1. RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS

2. THE TREATIES
The Numbered Treaties addressed education: “…maintain schools on reserves, as advisable, at peoples’ request.”
This ‘right’ supposedly guaranteed the FN to an ‘education’
The Treaties were agreed upon by both Natives and White People

3. The INDIAN ACT 1876 It defined who could be an ‘Indian’
It ‘outlined what Indians could and could not do’
This legislation is NOT a part of Treaty. It is an arbitrary piece of legislation that greatly affected First Nations
The Indian Act was imposed on the Natives and they had NO SAY whatsoever.

4. Duncan Campbell Scott

5. Duncan Campbell Scott, Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs from stated: “The happiest future for the Indian race is absorption into the general population, and this is the object of the policy of our government. The great forces of intermarriage and education will finally overcome the lingering traces of native custom and tradition.”

6. Before and After

7. Education: Assimilation
Indian act gave the agents of the Dept. of Indian affairs almost dictatorial control over Aboriginal peoples’ lives, including education
Education became one of the ‘tools’ to ASSIMILATION
Indian Act – government’s responsibility to educate native children

8. Assimilation Plan Goal: To prepare Native children for white society
Began consideration in 1928
Geared to end the “Indian Problem”
Guesstimated time for success was two generations
Church run
Government funded

9. Funding
Schools were funded by the federal government but were operated by the Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian and United Churches
Image from

10. Governance
’s – Parents had no choice but to send children to a residential school.
Many parents wanted this schooling as they thought it best for their children’s future.
All Aboriginal people – wards of the state.
“Indian Agents” (white men) – employed by Dept. of Indian Affairs recruited students and ensured native students went to school.

11. Residential Schools in Canada
By 1931 these organizations operated 80+ residential schools across the country, as well as day schools on some reserves
Image from

14. The Process
Children were removed from their homes, often under threat of ‘law’
Image from

15. Separation
‘Assimilation’ worked best through separation from families, communities and culture
Separation from a traditional support system was a key strategy

16. Volunteer
Some families did see ‘education’ as progress and voluntarily sent their children

17. The Schools
They were also meant to promote economic self-sufficiency by teaching First Nations children to become farmers and labourers

18. Christianity
The goal of the missionaries was to ‘convert the children to Christianity’.
Image

19. Life
Children were often severely punished for practicing traditional beliefs
Children were punished for speaking their languages
Life was harsh and rules were strict
Food was of questionable quality and quantity
Much of the day was spent in Christian religious instruction, learning English or French, doing chores such as laundry, kitchen work, field work and other practical skills (boys/girls)

20. Curriculum Children aged 5 – 16 to attend School day:
Half time classroom study
Half time learning a trade
Girls – sewing, cooking and domestic skills
Boys – blacksmithing, carpentry, and auto mechanics
Added duties: milk cows, clean dorms, chop wood (provide labour to run schools cheaper)

21. Canadian Indian Residential Schools Statistics
Total Indian Residential Schools – 135
None in NB, PE or NL
AB – 29 BC – 28 SK – 20
ON – 18 MB – 17 NT – 8
QC – 6 YT – 6 NU – 2 NS – 1
Department of Indian Affairs funded all residential schools.

22. Statistics
An estimated 80,000 people alive today attended Indian Residential Schools
Over 150,000 children attended Indian Residential Schools

23. Last Residential School
The last federally run residential school, the Gordon Residential School, closed in Saskatchewan.
Image from

24. Medicine Wheel
Schools basically took healthy children with a well-rounded wheel and proceeded to destroy or alter each part of what makes us human:
SPIRITUALITY
EMOTIONAL
PHYSICAL
MENTAL
Essentially, Identity issues resulted

25. Lasting Impacts
Education for the most part was poor (1945 very few students passed grade 9 and over 40% of teaching staff had no professional training)
Many children died from illnesses, fires, murder
Many children caught disease such as tuberculosis which destroyed their health
Physical and sexual abuse had long term effects on students
Children learned isolation, abuse, anti-aboriginal education, were unable to express love and unable to receive love for much of the year!!!!
The schools broke the connection between the children and their family and culture. It destroyed the central aspect of ‘relationship’

26. Inter-generational Effects
Residential School Survivors have long lasting Inter-generational negative effects:
- Identity crisis
- Unable to connect to family, culture
- Long term effects of physical, sexual and psychological abuse
- RCAP pointed directly at the residential schools as a major factor in the high rates of: substance abuse, suicide and family problems
Schools destroyed one of the most important values of the First Nations: Kinship and Family Relationships

27. Discipline vs Abuse?
To accomplish this goal of assimilation, discipline was the answer in many missions. "Historians suggest that discipline was more harsh at residential schools than at other schools and would not have been accepted in Euro-Canadian institutions at the time. . . These methods included isolation cells, flogging and whipping, and humiliation."**
**From Residential School Update, AFN March 1998.

