The Canadian Residential School System: A Brief History and the Direct and Familiar Impacts
The residential school system of Canada has recently been “…referred to as ‘a cultural genocide’”[1] by the Truth and Reconciliation Act of Canada. This dark patch in Canadian history persisted in the 19th and 20th century for over a decade, and has only recently become a major area of research. Since the start of the 21st century, many survivors have begun to come forward with their experience which consequently sparked an immense amount of discussion and research on the topic. In response to this discussion, the government has not shied away from the truth. The previous Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized for the system in 2008, and the following year the government created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada with the responsibilities to “host gatherings, to hear and record testimonies, to establish a repository of residential school-related materials, and to fund commemoration initiatives”[2]. Unfortunately, the truth behind the residential school system is not one for the faint of hearted. Many stories of sexual abuse, starvation, and other forms of maltreatment have arisen from this previously hushed history. From these stories, many studies have been conducted to understand the consequences that residential schools have had on its students.
When the residential school system was implemented first in the 1830s, “assimilation was not yet the goal”[3] and education was the primary focus. This focus began to change when John A. Macdonald was elected Prime Minister in 1867. Once elected, he created the department of Indian Affairs, and “… a series of acts [were] set up to facilitate westward expansion, settlement, and control and assimilation of Aboriginal people”[4]. The act of assimilation which is defined as “the process in which one group takes on the cultural and other traits of a larger group”, was believed to be achieved through the implementation of residential schools[5]. However, the forced assimilation of the Indigenous population was worsened by the popular Eurocentric beliefs that were abundantly present during the 19th and 20th century. What was originally created to help the Indigenous community adapt to European lifestyle, turned into a means to “… kill the Indian in [them] and save the child”[6], and with this, the concern about bettering the Indigenous population for the future became completely disregarded. Instead of completing their intended goal, the outcome was a large amount of abuse with long term negative effects on the lives of those who attended these residential schools. In this paper, I will outline how residential schools came to be a way of discrimination rather than education, how the Eurocentric beliefs of the time allowed for such a system to exist in the manner that it did, the treatment of the children in the schools, and the subsequent impacts this treatment had on lives of those who attended and their family.
In the colonial history of Canada, Europeans used to respect the Indigenous way of life during the fur trade[7]. As their interests changed, so did their ideas concerning their relationship with the Indigenous population[8]. Their priorities required a new tactic, and they believed that assimilation was the necessary means. When Prime Minister John A. Macdonald was elected, he put this in action by announcing “… that his government would ‘do away with the tribal system, and assimilate the Indian people in all respects…”[9]. This doctrine of assimilation was built to incorporate Indigenous people into society, and the “… logical strategy [was] to start with the children”[10]. This idea is what created the concept of residential schooling. With these schools, children could become “…totally immersed in a European environment”[11]. The removal of children from their homes also contributed to this goal. The logic behind “… removing Aboriginal children from the influence of their parents and communities and placing them under the care of Christian educators, was thought that the children would more quickly be assimilated”[12]. In the residential schools “… students [were] expected to receive… the skills that would enable them to cope with and participate successfully in the new economy and society…”[13].
It is not until the 1880s that the purpose of these schools began to change after John A. Macdonald visited the Carlisle Indian Industrial school in the States. This changed the intent of the schools to “‘civilize’ the Indian population” rather than to simply assimilate them[14]. This trip, along with the government’s decision to hand off the administration to that of the Catholic, Anglican, and United Church[15], is what changed a system that was originally created to aid the Indigenous population to a system intended “… for the purposes of ‘civilizing’, Christianizing, and assimilating Aboriginal people”[16]. Because, in the churches opinion, “for Indian children… education meant assimilation and a surrendering of their own culture”[17].
The shift from helping the Indigenous population assimilate into European culture by educating them into the need to assimilate, civilize, and Christianize them undoubtedly came the dominant Eurocentric beliefs of the time. A Eurocentric outlook is one that “focuses on European culture or history to the exclusion of a wider view of the world; implicitly regarding European culture as preeminent”[18]. This ideology was prevalent in Canada during the 19th and 20th century and the set of beliefs that made European culture superior is what caused the Indigenous population to be subjected to such immense discrimination. The belief that the Indigenous population was inferior can be seen in the many forms of discrimination that was expressed towards Indigenous peoples in regard to their culture and abilities. For example, one “traditional criticism… [that existed at the time was that] the Indian child is… less bright than the white child”[19]. This comment on their intellectual ability was not the only way in which the Indigenous population experienced racism. Their culture was referred to as “… primitive…”[20] and they were constantly called “… savages”[21].
