Canadian Indian residential school system: Difference between revisions
imported>Rangerkid51 |
imported>Abe The Conservationist No edit summary |
||
| Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
== History == | == History == | ||
In 1828, the first boarding school, known as the Mohawk Institute, was established in Brantford, Ontario for six indigenous students. In 1876, prime minister Alexander MacKenzie passed the Indian Act, a policy that was established to force First Nations people onto reserves. The Canadian government under prime minister [[John A. Macdonald]] later implemented a system of residential schools as part of an assimilation policy for indigenous peoples, which was influenced by U.S. Army general [[Richard Henry Pratt]]'s ideologies to "kill the Indian and save the man". Pratt served as the superintendent of the [[Carlisle Indian Industrial School]] in the United States. | In 1828, the first boarding school, known as the Mohawk Institute, was established in Brantford, Ontario for six indigenous students. In 1876, prime minister Alexander MacKenzie passed the Indian Act, a policy that was established to force First Nations people onto [[Indian reservations|reserves]]. The Canadian government under prime minister [[John A. Macdonald]] later implemented a system of residential schools as part of an assimilation policy for indigenous peoples, which was influenced by U.S. Army general [[Richard Henry Pratt]]'s ideologies to "kill the Indian and save the man". Pratt served as the superintendent of the [[Carlisle Indian Industrial School]] in the United States. | ||
The schools were intentionally located far off | The schools were intentionally located far off reserves in order to limit contact between the children and their parents. The schools were administered by Christian churches, with most of them being funded by the federal government. | ||
The children were deprived of their cultures and were forced to speak English or French, while facing corporal punishment for speaking their native languages as well as being molested and sometimes killed by priests, often times having their newborn children being killed after being impregnated by their teachers. The children also faced malnutrition and died of diseases such as tuberculosis often as a result of unethical experiments projected onto them, while others committed suicide and died while trying to run away. Some survivors report teachers | The children were deprived of their cultures and were forced to speak English or French, while facing corporal punishment for speaking their native languages as well as being molested and sometimes killed by priests, often times having their newborn children being killed after being impregnated by their teachers. The children also faced malnutrition and died of diseases such as tuberculosis often as a result of unethical experiments projected onto them, while others committed suicide and died while trying to run away. Some survivors report teachers impaling needles and hot knives in their tongues, bleaching them in baths to lighten their skin, forcing them to wash dishes in boiling water, and starving them in isolation while feeding them salt water to keep them bloated. For the most part, school authorities got away with their crimes, although there were some rare instances where school administrators were arrested for their abuse towards children, such as the cases with [[William Starr]] and [[Arthur Plint]]. | ||
In 1907, Indian Affairs chief medical officer Peter Bryce visited 35 of the schools and found that many students have died and noticed that the schools were poorly constructed with minimal care from the staff. Bryce tried to address the problems of the residential schools to the government in an attempt to reform the system, but his advice was ignored. In the 1940's, the federal government proposed to abolish the residential schools, but despite their obligations, they instead made extremely petty reforms of the system. In 1969, church administration over the schools was abolished and the schools were handed over to the Department of Indian Affairs. | In 1907, Indian Affairs chief medical officer Peter Bryce visited 35 of the schools and found that many students have died and noticed that the schools were poorly constructed with minimal care from the staff. Bryce tried to address the problems of the residential schools to the government in an attempt to reform the system, but his advice was ignored. In the 1940's, the federal government proposed to abolish the residential schools, but despite their obligations, they instead made extremely petty reforms of the system. In 1969, church administration over the schools was abolished and the schools were handed over to the Department of Indian Affairs. | ||