Residential Schools

Residential Schools

The legacy of residential schools in Canada is recognised as one of the darkest times in history. The purpose of this paper is to explain the effects of residential schools in Canada, and how they impacted indigenous culture. The reason for this paper is my own personal background being indigenous, and having my great grandfather attend the residential school in Brantford entitled the Mohawk Institute, sometimes referred to as the “Mush-hole”.

The residential schools were run by the federal government and church. The first residential school opened in 1879 in Pennsylvania, and the last federally run residential school closed in 1996, in Saskatchewan, which was not that long ago. There were over 150,000 native children who were forced to attend the residential school, and the key purpose of this according to the federal government and church were to assimilate the native children into the western society through civilization, and converting the children to Christianity.

According to some academics, they argue that the schools’ purpose was to eliminate the Indian problem, through assimilation. This resulted in harsh experiences for the native children who suffered various forms of abuse including sexual, emotional, and spiritual abuse. But, equally important, the native children were abused and punished for speaking their native tongue, and practicing their traditional ceremonies, which were not allowed.

The schools themselves were poorly built, and unsanitary. They were filled with numerous amounts of diseases, and rats, which were very unhealthy. As a result of the harsh and abusive experiences, this led to negative consequences when the children returned home to their native communities. The children’s experiences led to loss of culture, language, and most importantly, the loss of cultural identity. This is because they were taught to be ashamed of whom they were.

Consequently, when the children returned to their native communities, there was a disconnection from their cultural identity, because they forgot how to speak their languages, and engage in their traditional ceremonies. However, most importantly, the lasting impacts resulted in intergenerational impacts on the survivors’ families. This led to alcohol dependence, drug abuse, violence, and many other behaviours to try to rid the pain they suffered.

Recently, many native communities have started to revitalize, or bring back, their traditional ceremonies and languages, through resistance and treatment options. This demonstrates the strength and determination of native communities to sustain and revitalize their culture and native languages through resistance and treatment practices, by incorporating native medicines, or ways of knowing, to help heal those in pain and suffering.

Lastly, as a summary of what I have discussed throughout this paper, the impacts of residential schools in Canada on native culture were; the intention of assimilation, harsh experiences, lasting impacts of the negative outcomes, and finally; survivors and families taking action, revitalizing native languages and culture. In conclusion, I leave you with this final thought; the use of residential schools in Canada did NOT eradicate the indigenous culture.

                                                                        Nya:wen. Thank you.

                                                                        By; LV

My topic discusses the legacy of residential schools in Canada and how it impacted indigenous culture. The purpose of this paper is to explain the intergenerational impacts of residential schools on many families today. The reason why I chose this topic is because my great grandfather attended the residential school in Brantford, ON. His resiliency and determination to escape/overcome the negative experiences of residential schools led him to become the first native lawyer in Canada. Due to his resiliency; I wanted to discuss the positive changes of bringing back languages and cultural knowledge to many native communities. Personally, I wanted to express my thoughts and personal knowledge from family to present to my class of the harsh experiences that many native children had to endure.