RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS English 11 Purpose To assimilate First

RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS English 11

Purpose ■ To assimilate First Nations children into a Christian lifestyle and European work habits ■ In 1920 it was made into law that all First Nations children were to attend Residential schools if there was no Day school near their home.

Quote from 1920 ■ “Our object is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic, and there is no Indian question, and no Indian department. ” ■ Stated by Duncan Campbell Scott – Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs

Why did First Nations Children Go? ■ It was the law. ■ Indian Agents on the reserves would withhold food and benefits from those who did not go. ■ Children were forcibly taken by priests, Indian agents or police officers and sent on buses or cattle cars to schools. ■ Some families did resist despite the consequences. ■ After Grade Six only about 3% of First Nations children remained in school.

Life at a Residential School ■ It was a boarding school ■ Often a long way from the child’s actual home. ■ Sometimes students could go home for the summers. ■ Often their meals would be rotten or lacking in quantity. ■ Usually run by a church. The teachers would be nuns or priests.

Rules ■ The children were taught that their culture, their spiritual beliefs, their language, and their clothes were inferior and wrong. ■ The children were not allowed to speak their native language. If they were caught doing so they would be beaten. ■ The children were given new English names. ■ Their hair was cut. ■ They were to wear different clothes.

Lessons ■ The day would start with chapel. ■ In the morning there would be lessons on reading, writing, arithmetic and religion. ■ Discipline was harsh. You could be punished for poor work or learning too fast.

Lessons Continued ■ In the afternoon students would be given manual chores. ■ Thus, their education was inferior. ■ It was believed that First Nations children were only fit for menial labour so a good education wasn’t necessary.

Abuse ■ Some schools had dedicated staff ■ But in other schools teachers used their position to abuse the students emotionally, physically, and sometimes sexually. ■ The children were helpless.

Impact ■ When the children were taken from their homes the communities, they were left in a state of shock and despair. ■ Some turned to alcohol. ■ First Nations children were deprived of normal family life and did not learn how to be parents. ■ Children were taken from their home, culture, land, community…Their identity was torn from them. ■ Many children who went to Residential schools never returned because they died from disease, beatings, suicide, or failed escapes.

Residential Schools ■ In 1920 it was compulsory for First Nations children to attend Residential or Day schools. ■ The last one closed in 1996 ■ “Indian Residential Schools Unit. ” Assembly of First Nations. Nov. 29, 2010. http: //www. afn. ca/residentialschools/history. html.