Residential School Essay

1352 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Canada residential school education

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 …show more content…

In her interview, Cecile discusses how common illnesses, especially Tuberculosis, within the school and she shares her personal experiences with the disease1. Her older sister and brother both died from the disease and she contracted it and spent about a year and a half at the hospital1. The historians all support this claim as most of the schools had a legacy of ill health with a high mortality rate. At least one quarter of the students that attended Residential Schools either died while at school, or shortly after they left2. Residential School and the underfunding, unfit environment were affecting not only the students, but also those who did not attend the school. Students in ill health were discharged and sent home to spend their final days with their family, making their family and community to the disease2. Indian Affairs and the Residential school system did little to provide a solution, letting many students suffer, because of funding and a general belief at the time that Native people were more prone to illnesses. As well, the rampant health concerns throughout the system created the perception in the settler society that Native people were inherently unhealthy, as long as they were not assimilated2, which is

Show More
Related

  • 8th Fire: Indigenous in the City Analysis: One Step Forward, One Step Back

    1576 Words  | 4 Pages

    Schissel, Bernard, and Terry Wotherspoon. “The Legacy of Residential Schools.” Inequality in Canada: A Reader on the Intersections of Gender, Race, and Class. 2nd ed. Ed. Valerie Zawilski. Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2010. 102-121. Print.

    Read More

  • The Treatment of Aboriginal People in Eden Robinson's Monkey Beach, and Constance Lindsay Skinner's Birthright

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Legend Of The Rock Bottom Trauma

    1645 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Fifth Generation of Native People Fallout

    1095 Words  | 3 Pages

    The current generation of native people in Canada are greatly impacted by efforts made by the Canadian government that forced previous generations to assimilate and give up their culture. Most of the fifth generation of native people are not directly impacted by the atrocities that forced their people to give up their culture for the benefit of others; however, their diminished cultural identity is a result of it. Parents who are raising the fifth generation have difficulty passing on their Indian identity to their children (Deiter-McArthur 381). The parents and grandparents of the fifth generation were raised in the residential school system, where they were stopped from showing affection or love for one another even if it was their own brother or sister. This results in a lack of ability for some of them to show love toward their children (Maniitok). Another e...

    Read More

  • The Sociological Effects of Residential Schools

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Aftermath of Residential Schools

    767 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Residential School Abuse in Canada

    2828 Words  | 6 Pages

    For decades First Nations people1 faced abuse in Canada's residential school system. Native children had their culture and families torn away from them in the name of solving the perceived “Indian Problem” in Canada. These children faced emotional, physical, and sexual abuse at the hands of residential school supervisors and teachers. Since the fazing out of residential schools in the 1960's the survivors of residential schools and their communities have faced ongoing issues of substance addiction, suicide, and sexual abuse.2 These problems are brought on by the abuse that survivors faced in residential schools. The government of Canada has established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to address these issues but it has been largely ineffective. Though the Government of Canada has made adequate efforts towards monetary reparations for the survivors of residential schools, it has failed to provide a means to remedy the ongoing problems of alcohol and drug addiction, sexual abuse, and suicide in the communities of residential school survivors.3

    Read More

  • How The Aboriginal Assimilation

    1366 Words  | 3 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • Richard Henry Pratt And The Residential School System

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Assimilation In Canada

    533 Words  | 2 Pages

    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,

    Read More

  • Aboriginal

    1291 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Residential Schools In Canada

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • We Were Children Film Analysis

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    Justice has began to commence for many of Canada’s Indigenous people now that considerably one of our Nation’s darkest secrets has been spilled. The Residential School system was a collection of 132 church-run, government-funded boarding schools that was legally required for all Indigenous Canadian children. Canadian Residential Schools ran up until 1996 and, for decades, the secrets from within the walls of the institutions have been hidden. But now, the truth has finally come to light.

    Read More

  • This Is The Day Of My Healing Analysis

    668 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fontaine’s willingness to discuss his gruesome journey of a loss of identity brings awareness to the issue, soliciting other First Nations who are hesitant to speak up to build the confidence to confront the abuse that occurred at residential schools. Fontaine volunteers to have his story told in front of a federal government lawyer. At the hearing, he must answer questions about his abuse claims. Fontaine enters the room in panic and feels similar emotions to his time at residential schools; however, Fontaine understands that his hearing will be the beginning of his journey of healing. “This is the day of my healing, the long-waited opportunity to tell representatives of the government of Canada about my experience in residential schools. I’ve had to bring legal action

    Read More

  • Residential School Short Story

    223 Words  | 1 Pages

    This is what I think the story was trying to teach me. I think the story was trying to teach me that you should be thankful for being able to go to school with out being taken away from your home, village, family and friends like Shi-shi etko was. As a kid I would be really sad about going to residential school and leaving everything I love.I understand they were trying to teach us that residential school wasn't the best school for kids. I thought that because a school that takes you away from everything you love is not the school kids will be happy about going to. They would probably want to go to a school that doesn't take you away from your family. The last thing the story was trying to teach me is that you should be thankful for everything

    Read More

More about Residential School Essay

Open Document