-
Period: to
Boarding Schools of the 1600s
Early boarding schools were established for Indigenous children in the 1600s by a French order in New France known as the Récollets, Jesuits, and Ursulines. These schools were the beginning of efforts to assimilate Indigenous people in Canada. These schools were deserted by the 1690s. -
Assimilation of Indigenous People
Interest in residential schools has been linked to the threat that early British settlers faced from invading American forces. With this, the government no longer saw Indigenous people as allies, but as roadblocks to permanent settlement. The Canadian Governments department of Indigenous Affairs began to encourage the assimilation of Indigenous people through Residential Schools. They wanted to integrate indigenous people into European culture and convert them to Christianity to "civilize" them. -
The First Residential School
The Mohawk Institute Residential School operated as a residential since 1831 in Brantford, Ontario. Children from the Six Nations Grand River Reserve and other reserves were sent there. This was the first residential school to open in Canada. The school would be twice destroyed by a fire allegedly started by students. Many students describe their stories of physical and sexual abuse at this school. The school was nicknamed " The Mush Hole" due to the poor quality of food served to the students. -
Period: to
Mortality Rates
In 1909, it was reported that the mortality rate between 1894 and 1908 ranged from 35% to 50%. In 1920 and 1922 it was found in the Ermineskin school in Hobbema, Alberta, that 50% of the children in the school suffered from tuberculosis. In one classroom it was found that 16 students were severely I'll and near death, and were made to sit through lessons. Most graves were unmarked in the schools, and graves that were originally marked but were scratched out or intentionally hidden. -
The Indian Act
The Indian Act was passed in 1876, and heavily restricted the rights of Indigenous People. It removed their ability to vote in Federal and Provincial elections if they did not surrender their status, and also severely restricted their right to partake in cultural and spiritual practices. -
The Davin Report
John A. MacDonald commissioned Nicholas Flood Davin to report on industrialized boarding schools in the United States with the hope of establishing a similar system in Canada. The report made the case for a joint effort by the church and Canadian Government to implement the "aggressive assimilation" achieved in the United States. He urged for children to be kept away from their families so that they could "be kept constantly within the circle of civilized conditions" -
Thanks to the Davin Report, parliament approved $43,000 for three new residential schools, including the Battleford Industrial School
-
Compulsory Enrollment
After amendments of the Indian Act, it is now mandatory for indigenous children from the ages of 7-16 to attend residential schools. Due to low enrollment rates from poor conditions, and enrollment quotas the schools needed to meet, missionary representatives pressured into this amendment -
61 residential schools are in operation
-
Peak Numbers
It's estimated that the number of residential schools reached it's peak in this year with 80 schools, and over 17,000 enrolled students -
The End of Compulsory Enrollment
Compulsory attending of residential schools ends, however the government still influenced attendance with a "baby bonus" which indigenous parents could not qualify for unless their child was enrolled in residential schools. -
Beginning of The Sixties Scoop
New amendments to the Indian Act give the government control over the welfare of Indigenous Children. The Canadian government argued that Indigenous children were being malnourished and abused by their families, despite insufficient evidence of this, the government forcibly removed children from their homes and placed them in foster care with non-Indegenous famillies in other parts of Canada, the United States, and parts of Europe. Indigenous people lost their cultural identity, and families. -
During the mid 1960s in British Columbia, the number of Indigenous children in protective care Rose from just 29 in 1951, to almost 1,500.
-
High Numbers of Children in Protective Care
Over 15,000 indigenous children are in the care of child welfare authorities. This accounted for 20% of all Canadian children in protective care, despite the fact that Indigenous children made up less than 5% of the child population -
Graph
Based on a report from Patrick Johnson, a program director at the Canadian Council on Social Development, who also coined the term "Sixties Scoop" -
The Last Residential School
The last residential school operated by the Government of Canada, the Gordon Indian Residential School, closed in Saskatchewan after over a hundred years of operation -
Quotes From a Survivor
"There were lockers on this side, where they would have the little boys, because they cried, like all the time, so the older boys, to kind of have them not cry, would put them on top of the lockers and so they were close to that pipe, and they would tell them to hold onto that pipe, and just picture your mom. Because the pipe would be warm. And I guess they would stop crying for a little bit." -
Kaley Reuben, Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford -
Quotes From Survivors
That's very true, we didn't have a voice. And where all this trauma took place was in the sewing room. The one place where I really wanted to be and really liked being. It was traumatizing, because I was thrown into the closet and everything. And I still have a hard time even imagining how this person could do what she did to me. I could never do that to anybody. Or even come near to doing something like that. - Blanche Hill-Easton -
Long Lasting Effects
Indigenous people feel the terrible effects from the residential school system and from the sixties scoop to this day. They lost their cultural identity and sense of belonging throughout these years. They lost essential parenting skills and family knowledge because of these events. A large majority the children taken from social services, did not return to their biological famillies. -
Significance of These Events
Canada is a wonderful country with a dark history. The effects of these events are still being felt by Indigenous people. They suffered sexual, emotional, and physical abuse in residential schools along with a loss of cultural identity and parenting skills. It's important for Canada to make up for their wrongdoings and show forgiveness to Indigenous people who suffered at the hands of the government. If we are not raising awareness of these events, then we are not serving justice to the victims.
