Residential schools: Difference between revisions

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'''Residential schools''' refers to<span> "</span>''an extensive&nbsp;school&nbsp;system set up by the Canadian government and administered by churches that had the nominal objective of educating Indigenous children but also the more damaging and equally explicit objectives of indoctrinating them into Euro-Canadian and Christian ways of living and assimilating them into mainstream white Canadian society." -''Eric Hanson, Daniel P. Games, and Alexa Manuel Hanson  <ref>Eric, et al.“The Residential School System.”<span>&nbsp;</span><em>Indigenous Foundations</em>. First Nations and Indigenous Studies UBC, 2020.<span> https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/#:~:text=The%20residential%20school%20system%20officially,to%20speak%20their%20own%20languages.</span></ref>
'''Residential schools''' refers to<span> "</span>''an extensive school system set up by the Canadian government and administered by churches that had the nominal objective of educating Indigenous children but also the more damaging and equally explicit objectives of indoctrinating them into Euro-Canadian and Christian ways of living and assimilating them into mainstream white Canadian society." -''Eric Hanson, Daniel P. Games, and Alexa Manuel Hanson  <ref>Eric, et al.“The Residential School System.”<span>&nbsp;</span><em>Indigenous Foundations</em>. First Nations and Indigenous Studies UBC, 2020.<span> https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/#:~:text=The%20residential%20school%20system%20officially,to%20speak%20their%20own%20languages.</span></ref>
 
 
 
The residential school system operated from the 1880s into the 1990s. The system forcibly separated children from their families for extended periods of time and punished them for acknowledging their Indigenous heritage and culture and for speaking their own languages. Former attendees have spoken of abuse at the hands of residential school staff: physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological. It is difficult to estimate how many children were murdered due to abuse and neglect while attending these schools. Some estimates suggest at least 15,000 children were killed.
 
 
 
Residential schools 'educated' students on prayer and manual labour in agriculture, light industry such as woodworking, and domestic work such as laundry work and sewing. The effects of residential schools continue to have a significant impact on Indigenous communities. They are considered a form of<span> genocide due to the intentional attempt from the government and church to eradicate Indigenous cultures and lives.</span>

Revision as of 15:43, 18 September 2022

Residential schools refers to "an extensive school system set up by the Canadian government and administered by churches that had the nominal objective of educating Indigenous children but also the more damaging and equally explicit objectives of indoctrinating them into Euro-Canadian and Christian ways of living and assimilating them into mainstream white Canadian society." -Eric Hanson, Daniel P. Games, and Alexa Manuel Hanson [1]


The residential school system operated from the 1880s into the 1990s. The system forcibly separated children from their families for extended periods of time and punished them for acknowledging their Indigenous heritage and culture and for speaking their own languages. Former attendees have spoken of abuse at the hands of residential school staff: physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological. It is difficult to estimate how many children were murdered due to abuse and neglect while attending these schools. Some estimates suggest at least 15,000 children were killed.


Residential schools 'educated' students on prayer and manual labour in agriculture, light industry such as woodworking, and domestic work such as laundry work and sewing. The effects of residential schools continue to have a significant impact on Indigenous communities. They are considered a form of genocide due to the intentional attempt from the government and church to eradicate Indigenous cultures and lives.

  1. Eric, et al.“The Residential School System.” Indigenous Foundations. First Nations and Indigenous Studies UBC, 2020. https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/#:~:text=The%20residential%20school%20system%20officially,to%20speak%20their%20own%20languages.