Residential School System Analysis

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One reason as to why post colonial rule is still affecting Aboriginal society is by observing the residential school system which continues to have tremendous negative effects on Aboriginal society. To understand how the residential school system has affected today’s Aboriginal society we must observe the harsh conditions many Aboriginal children experienced while in residential schools and link that to why crime rates and incarceration is higher in Aboriginal society then in the rest of Canada. The European settlers who colonized Canada and with the help of the Catholic church created the IRS system to systematically destroy the Aboriginal culture by coercive practices (MacDonald 2014: 308-309). The IRS system was set up by European settlers …show more content…
The residential school system did not only lead Aboriginals to behave more violently but also it suppressed the culture and family life of the Indigenous community. The systematic discrimination that Aboriginal children faced in residential schools destroyed families in Aboriginal society, it broke apart the child and parent and violated the parent’s choice to make a decision on behalf of the child (Grant 1996: 233). Aboriginal children were many times only allowed to speak English and were beaten if they spoke their native language which is an example of how the European setters suppressed the Aboriginal culture (ibid 189). The role of language in a culture is the basis all teachings and learning on the oral tradition is that it transits the collective memory of the people (ibid 193). The children grew up losing their cultural identity of what it meant to be a native and were traumatized from these experiences. Sometimes the suppression of language and culture was so severe in residential schools that Aboriginal children were not able to communicate with their parents and and other Elders when they left Residential schools (ibid 193). Aboriginal children were …show more content…
Many people thought that the end of post colonialism meant that the problem of Aboriginal disputes in society would cease to exist and would be resolved but the devastation of post colonialism has still lingered and affected the lives of many Aboriginal people today. Throughout society Aboriginals face many disparities like discrimination that have stunned their ability to develop. Based on the research I have gathered I have concluded that the residential school system and the guidelines imposed by the Indian Act upon women are results of post colonial rule and it has indeed affected the Aboriginal population negatively; the negative impacts that Aboriginal society has experienced from post colonial rule has led them to experience poverty, increased violence, and many other social issues that have devastated the Aboriginal culture

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