Another way in which Indigenous peoples experienced discrimination, is with the implementation of the Indian Act in 1880 and the many modifications it went through. The Indian Act took away the ability for Indigenous people to self-govern themselves[22]. They lost control over their own societies and their “… education, social services, and funding” became under the control of the federal government[23]. This act also prohibited the practice of various Indigenous customs such as the potlatch, powwows, and other cultural ceremonies[24]. Many provisions of the act made so Indigenous peoples would lose their Indian Status, and in 1857, the government began an attempt in removing this status by a process of enfranchisement[25]. It is evident that the Indigenous population became subjected to the Eurocentric beliefs of the time period. This can be seen through blatant racism, as well as through the Indian Act. These views had a direct impact on residential schools and can be seen in how the children were treated.
The residential school system was implemented by the government, but they handed it off to the churches and barely gave them any funding[26]. To begin with, the majority of residential schools did not have adequate structuring as they were poorly built and unsanitary[27]. The appearance of the buildings was also dismal, and have been referred to as “… a correctional institution [rather] than a school”[28]. One example of the horrid conditions of the schools can be found in an account from 1908 at the St. Margaret’s Indian Residential School in Ontario. The conditions at this particular school were so poor that the Reverend Father had to petition “… the superintendent general of Indian Affairs to provide an adequate water system for the school”[29]. Father Poitras described in his letter to the general that “… during the whole winter, water had to be drawn with horses and carried upstairs in pails to flush the (toilets)”[30]. However, these were not the only conditions that persisted, “sewage backup, broken-down furnaces, mouldy walls, and other facility-related problems…”[31] were abundantly present as well. Due to these poor sanitary conditions, the spread of disease among the students was also very common. Along with the spread of disease, students also “… experienced chronic undernutrition characterized by insufficient caloric intake, minimal protein and fat, and limited access to fresh produce, often over a period of five to ten years”[32]. These various conditions became such a concern that Clifford Sifton, the Minster of the Interior and Superintendent General of Indian Affairs at the time, conducted a report on the health of the students in 1907. His findings were quite shocking, as he found that during the 15 years of existence, “… 24 percent of all the pupils which had been in the schools were known to be dead…”[33]. This is not minimally surprising considering the horrendous conditions, but unfortunately, this list of conditions was not the only form of adversity that the children had to experience.
From the second the children stepped foot in a residential school, it was clear that were at an institution rather than a school. When they first arrived at these institutions, they were given a matching haircut, uniform, and a number. This process was not enjoyable and many can recall the feeling of loss. One girl at the young age of four can recollect her sentiments of a nun aggressively cutting her hair, feeling like “they were stripping away her human”[34]. Another young girl can remember them taking away all of her things, and how she felt like “… just a number”[35]. This feeling of a loss of identity was not uncommon in the residential school experience. However this feeling was not only due to the haircuts, uniforms, and numbering but was perpetuated by the disallowance of children to speak their Indigenous languages. In 1885, the federal government declared that Aboriginal children in residential school were no longer allowed to speak their mother tongue[36]. John Milloy openly declared that the purpose of this policy was to “… to stamp out Aboriginal languages within the schools and in children”[37].When children broke this policy and spoke their own language, “punishment… ranged from being strapped to being thrown in the clothes press”[38]. Many former students can recall being hit with the strap, and others recall having to hold their tongue for an hour without letting go[39].
A physical form of punishment was a common experience for most residential school attendees. Many can claim that they were punished for almost everything, and also for things that they never did[40]. Children were punished for speaking their own language, and they were also punished for not speaking at all. Wally McKay can remember his first day of school when the teacher asked him his name[41]. McKay could not understand what she was asking so he continued to give her a big smile, but after several times of asking and receiving no response, she lifted him up by his armpits and began screaming at him[42]. In retaliation, he kicked her to get her to release him, in which she proceeded pushing him down two flights of stairs[43]. This type of unfair treatment can be seen in the experience of Augie Merasty. One February afternoon, she was forced to retrieve mittens in “… godawful weather…”. When she came back empty handed, she immediately received 20 strokes of the strap on both hands[44]. Physical and other kinds of dehumanizing punishment was constantly used in these institutions. Unfortunately, this kind of punishment was not the worst of experiences that children had to endure.
