1. CANADA’S RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS:
A dark part of our history.

2. RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS
Aboriginal peoples in Canada: First Nations, Inuit and the Métis
Founded in the 19th century.
Intended to force the assimilation of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada into European-Canadian society.
Schools separated children from their families.
“Killing the Indian in the Child."

3. A residential school classroom. Residential schools were set up in 1857!

4. Evangelization…turning the natives into Christians.

5. Evangelization…residential schools were run by priests & nuns.

6. Cultural Genocide

7. “Killing the Indian in the Child."

8. A Residential school in Kamloops B.C. (1934).

9. FAMILY VISITS

10. An apology from the government (1998)…Too little, too late?

11. IMPORTANT FACTS:
The attempt to force assimilation involved punishing children for speaking their own languages or practicing their own faiths.
There was an elevated rate of physical and sexual abuse.
Overcrowding, poor sanitation, and a lack of medical care led to high rates of tuberculosis, and death rates of up to 69 percent.

12. HOW WERE THE CHILDREN TREATED?
Children were often forcibly removed from their families, or their families were threatened with prison if they failed to send their children willingly.
Students were required to live on school premises. Most had no contact with their families for up to 10 months at a time because of the distance between their home communities and schools, and sometimes had no contact for years.
They were prohibited from speaking Aboriginal languages, even among themselves and outside the classroom, so that English or French would be learned and their own languages forgotten.
They were subject to corporal punishment for speaking their own languages or for practicing non-Christian faiths, policies that have given rise to allegations of cultural genocide.

13. Can you believe it?
The last residential school, White Calf Collegiate, was closed in 1996!!!!!
A settlement offered to former students came into effect on September 19, 2007.
The Canadian government officially apologized for the residential school system (1998).