How the Residential Schools for Aboriginal Children in Canada Assimilated the culture of Indigenous People

How the Residential Schools for Aboriginal Children in Canada Assimilated the culture of Indigenous People?             

The residential schools were introduced in Canada around 1831 and made it mandatory that all indigenous children as young as 4 attend the schools until they became 18 years old. The boarding schools for the indigenous people were funded by the Canadian government and were under the Christian church’s administration. The Residential schools forcefully took the children from their families and forced the students to assimilate into the Euro-Canadian culture by prohibiting them from using their native language and practicing their culture and religion. The objective of the residential school was to “kill the Indian in the Child” and in doing so, took the aboriginal children from their families, forced them to adopt new education and drop their culture and religion, and abused the students in several ways in order to assimilate their culture and make them more European.             

The establishment of the Residential school system made it mandatory that all indigenous children attend the schools. Aboriginal children as young as four years were often forcefully taken away from their families. The parents that deliberately gave in for their children to be taken were given false information concerning the intended purpose of the Residential school and the living conditions of the schools (John, 2017). The parents that tried to resist their children being taken into the Residential school were beaten and arrested. The Aboriginal children were required to attend schools until they were 18 years of age. Gender segregation that existed in the schools meant that the children from the same family who were lucky to be sent to the same school still did not have time to interact with each other. During this period, the students were rarely given time to visit their families and could stay in school for many months or years without interacting with their families.  

The children were not allowed to visit their families during holidays and even when they lost important members of their families, of which most of the time they were never informed about. Communication between the parents and children was made difficult as the students could only write to their families in a foreign language that they could not understand (Hanson et al, 2020). The letters, as well as gifts sent to the students from home, were withheld by the school and they were unable to receive them. By forcefully taking the Aboriginal children from their families and sending them to Residential schools, they prevented the children from interacting with their parents and native community for a long time in order to assimilate their culture. 

The Residential education system forced the students to wear western uniforms and prohibited the students from communicating in their native language. During their admission to the Residential schools, the student’s hair was cut despite this being against their cultural belief after which they were forced to wear western uniforms. Communicating in their native language was prohibited, and offenders were severely punished. The students were required to conform to Christianity and offer daily prayer in English or French a language most of them did not understand (John,2017). This led to the loss of culture and identity as they were forced to adopt the European Canadian Culture and forget their culture which was considered primitive by the State. Most students at the Residential schools suffered physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. The students were raped by school staff and priests as well as older schoolmates. The girls that became pregnant were forced to abort. The punishment administered to those who were communicating in their native language was also cruel as some included electric shocks and burning of hands. As a result, these children developed various psychological and developmental traumas (Barnes & Josefowitz, 2019). 

In conclusion, the Residential school for Aboriginal Children in Canada forcefully took the children from their families for many generations and prevented the children from interacting with their families until they were 18 years. During this period, they were prohibited from communicating in their native language and were only required to communicate in either English or French. The schools made them feel their culture was inferior and through education and various form of abuse, they assimilated the indigenous culture. This led to the loss of culture, identity, developmental disorder, trauma as well as long-term effects on caregiving on those who underwent the Residential school system. 

References

 Barnes, R., & Josefowitz, N. (2019). Indian residential schools in Canada: Persistent impacts on            Aboriginal students' psychological development and functioning. Canadian             Psychology/Psychologie canadienne,60(2), 65-76. https://doi.org/10.1037/cap0000154 

Hanson, E., Gamez, D., & Manuel, A. (2020, September). The Residential School System.     Indigenous Foundations. https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/residential-school- system-2020/ 

John, A. (2017, October 2). 10 terrifying truths about Canadian residential schools.     Wonderslist. https://www.wonderslist.com/10-terrifying-truths-about-canadian-       residential-schools/