Residential school survivors have similar stories of physical abuse, and many have also come forward with experiences of sexual abuse. Lyna Hart, who was as young as the age of four, can still recall being raped by a priest while she was in the school infirmary[45]. Before this experience, she also witnessed this priest sexually abusing young boys who were in the same infirmary[46]. Another survivor, Wally McKay can recollect a friend of his being forced into anal intercourse by their supervisor[47]. These experiences were not unique to a single generation, but persisted throughout familiar age groups. Ben Pratt remembers sharing his experiences of sexual abuse with his mother. When he told her, “… she screamed and started crying…” and then admitted to being sexually abused when she was in school[48]. These experiences of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse are only a few examples of the various hardships that Indigenous children had to face in residential schools. Unfortunately, these experiences had have had long lasting effects on those who attended, and on their family as well.
One example of these effects can be seen in the friend of Wally who was sexually abused. His name was Jason, and throughout his adult life he had problems was alcohol which lead to his eventual death[49]. Many students also suffered from alcohol abuse, but many also suffered culturally. Previous students have “… reported feeling ‘a deep sense of loss, saying that losing the language, whether individually or collectively, and the associated loss of their culture, was the worst thing about the schools’”[50]. Many other attendees have gone through similar experiences, and from the uncovering of these experiences, numerous studies and reports have arisen analyzing the direct and familiar impacts residential schools have had on the Indigenous population.
The impacts of the residential school experience are greatly demonstrated in the studies and reports to date. Within the studies, these experiences have affected the attendees directly, but have also had an intergenerational effect on their children and grandchildren. In a report on mental health, “… the experiences of Aboriginal children in residential schools is asserted to be linked to poor and inconsistent employment histories, criminal offending, substance use, poor parenting skills and higher rates of suicide in adulthood”[51]. In another study, it was found that “… former residential school attendees were more than three times at risk of having an alcohol problem than Indigenous Peoples who did not attend residential schools”[52]. Along with alcohol issues, suicide was also found to be directly linked to residential schools. In the study “Trauma and suicide behavior histories among a Canadian Indigenous population: An empirical exploration of the potential role of Canada’s residential school system” by Brenda Elias et al, it was found that “attendees with an abuse history were likely to have a history of suicide thoughts and suicide attempts”[53]. Through these studies it is evident that the residential school experience has had a negative impact of the lives of those who attended. Unfortunately, the ramifications have not stopped with them and the impacts these schools have been passed down throughout generations.
There is no denying that the intergenerational effects of residential schools can be seen in today’s society and recent studies have proven this statement. One study analyzing the intergenerational impacts of these schools found links tying malnourishment and trauma. Malnourishment, which is a significant cause of childhood illness, have defined many residential school survivor’s experiences[54]. In this study, research has indicated “… that the high pattern of low birthweight, childhood and adult obesity, early-onset insulin resistance, and diabetes observed among Indigenous peoples in Canada… may be attributable to the prolonged caloric restriction experienced by those who attended residential schools”[55]. However, these intergenerational effects are not the only consequences that have arisen due to residential school. In another study examining historical trauma, many different outcomes of intergenerational trauma were found in direct linkage to residential schools. One result found that youths with a parent or grandparent that attended a residential school were more likely to have learning difficulties and a lower level of educational success, think and attempt suicide, and those who used drugs, were more likely to contract Hepatitis C[56]. It is astonishing as it sad, that a group was subjected to such discrimination and experienced such abuse that continues to destroy their lives simply because their culture was deemed inferior to that of Europeans.
A system that was originally established to educate and help assimilate the Indigenous people into European culture succeeded in doing exactly the opposite of its intended purpose. Through the studies above, and the testimonies of the survivors, it is clear that the Eurocentric beliefs of the time period subjected the Indigenous population to such a large about of maltreatment that they still continue to suffer from today. From the trauma that attendees of the residential school experienced, to the effects it has had on their children and grandchildren, there is simply no way to make up for the psychological, social, and economical effects the residential school system has had on Indigenous peoples. The bottom line is that “the systemic character of residential schools [have] had effects that were detrimental for First Nations people and peoples”[57] and will continue to affect the population throughout generations. No matter the apologies and no matter the governmental assistance, there is simply no way to remove the trauma that this population was forced to endure. All we can do now is offer means for those to heal, and hope that one day this cycle of trauma will end and the history of the Canadian residential school system will no longer effect the lives of the Indigenous population of Canada.
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[1] Andrew Woolford and James Gacek, “Genocidal carcerality and Indian residential schools in Canada,” Punishment and Society 18, no.4 (2016): 400.
[2] Larry Loyie, Residential Schools: With the Words and Images of Survivors, (Ontario: Indigenous Education Press, 2014): 92.
