Suzanne Fournier and Ernie Crey together wrote the article “’Killing the Indian in the Child’: Four Centuries of Church-Run Schools”. This article focuses on the powerful cultural and spiritual traditions of Aboriginal families which enabled Aboriginal Nations to stand against European colonists and against residential schools. Through this article in the Racism, Colonialism, and Indigeneity in Canada textbook, the reader is educated on the treatment of Aboriginal people in residential school as well as the ways that Europeans and Aboriginals were different and why residential schools were created as a result of that difference. Along with the emergence of residential schools, the Native populations were forced to send their children away in order to avoid conflict with colonizers. Fournier and Crey use straight-forward facts that function to directly startle the reader with the reality that many Aboriginal people faced. Beginning the article with a description of a girl in residential school who was forcibly penetrated with a stick brings a sense of intensity and …show more content…
urgency to the article. The writers wish to bring attention to the abduction of Aboriginal children by the churches and Canadian government. It is stated in the article that “by 1896, the Canadian government was funding 45 church-run residential schools across Canada” (176). Undeviating from the topic, the authors continue to make fact-based references to authentic events that were experienced by Aboriginal populations. The article is clearly written, thorough, and an accurate account of the subject. “’Killing the Indian in the Child’: Four Centuries of Church-Run Schools” contributes to educating readers because it is written in a concise and easy to understand manner.
By acknowledging the idea that residential schools existed as an “’internment camp for Indian children’ for well over a century” (173), the reader is able to recognize the basics of residential schools. From the very beginning of the article, the writers set a dark tone when talking about “’Our Alcatraz’” (173) in reference to residential schools. Canada’s relationship with the United States has been described as ‘like sleeping next to an elephant’. Being small in comparison to the power of the United States every move they make Canada feels. There is proof of this throughout history, including the start of residential schools; the Canadian government took the same ideas from our southern partner and implemented it across
Canada. Fournier and Crey work together in furtherance of educating people about residential schools. Throughout history, and even today, there are people who believe residential schools were truly and wholly a positive influence on the First Nations of Canada, but this is incorrect. A majority of people who were forced into these schools endured appalling treatment, and most Aboriginal people continue to face oppression on a day-to-day basis. This article is effective in providing a deeper insight into the planned “extinction” of Aboriginal people by European colonists.
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...
Berkhoffer, Robert F., The White Man’s Indian, 1978, Random House, Inc., New York, 261, nonfiction.
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:
In Philip J. Deloria’s Athletic chapter from his book “Indians in unexpected places” he talks about his grandfather’s connection to sports. He goes into further detail about how his grandfather’s place in sports is similar to other Native Americans. Native Americans used sports as a way to find their place in a new society. Sports was also used to strengthen the community. “Many Indian communities responded by drawing webs of kingship and unity ever tighter, trying to keep sport stars humble” (113). Athletics was now being used to bring all of the community, especially in times when it seemed divided. Sports also disproved the “Vanishing Indian” idea because society saw Native Americans playing in these sports and saw that they still existed.
Canadians are just recently beginning to realize the detrimental aftermath of the years of trauma experienced by Indigenous peoples of Canada, such as the survivors of the residential school system. It is often difficult for these people to overcome the impact that follows. Undoubtedly, it requires help and support from others, but these people must make their personal healing journey themselves. The passages “Rock Bottom” by Steven Keewatin Sanderson and the “Legend of the Sugar Girl” by Joseph Boyden prove that although trauma can significantly undermine groups of people, they can overcome their difficulties. Both authors illustrate how trauma negatively affects characters, causes them to fall victim
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...
According to conservative conflict theory, society is a struggle for dominance among competing social groups defined by class, race, and gender. Conflict occurs when groups compete over power and resources. (Tepperman, Albanese & Curtis 2012. pg. 167) The dominant group will exploit the minority by creating rules for success in their society, while denying the minority opportunities for such success, thereby ensuring that they continue to monopolize power and privilege. (Crossman.n.d) This paradigm was well presented throughout the film. The European settlers in Canada viewed the natives as obstacles in their quest of expansion by conquering resources and land. They feared that the aboriginal practices and beliefs will disrupt the cohesion of their own society. The Canadian government adopted the method of residential schools for aboriginal children for in an attempt to assimilate the future generations. The children were stripped of their native culture,...
Residential schools were first established in the 1880's to solve Canada's “Indian Problem”. Settlers in Canada thought of the First Nations people as savages, and the goal of the residential schools was to civilize them and integrate them in to white Canadian society. The first operators of residential schools thought of their forced integration as a benefit to native peoples. One of the overseers of residential schools wrote to the Sisters in charge of St. Joseph's Mission at Williams Lake that “It now remains for ...
“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.
Thesis Statement: I believe that a profound effect on Indian religion practiced in the New World was caused by Columbus and the Age of Discovery. Historical evidence proves that, before there were Europeans on this continent, there were native peoples living in communion with their environment and, very often, each other. Their religious practices were interwoven with their daily lives and religion held a prominent, significant place within their culture. The intrusion by Europeans into this peaceful world had profound effects on the Indians, especially their religious practices. What had been a peaceful, harmonic lifestyle changed dramatically that fall of 1492.
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...
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
These children were taken from their families and homes to be pupils at these schools and were forced to spend numerous years without reaching their loved ones and friends. “I found that residential schools produced horrors which cannot be ignored. Young boys and girls from my reserve were raped by priests, other school children, and school employees” (Borrows 486). The Canadian law has frequently failed to restrain the sexual, cultural and spiritual abuses that took place at residential schools (Roach 566). Children subjected to serious and constant abuse, for example, tormenting, physical abuse, or sexual molest are at a broader danger for developing mental aggravations, post-traumatic anxiety issues and significant betrayal (Barnes, 12). In addition, as indicated by Gaskins, "57% [of aboriginal students] had admitted to using illicit drugs, and 62% had juvenile records. Students were overtaken by fear - fear of being abused, robbed of their identity, and sexual predators. As an aftereffect of residential schools, numerous students endured multiple grave consequences, for example, suicide, sexual offense, and low self-regard. “Many are now dead, some prematurely, and some by their own hand, their deaths hastened by these harrowing experiences” (Borrows 487). The Native individuals of today still experience the ill effects of family abuse, viciousness towards women and young children, and higher
“Intergenerational trauma is the transmission of historical oppression and its negative consequences across generations” The children who were taken from their families at a young age are now parents of their own children have the parental knowledge to raise their own children. Rosanna Deerchild, a woman whose mother was a victim of residential schools says “growing up, my mother often cried or raged or drank or disappeared into herself. She found it difficult to express affection” . This shows how the distance between parent and child have been effected by Residential schools. The distance between parent and child is not the only issue that was caused due to residential schools but also the increase in sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities. Many of the children who were sexually abused on residential school have now become abusers. In 2015, the American Indian Culture and Research Journal published a review study; “researchers say child sexual abuse is one of the major challenges facing indigenous communities across the continent.” It is proven that Aboriginal Canadians have a greater risk of being sexually assaulted, or of being the victims of child sexual abuse. The closeness of the Aboriginal people living on reserves creates a higher chance for the abuse to go unreported. If someone were to report the issue their whole family would be impacted and the family would be seen differently in their communities. In many communities, it is discouraged to report incidents of sexual abuse because it brings shame to family and community. Furthermore, many of the victims of intergenerational trauma or sexual abuse turn to alcohol or drugs to get rid of their