Residential Schools

Residential schools Operating in Canada prior to Confederation The churches established the first schools as part of their missionary work. Government of Canada played a role as early as 1874 Last federally run school was closed 1996

Believed to have contributed to weakening the identity of First Nations. It did this by separating children from their family and community and preventing them from speaking their own language and learning about their heritage and cultures. Read Residential schools and answer the questions

CBC Archives site In 1928, a government official predicted Canada would end its "Indian problem" within two generations. Church-run, government-funded residential schools for native children were supposed to prepare them for life in white society. But the aims of assimilation meant devastation for those who were subjected to physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Decades later, aboriginal people began to share their stories and demand acknowledgement of — and compensation for — their stolen childhoods

CBC Archives Site Beginning in 1928, Aboriginal children were sent far from home to residential schools. Their history has become one of separation, denigration, and abuse.

A Lost Heritage: Canada's Residential Schools 692/disasters_tragedies/residential_scho ols/educational_activities/

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