[3] Ibid: 92.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid: 9.
[6] Ibid: 16.
[7] The United Church of Canada, Justice and Reconciliation: The Legacy of Indian Residential Schools and the Journey Toward Reconciliation, (Ontario: Division of Mission in Canada, 2001): 7.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Eric Taylor Woods, “A Cultural Approach to a Canadian Tragedy: The Indian Residential Schools as a Sacred Enterprise,” International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society 26, no.2 (2013): 173.
[13] J.R. Miller, Shingwuack’s Vision: A History of Native Residential Schools, (Toronto, London: University of Toronto Press, 1996): 152.
[14] Larry Loyie, Residential Schools, (2014): 93.
[15] “Indian Children Provided for in Education Plan,” Daily Colonist, 23 July 1933: 24.
[16] Ibid.
[17] The United Church of Canada, Justice and Reconciliation, (2001): 9.
[18] “Eurocentric,” https://www.google.ca/search?sa=X&biw=638&bih=703&q=Dictionary#dobs=Eurocentric.
[19] “Indian Children Provided for in Education Plan,” Daily Colonist, 1933: 24.
[20] Ibid.
[21] Larry Loyie, Residential Schools (2014): 17.
[22] The United Church of Canada, Justice and Reconciliation, (2001): 10.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Larry Loyie, Residential Schools (2014): 92.
[25] Miller, Shingwuack’s Vision, (1996): 168.
[26] The United Church of Canada, Justice and Reconciliation, (2001): 11.
[27] Woods, “A Cultural Approach,” (2013): 174.
[28] Cariboo Tribal Council, Impact of the Residential School, 1991: 16.
[29] Larry Loyie, Residential Schools (2014): 15.
[30] Ibid.
[31] Ibid.
[32] Ian Mosby and Tracey Galloway, “’The abiding condition was hunger’: Assessing the long-term biological and health effects of malnutrition and hunger in Canada’s residential schools,” British Journal of Canadian Studies 30, no.2 (2017): 147.
[33] Bryce, P.H, The Story of a National Crime, Article, Ottawa: James Hope & Sons, Limited, 1922, Babel, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hn651k;view=1up;seq=9, (October 2 2017): 4.
[34] Lyna Hart, Tim Wolochatiuk, We Were Children, Film, 1:23:06, 2012. http://workforall.nfb.ca/film/we_were_children/.
[35] Pesheens, Violet, These Are My Words, Book, Library and Archives Canada, 2016: 8.
[36] Lorena Sekwan Fontaine, “Redress for linguicide: Residential schools and assimilation in Canada,” British Journal of Canadian Studies 30, no. 2 (2017): 187.
[37] Ibid: 188.
[38] Ibid: 192.
[39] Lyna Hart, Tim Wolochatiuk, We Were Children, (2012).
[40] Larry Loyie, Residential Schools (2014): 37.
[41] The United Church of Canada, Justice and Reconciliation, (2001): 26.
[42] Ibid.
[43] Ibid.
[44] Joseph Auguste Merasty, The Education of Augie Merasty, (Friesens, Canada: Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication, 2015): 12.
[45] Lyna Hart, Tim Wolochatiuk, We Were Children, (2012).
[46] Ibid.
[47] The United Church of Canada, Justice and Reconciliation, (2001): 27.
[48] The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, The Survivors Speak, (Canada: Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication, 2015): 161.
[49] The United Church of Canada, Justice and Reconciliation, (2001): 29.
[50] Lorena Fontaine, “Redress for Linguicide,” (2017): 192.
[51] Raymond R. Corrado and Irwin M. Cohen, Mental Health Profiles for a Sample of British Columbia’s Aboriginal Survivors of the Canadian Residential School System, (Ottawa: Aboriginal Healing Foundation, 2003): 14.
[52] Amélie Ross et al, “Impact of residential schooling and of child abuse on substance use problem in Indigenous Peoples,” Addictive Behaviors 51, no. 1 (2015): 187.
[53] Brenda Elias et al, “Trauma and suicide behavior histories among a Canadian Indigenous population: An empirical exploration of the potential role of Canada’s residential school system,” Social Science & Medicine 74, no.1 (2012): 1566.
[54] Mosby and Galloway, “’The abiding condition was hunger’,” (2017): 157-158.
[55] Ibid: 158.
[56] Amy Bombay et al, “The intergenerational effects of Indian Residential Schools: Implications for the concept of historical trauma,” Transcultural Psychiatry 51, no.3 (2014): 324.
[57] Ibid: 11.