The Residential School System Summary

Murray Sinclair and A.C. Hamilton the authors of “The Residential School System” discuss the conscious attempt to force the Aboriginal culture and to force the European language, culture and society mainly by bringing children into residential schools. The purposes of these schools were to remove a culture that in their assumption was inferior. The residential school resulted in a cycle of violence, abuse and poverty that to this day has not been fully re-conciliated.

Early Canadian history has two contradicting cultures, the Aboriginals and Europeans. Divergent philosophies were clear from first contact. Early interaction was characterized by “‘cooperation and conflict”(368). Europeans had assumed superiority and thought that in order for Aboriginals to survive, they must erase and re-mold the indigenous race. After some failed attempts which, were mainly due to

(369) Since then, the government has been involved in “relevant decision making power, on financial, social or political matter and even education” (369). One of the first decision taken was to create the residential school. This was the government’s new policy towards civilizing the Aboriginal by assimilating them, specifically through education. Residential schools were organized by religious organizations. The main goal was to deliberately get children far from the reserves and impress European life on them such as “Languages cultures and societies”(369). The use of physical punishment such as “ strapping, beatings, bruising” (371) were common methods implicated to prove the Europeans power and control. After the 2nd world war, the government wanted a more effective means of assimilating the Aboriginals. Diamond Jenness proposed some ideas, only one went through which, was “to allow Indian children to be enrolled in public schools… This event signaled the beginning of the end for many residential schools”