28. Medicine Wheel
The Medicine Wheel is not in balance for most the children of Residential Schools!
They are truly ‘Survivors’

29. Inter-generational Effects How it works

30. The inter-generational problems could include any one or more of many dysfunctional behaviors:
Anger
Lack of identity
Language loss
Substance abuse
Family
Community

31. Summary MENTAL ‘Learning’ less important PHYSICAL
Long term effects of disease; malnutrition
SPIRITUAL
The ‘Spirit’ is hurt,
damaged,
injured
EMOTIONAL
Management of feelings is difficult; mixed up

32. Essentially, the child became isolated and was forced to function in a societal structure not of his own construction, and not within his scope of understanding
With the child’s wheel out of balance, adjustment to society became one of survival versus meaningful integration into society
Children stayed stuck in the cycles of dysfunction and became dysfunctional parents. And it goes on in an ever expanding circle of influence…

33. Intergenerational Impacts

34. Other Residential schools worked for some children.
Metis children were excluded from this process as they didn’t fall under the Indian Act, however, one residential school for Metis was run by the Catholic Church in Ile a la Crosse, Sask. This school also included FN children
It is estimated that 100,000 to 150,000 children attended these schools (Windspeaker Magazine)

35. Aboriginal Reaction
Decades later, Aboriginal people begin to share their stories
Accuse government of systematic racism
Demand governmental acknowledgement
Want compensation for lost childhoods and abuse
Abuse also affects the next generation

36. A Move Towards Healing
1990 – Phil Fontaine, Grand Chief of Manitoba Chiefs, first leader to tell the story of his abuse at a residential School
Calls for recognition of the abuse, compensation and an apology for racism
1991 – Lawsuits are launched, groups are formed
1996 – Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples recommends public inquiry

37. 1997 – Phil Fontaine negotiates out of court settlement with federal government
1998 – Statement of Reconciliation -Settlement of $350 Million Healing Fund –Gov’t admits wrongdoing and apologizes
2001 – Dept. of Indian Residential Schools

38. Resolution Canada formed
2003 – Alternative Dispute Resolutions (ADR) process formed
2004 – U of A Law School and Assembly of First Nations (AFN) find ADR process flawed
2008 – Apology from Stephen Harper

39. PM Harper’s Apology
Apology in text
Apology Part 1 in video
Apology Part 2 in video .

40. Mission Statement Assembly of First Nations
To address the expedient resolution of the residential schools claims filed in court by the survivors with the emphasis on the elderly and sick and to ensure an effective process is identified and carried out for healing strategies in relation to the loss of languages and culture of First Nation people and their communities.

41. Report on Canada’s Dispute Resolution Plan to Compensate for Abuses in Indian Residential Schools
Lump sum – all survivors $10,000
$3,000 for every year attended
Early payment for elderly
Truth Commission
Healing Fund
Commemoration Fund
Individual settlement of abuse claims

42. Videos
Indian Residential Schools – The Painful Legacy
Residential School Propaganda Video from 1950s
Residential Schools Public Service Announcement

43. The Apology heard around Canada
Residential School Survivors
Their struggles are many. Their pain is real.

44. Indian Control of Education
White Paper 1969 created First Nations unity
Bands began to operate their own schools on reserves circa 1970 and by 1996 had 429 schools

45. Helpful Websites
(Residential Schools: Canada’s Shame and Apology)
(A Victim Speaks Out)
(Residential School Unit)
(Indian Residential School Survivors Society)
(Lots of information)

46. Questions to Ponder
List ways in which residential schools encouraged/forced students to lose their Aboriginal identity.
Explain in a paragraph how residential schools caused social problems in Aboriginal communities.
What might be the effects of offering money as compensation, for pain and suffering, to the survivors?
Is the term ‘Residential School Survivor’ appropriate? Explain your stand.
How should the abusers be dealt with?
How might we deal with this issue as Catholics?
How important should this shameful history be to Canadians? Explain.
Residential Schools: What is the perspective by First Nations? The Metis? Euro-Canadians?
How does the residential school experience of First Nations people in Canada compare to colonial domination in other countries? Name other countries that had similar or different colonial experiences – were the outcomes different for Indigenous people?
If the Canadian government had not imposed residential schools on First Nations, what different outcomes might have been possible for ‘treaty’ people (First Nations and Euro-Canadians)?

47. A Poem: Mission Bean A little boy I was, just lost my home
So the mission took me in, so I wouldn't roam
A hair cut, a bath, new shoes on my feet
Plaid shirt & coveralls, that was my beat
Up in the morning, fall down on my knees
Pray to the Lord the right way I see's
Off to school after porridge, lard and bread
Trying to pound math and Catechism in my head
Never too brilliant was I in school
But serving the Altar, I was no fool
Our Father which art in Heaven, Amen
I could 'cite that backwards - in Latin
Yes, a little boy, lost with no mom or dad
In the third year there, I became a "Wetbed"
They swatted my bum with a big black strap
The backside of me should be a horizontal crack
Yes, I would jump and jig and howl in pain
Then fly in a tub, hoping the Nun had right aim

48. Sometimes the tub's faucets would bang on my head
But that was the downfall of being a "Wetbed"
Now it's 5:30 a.m. and we're off to pray
Three times on Sunday, that was the way
The Nun like my mother, the Priest like my dad
With guardians like that, who could go bad
The mission was army, we walked two and two
Discipline was the order, what else could they do
Some missions were good, some were bad
Those who suffered, I feel real sad
I have words for those who dwell in self pity
That's not the answer, just say "tough titty"
The $350 million we got to cure decades of scars
The Vultures will get most of it to buy new cars
They'll travel all over, eat up the fund in time
The victims of missions will not see a dime
For those of us left, not yet in our coffin
These wise words, you will hear often
Lift your chin high and proudly walk on
Keep a smile on your face,
like the sun always shone.
- The Mad Trapper, (Fred Stevenson)
Kinuso, Alta.