Research Proposal – What is the Right Answer?

Research Proposal

Statement

The question I am looking to answer is: How have residential schools disadvantaged the Indigenous peoples of Canada?

Secondary Sources

Andrea Bear Nicholas, An Anthology of Indigenous Writing from New England, (University of Nebraska Press : 2014), 139-144

Of the main topics I plan to discuss in my paper is the loss of culture and loss of language that resulted from the implementation of residential schools. The chapter above from An Anthology of Indigenous Writing from New England discusses the motives of residential schools, the impact on Indigenous people from loss of culture and language while advocating for Indigenous language education. This chapter will be extremely useful as it articulates the negative motivations behind residential schooling, the negative impacts of loss of language and culture on Indigenous people, and what will happen if we do not attempt to preserve whats left of Indigenous languages. This will tie in with a larger section of my paper that will focus on the effect residential schools had on culture and spirituality of Indigenous life.

Celia Haig-Brown. Resistance and Renewal : Surviving the Indian Residential School. Arsenal Pulp Press: 2002.

The book, Resistance and Renewal: Surviving the Indian Residential School by Celia Haig-Brown, will be contribute to almost all aspects of my paper. Brown documents narratives of those who took part in residential schools and directly quotes their experiences. The final chapter in the book talks about the reality of going home after having attending a residential school. There is mention of difficulty remembering their own language, and the feeling of embarrassment when asked to speak it. It mentions the parents of the children becoming alcoholics and why, as well as how this affected their lives. It also touches on the contribution of residential schools to suicide rates in Indigenous populations. This book will also contribute to the spirituality portion of my paper as it mentions the integration of catholicism into their lives.

Amélie Ross et al, “Impact of residential schooling and of child abuse on substance use problem in Indigenous Peoples,” Addictive Behaviours 51, (2015), 184-192

This particular article will prove to be very useful as it contains statistical evidence that demonstrates a relationship between residential school experiences and drug and alcohol abuse. This article will contribute to the portion of my paper that will focus on the psychological effects residential schools had on those who attended. I plan to focus on alcoholism, and other forms of substances abuse, and try to find the specific reasoning behind it all. As an example, this article found that “residential school attendees were more than three times at risk of having alcoholism”^[1].

Brenda Elias et al, “Trauma and suicide behaviour histories among a Canadian indigenous population: An empirical exploration of the potential role of Canada’s residential school system,” Social Science & Medicine 74, (2012), 1560-1569

This article uses statistical analysis to find a relation between residential schools and suicide rates amongst Indigenous populations. It is the first article to examine the cycle of trauma that persist in the lives of Indigenous peoples. This article will contribute to the psychological impacts and mental health affects portion of my paper. This article proved that having a direct family member who attended a residential school was associated with a history of suicidal thoughts and attempts. This article will provide depth to my paper by providing proof on not only the negative impacts of residential schools on those who attended, but their family members as well.

Amy Bombay et al, “The intergenerational effects of Indian Residential Schools: Implications for the concept of historical trauma,” Transcultural Psychiatry 51, no. 3 (2014), 320-338

This article will provide diversity to my research paper as it discusses more of the social impacts of residential schooling. For example, youth that had a parent attend a residential school were more likely to have learning difficulties and a lack of interest in education. It also made them more likely to contract hepatitis C. The social implications and difficulties that could and have arose from these impacts are evident and prevalent in todays society. This article will also strengthen the idea of inter general trauma caused by residential schools coinciding with suicide rates amongst Indigenous populations. Lastly, this article also found a relationship between attendance of residential schools to low income families. This article will help me outline how residential schools have done the opposite of their intentions, and have disadvantaged Indigenous peoples rather than integrating them.

Primary Sources

Tremblay, M.A et al. A Survey of the Contemporary Indians of Canada: Economic, Political, Educational Needs and Policies. Volume II. PDF. Queens: Queen’s Printer, 1967. From Institute of Educational Sciences. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED035466.pdf (accessed Monday October 2, 2017).

