The Canadian and American governments designed a residential school system to assimilate Indigenous children into Western society by stripping them of their language, cultural practices as well as their traditions. By breaking these children’s ties to their families and communities, as well as forcing them to assimilate into Western society; residential schools were a root cause of many social problems, which even persist within Aboriginal communities today. The best theoretical perspective to explain the issue of residential schools is best described by conflict theory. In this particular case Western society involving such institutions as the government and the church are the “ruling class” and the indigenous of Canada and the United States of America are the subject class. The ruling class of Canada and the United States exploited and oppressed the indigenous to assimilate them into western society. “Children were taught to see themselves in terms of the dominant society” (McClinchey, Residential schools info) and in doing so were stripped of their cultural identity. A common name that comes up when discussing the residential school system, or under American terms, the boarding school system is Captain Richard Henry Pratt. It was his belief that the indigenous were a savage group but did not start out this way at birth; he believed that “Left in the surroundings of savagery, he [Aboriginal children] grows to possess a savage language, superstition, and life. We left in the surroundings of civilization; grow to possess a civilized language, life, and purpose” (http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/4929/). Therefore Pratt wanted to use his ruling power to reverse the “damage” that the aboriginal culture had instilled in its children... ... middle of paper ... ...ality is another concept that relates to the residential school system. As Stated earlier, the Canadian and American governments were the ruling class and the aboriginals were the subject class. Here we are left dealing with the differences in power. The aboriginals were seen as savage and uncivilized and had to be destroyed to create the image that Canada wanted to portray for itself. This inequality still exists today, and when discussing this we must not forget the “long-standing history of colonial domination and cultural oppression that aboriginal people have faced” (Tepperman et al.2004:188). Overall there were many social implications associated with residential schools including issues with identity, socialization, and inequality, sadly these effects are still seen in today’s society. Residential schools have created a never fading scar on Canada’s history.
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...
The first document I decided to cover was document 19-1, A Textile Worker Explains the Labor Market. This particular document focuses on mule spinner Thomas O’Donnell as he explains his current work and living situation to Senator Henry W. Blair in 1883. The document, which is in a transcript form, details the living conditions that O’Donnell is forced to live in during this time period. He goes on to explain that him, his wife, and two children are very poor due to the fact he hasn’t had steady work in the last 3 years. Even when he had steady work he was only making $1.50 at most a day, most of which went to the cost of his rent and food for his children.
...ed in out-of-home care during those years were Aboriginal, yet Aboriginal children made up less than 5% of the total child population in Canada (Brown et al., 2005).” The number of First Nations children from reserves placed in out-of-home care grew rapidly between 1995 and 2001, increasing by 71.5% (Brown et al., 2005). In Manitoba, Aboriginal children made up nearly 80% of children living in out-of-home care in 2000 (Brown et al., 2005). These staggering numbers are the reason why researchers and advocates blame the residential schools as the main historical culprit for today’s phenomenon of the over-representation of Aboriginal children in the child welfare system. The sections below will highlight how residential schools shaped child welfare system in Canada today, which help to explain the over-representation of Aboriginal children in the child welfare system.
High school is the stepping stone between childhood and the real world. John Dewey spent most of his life striving to improve this transition. He believed high schools were not preparing students for the needs of society by merely teaching the basics, such as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Dewey argued that high schools “must present situations where problems are relevant to the problems of living together, and where observation and information are calculated to develop social insight and interest.” This type of education would create socially-responsible citizens who have the ability to work together and solve societal issues; in turn, America’s democratic society would flourish. With this said, high schools continue to ignore Dewey’s suggestions,
the residential school era as a “sad chapter in our history, that need not have occurred”
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.
Residential schools all across Canada have left its students with the difficult task of regaining a normal life after various abuses. This legacy of residential school system is still affecting people today. In the books Kiss of the Fur Queen by Tomson Highway and Creative Escape 2013 by various inmates, tell stories of attending a residential school and then dealing with the legacy of the residential school system by finding different ways to overcome the effects of the residential school system. One effects of the legacy of the residential school system is isolation. Another effect of the legacy of the residential school system is guilt. Lastly the loss of identity is an effect of the residential school system legacy. The legacy of residential schools through the works of Kiss of the Fur Queen and Creative Escape 2013 show that the legacy of residential schools has caused the survivors to feel isolated from family and community leading to various consequences, the guilt that the characters are taught in the residential schools is carried with the characters after they leave the schools, and the loss of identity the students are left with after leaving the school and going into the cities. These texts not only show that there is a legacy of the residential school system and that the characters face it but that the characters in the texts also find strategies to overcome this legacy through the use of art, traditional teachings and religion.
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
In Eden Robinson’s novel, Monkey Beach, there is a reoccurring aspect of the impacts residential schools have on aboriginal people. This viscous cycle of residential schooling involves removing children from their homes, disrupting cultural practices, punishing and abusing helpless children, and then sending them home to their parents who are also taught the same unhealthy behaviours. The purpose of residential school is to assimilate children into western culture, as indigenous cultures are seen as inferior and unequal. Due to residential school systems, there is an opposing force between Haisla culture and settler traditions; settler knowledge being of evident dominance, which results in suffering to the indigenous peoples on various levels:
The Indian Residential schools and the assimilating of First Nations people are more than a dark spot in Canada’s history. It was a time of racist leaders, bigoted white men who saw no point in working towards a lasting relationship with ingenious people. Recognition of these past mistakes, denunciation, and prevention steps must be taking intensively. They must be held to the same standard that we hold our current government to today. Without that standard, there is no moving forward. There is no bright future for Canada if we allow these injustices to be swept aside, leaving room for similar mistakes to be made again. We must apply our standards whatever century it was, is, or will be to rebuild trust between peoples, to never allow the abuse to be repeated, and to become the great nation we dream ourselves to be,
“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.
Though the film mentioned the impact that residential schools had and still has on the aboriginal people, I felt that this issue needed to be stressed further because the legacy of the schools is still extremely prominent in aboriginal communities today. The film refers to the fact that residential schools harmed the aboriginal people because they were not able to learn their culture, which has resulted in the formation of internalized oppression within in the group. “The...
The creation of the Residential Schools is now looked upon to be a regretful part of Canada’s past. The objective: to assimilate and to isolate First Nations and Aboriginal children so that they could be educated and integrated into Canadian society. However, under the image of morality, present day society views this assimilation as a deliberate form of cultural genocide. From the first school built in 1830 to the last one closed in 1996, Residential Schools were mandatory for First Nations or Aboriginal children and it was illegal for such children to attend any other educational institution. If there was any disobedience on the part of the parents, there would be monetary fines or in the worst case scenario, trouble with Indian Affairs.
The government’s goal of the Residential School System was to remove and isolate the children from their families and their culture in order to assimilate the Indigenous race to the dominant new Canadian culture. What the citizens did not know about was the
John Dewey was one of the most influential American philosopher born in Vermont in 1859. He graduated from the University of Vermont and eventually got his Ph.D. and went on to teaching at other universities. In his book Experience and Education he talks about traditional education, the theory of experience, criteria of experience, social control, the nature of freedom, the meaning of purpose, progressive organization, and at the end he raps it up with the means and goals of education. Dewey was a well-known philosopher and his ideas travel all around during the early 20th century. He had two main principles; the principle of continuity and the principle of interaction that led to what he believed was the proper way to educated students.