educational facilities used to be an option (Miller, “Residential Schools”). However, it was not until the government’s time consuming attempts of annihilating the Aboriginal Canadians that, in 1920, residential schools became the new solution to the “Indian problem.” (PMC) From 1920 to 1996, around one hundred fifty thousand Aboriginal Canadians were forcibly removed from their homes to attend residential schools (CBC News). Aboriginal children were isolated from their parents and their communities to rid them of any cultural influence (Miller, “Residential Schools”). Parents who refrained from sending their children to these educational facilities faced the consequence of being arrested (Miller, “Residential Schools”). Upon the Aboriginal children’s arrival into the residential schools, they were stripped of their culture in the government’s attempt to assimilate these children into the predominately white religion, Christianity, and to transition them into the moderating society (Miller, “Residential Schools”). With the closing of residential schools in 1996, these educational facilities left Aboriginal Canadians with lasting negative intergenerational impacts (Miller, “Residential Schools”). The Aboriginals lost their identity, are affected economically, and suffer socially from their experiences.
The education of Aboriginal people is a challenge that has been a concern for many years and is still an issue. However, it remains the best way young people can climb out of poverty. With the colonialization and the oppression of Aboriginals, there have been many lasting side effects that continue to be affecting the Aboriginal youth today. “While retention and graduation rates have improved among urban Aboriginal population, an educational gap still remains between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth in urban settings” (Donovan, 127). Many suffer from a diminished self-worth, as they do not feel valued and feel inferior to their classmates. In this essay I am going to outline the reasons Aboriginals are struggling, discuss what is being done
A general background of why Aboriginals are over-represented in correctional systems today is because of the attempt to assimilate them back in 1831 through residential schools. In result of the residential school, Indigenous people lost their entire way of life as it was known to them. Throughout the time spent at the residential schools, Indigenous people suffered from beatings, sexual and verbal assault and in some cases they were murdered. The goal of these schools were to beat the Indian out of the children, and to assimilate them into the European norms and beliefs. However, this was a clear issue at the time many people seemed to turn their heads. Finally in 1996, the final residential school was shut down and the Indigenous people
Firstly, the actual real life events that occurred at residential schools, starting with the assimilation process, tore off the childrens cultural roots. The Canadian government did not like aboriginal culture and wanted to abolish their hold over the land to further the industrial way of life. They did this by cutting the young from their native culture, “Then they gave us new clothes to wear. Well, they weren’t knew… just new to us. Pretty soon we looked like whites. Except, you know, for the brown they couldn’t scrub away.”(76, Ends/Begins). During their time at the residential schools children were under the control of the christian church which ran the entire system, which forced most of them to convert to christianity. They were also bound to the school for 10 months a year and only allowed to see their family between years if they were lucky. When they could not visit their family they had to write letters to their parents. These letters couldn’t even be understood by the parents due to the fact that they were in english. This made the children practically forget all of their culture and beliefs when they were able to come back to their families. This prison-like school system killed a huge part of abori...
The most harmful to the Indigenous society was the residential schools because the young Aboriginal children were taken from their homes, told their language and customs were not allowed, unacceptable and there would be consequences if they did. The Indigenous were separated from their families to assimilate the Indigenous into the so called “white culture.” There was a residential school called the Mohawk Institute Residential School in the area of Branford run by the government. It started as a day school for boys on the Six Nations reserve, then accepted female children later. Former students of the schools described suffering sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. There was low quality food, and they cut some Indigenous peoples hair off. This subject always changed the way I saw these schools because they were the most harmful the Indigenous underwent and I could never understand what it felt like or what happened
Historically, Aboriginal people have not been treated well. Their land have been taken away from them time and time again. Their population was greatly reduced due to illness and war. Most Aboriginal families would have their children taken away from them and sent to residential schools where child abuse would regularly occur. Canadian Aboriginal history is rife with violence and oppression and modern society tends to gloss over this fact. Even in history courses, we don't really learn about all of the things that had happened. And because we don't know about the violent history, we don't realize that this violence and oppression still
Aboriginal men and boys were killed, imprisoned, enslaved, driven away and deprived of the ability to provide for their families. Women became single parents and many children were conceived through rape and forces prostitution. Aboriginal people were rounded up and sent to missions and reserves where they were further removed from being able to obtain work, balanced diets, housing, health care and education. Aboriginal children were removed from their fractured families and placed into non-Indigenous care environments where they suffered the horrors of forced inferiority, deprivation and abuse. Parents and other family members suffer from these transgenerational traumas, passing them on to the next generations. They can pass on trauma through parenting, for example neglection, behavior problems, violence, harmful substance use and mental health issues. Aboriginal communities are also suffering from a mix of issues, often a consequence of the trauma people have experienced, these include: lack of medical and disability services, lack of medical care, little education, high unemployment, staff exhaustion, decaying infrastructure, broken families, high crime rates, ineffective government programs and clash of