This particular primary document is very interesting. It discusses many realities of Indigenous life and what needs to be changed, but it also talks about residential schools in terms of what they were and ideas of what they could become. In a section of this document it mentions how residential schools made religion the focus of the curriculum and the actual practical education aspect severely lacked. This ties in with the above article on the topic of education and help me demonstrate how Indigenous individuals who attended residential schools suffered on an intellectual level. On a social standpoint and class outlook, which I will argue in my social part of my paper, this lack of proper education would lower your social standing and make finding a job much more difficult. This also relates to the cycle of Indigenous struggle and relates to high rates of poverty we see today. The negative effects of residential schools all tie in together and directly relate to one another and offer us an explanation as to why Indigenous populations suffer today.

Children’s dining room, Indian Residential School, Edmonton, Alberta. Between 1925-1936. United Church Archives, Toronto, From Mission to Partnership Collection. http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/ (accessed October 2, 2017)

This particular photo does not deductively demonstrate the impact of residential schooling on Indigenous livelihood. However, it demonstrates the conditions, and many other elements of the residential schools. This understand why Indigenous populations were so affected by these institutions. For example in this photo, the kids appear to be at lunch in a prison rather than at school. They are all wearing the same plain clothing, there are no windows, and the building structure is rather disconcerting. These types of documents will help demonstrate the poor conditions of residential schools and therefore be the prefix into my outline of the various negative impacts of these institutions.

Bibliography

Amélie Ross et al. “Impact of residential schooling and of child abuse on substance use problem in Indigenous Peoples.” Addictive Behaviours 51. (2015). 184-192

Amy Bombay et al. “The intergenerational effects of Indian Residential Schools: Implications for the concept of historical trauma.” Transcultural Psychiatry 51. no. 3 (2014). 320-338

Andrea Bear Nicholas, An Anthology of Indigenous Writing from New England, (University of Nebraska Press : 2014), 139-144

Brenda Elias et al. “Trauma and suicide behaviour histories among a Canadian indigenous population: An empirical exploration of the potential role of Canada’s residential school system.” Social Science & Medicine 74. (2012). 1560-1569

Celia Haig-Brown. Resistance and Renewal : Surviving the Indian Residential School. Arsenal Pulp Press: 2002.

Statement of Process

How did you choose your topic? Please explain in as much detail as possible.

I drew on my previous knowledge from my Canadian history courses in relation to education. I also have three big interests in history which are women, Indigenous history, and children. I thought about the feminization of teaching since we spoke about that in class, but a friend of mine was already doing the topic so I thought I’d touch on a topic that I feel isn’t as discussed.

How did you choose your sources? Please explain your thinking that led you to choose the evidence you will use to interpret the topic.

I chose the sources I deemed would be most useful in full. I found many articles that I could take pieces out of, but I looked deeper to find articles that would be useful in entirety. I wanted sources that used similar language to what I use and what I plan on using in my paper. I wanted articles that strongly articulated the unfairness, to put it lightly, that Indigenous people experienced throughout history and continue to experience today.

What assumptions did you bring to your research? For example, what preconceived notions about the topic did you have before you began your research? Did your sources cause you to reconsider those ideas? Please explain in as much detail as possible.

I think I went into my research with a pretty good idea of what I would find. Obviously residential schooling was and is something that is not widely discussed so I knew that there was going to be elements that I was unaware of or unaware the extent of. I had general knowledge about these institutions and the motivation behind establishing them, but I had no idea about the development of them and the change these schools went over time. I also had no idea that Indigenous families went to these schools for barbecues and social gatherings. What really surprised me was some of the positive experiences that were recounted in some of the sources I found which I was not expecting at all.

How has your view of the past changed as a result of the research that you have done? What unanswered questions about this topic do you still have?

I started out with a very negative perspective on the topic, and now I’m more saddened and interested in the dynamic and the positive outcomes that resulted from these schools. I guess you could say I am more understanding and accepting of the past now after having researched it, and I am making more of a conscious effort to stay partial in my research and to try to view the events as they occurred in that time period.

What will you do differently next time?

Next time I’ll try to diversify my research more so in terms of the keywords I use. I focused too much on finding articles that related exactly to the term residential schools rather than thinking about what synonyms I could use or what other kinds of documents or articles would have information on my topic. I also want to look at footnotes and endnotes of articles to create more of a paper trail.

^[1] Amélie Ross et al, “Impact of residential schooling and of child abuse on substance use problem in Indigenous Peoples,” Addictive Behaviours 51, (2015), pg. 184

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