The residential school system in Canada was a joint initiative between the Canadian Government and the broader Christian Church. The Canadian government involved itself in residential schools to further exert their power over the Indigenous population. As government-funded “institutionalized instruments of control” (Steckley 310, 2017), residential schools can be understood within the context of Erving Goffman’s definition of a total institution. This definition is applicable as Indigenous children were heavily “regulated, controlled, [and] manipulated by those in charge” (Steckley 24, 2017). Operative onwards from 1831, with the last school closing in 1996, these schools were constructed to serve a specific purpose: assimilating Indigenous
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An investigation into the history of residential schools reveals that Indigenous children were regularly subject to acute and ongoing emotional, mental, physical, psychological, and sexual abuse during their isolated confinement. An intergenerational survivor of the system notes that “residential schools produced horrors which cannot be ignored. Young boys and girls from my reserve were raped by priests, other school children, and school employees. [..] Most endured the pain of these violations their entire lives” (Borrows, 2014). These harrowing details demonstrate the detrimental and extensive effects of residential schools, and elucidate that the abolished residential school system maintains a significant impact on members of Indigenous communities in contemporary …show more content…
The residential school educational experience consisted of the half-day system, wherein half the day was spent being Christianised and culturally assimilated, and the other half was spent carrying out manual labor and custodial duties. This methodical approach was used to intentionally indoctrinate Indigenous children to accept and partake in the dominant society’s way of life as a means of self-sustainment. The government felt as though this tactic would ultimately vanquish Indigenous heritage by offering children acquired skills as means of survival upon re-entry into Canadian society. It is noteworthy that this type of training was only utilized to prepare youth for menial jobs, which further demonstrates that residential schools were used to maintain a social order in Canada that only benefited the dominant culture. In addition, residential schools often conducted restrictive nutritional experiments on Indigenous students without their, or their parents, knowledge or consent. Scholars note: children who attended Canada’s Indian residential schools experienced chronic undernutrition characterised by insufficient caloric intake, minimal protein and fat, and limited access to fresh produce, often over a period of five to ten years. [..] This
An investigation into the history of residential schools reveals that Indigenous children were regularly subject to acute and ongoing emotional, mental, physical, psychological, and sexual abuse during their isolated confinement. An intergenerational survivor of the system notes that “residential schools produced horrors which cannot be ignored. Young boys and girls from my reserve were raped by priests, other school children, and school employees. [..] Most endured the pain of these violations their entire lives” (Borrows, 2014). These harrowing details demonstrate the detrimental and extensive effects of residential schools, and elucidate that the abolished residential school system maintains a significant impact on members of Indigenous communities in contemporary …show more content…
The residential school educational experience consisted of the half-day system, wherein half the day was spent being Christianised and culturally assimilated, and the other half was spent carrying out manual labor and custodial duties. This methodical approach was used to intentionally indoctrinate Indigenous children to accept and partake in the dominant society’s way of life as a means of self-sustainment. The government felt as though this tactic would ultimately vanquish Indigenous heritage by offering children acquired skills as means of survival upon re-entry into Canadian society. It is noteworthy that this type of training was only utilized to prepare youth for menial jobs, which further demonstrates that residential schools were used to maintain a social order in Canada that only benefited the dominant culture. In addition, residential schools often conducted restrictive nutritional experiments on Indigenous students without their, or their parents, knowledge or consent. Scholars note: children who attended Canada’s Indian residential schools experienced chronic undernutrition characterised by insufficient caloric intake, minimal protein and fat, and limited access to fresh produce, often over a period of five to ten years. [..] This