The Legacies of Residential Schools

Post-Confederation Canada After Confederation in 1867, the Federal government began the process of expanding westward by gaining control of Rupert’s land in 1869. The success of the settlement plan, however, required the First Nations people to relinquish their claims on their territories peacefully.

The Numbered Treaties A series of numbered treaties were signed between First Nations and the Canadian government between 1871 and 1921. These treaties, in effect, ceded land to the government for settlement in exchange for of annual payments and other benefits, including education, health care, livestock, etc. First Nations were given small parcels of land called reservations so they could ‘maintain’ traditional ways of life. These lands were often less productive lands in remote areas.

Numbered Treaties in Canada

Promises made by government negotiators also did not always get included in written versions of the treaties, thus making it easier for the government to deny parts of the agreement. Cultural differences in the understanding of these treaties also contributed to feelings of resentment and betrayal.

The Indian Act The Indian Act was passed in 1876 as a means of strictly controlling the lives of First Nations people. The objective of the Indian Act was to encourage assimilation. The act banned some cultural practices and also defined who was and was not a status Indian eligible for specified benefits.

The Residential School System The introduction of the Residential School System in Canada was intended to force the assimilation of Aboriginal and First Nations people into mainstream Canadian society. Under provisions of the Indian Act, children aged 6 to 15 were required by law to attend. Children were forcibly removed from their families, or their families were threatened with prison if they did not send their children willingly. Government Residential School Video

School Administration Funded under the Indian Act by the federal government, the schools were run by churches of various denominations — about sixty per cent by Roman Catholics, and thirty per cent by the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada.

The Deconstruction of Identity Students were required to live on school premises. Most had no contact with their families for up to 10 months at a time because of the distance between their home communities and schools, and sometimes had no contact for years. They were prohibited from speaking Aboriginal languages, even among themselves and outside the classroom, so that English or French would be learned and their own languages forgotten. Residential Schools

Physical and Sexual Abuse Residential schools were notoriously underfunded, and relied on the forced labour of their students to maintain their facilities. The work was arduous, and severely compromised the academic and social development of the students. Many students at residential schools were also subjected to severe physical, psychological, and sexual abuse by teachers and school officials.

Effects on Survivors Possibly as many as 90% of the students experienced forms of sexual abuse. Over 50% of the children who passed through the residential school system did not survive to adulthood. 75% reported that they had abused alcohol. 50% reported that they had a criminal record.

Reconciliation In March 1998, the Canadian government made a Statement of Reconciliation – including an apology to those people who were sexually or physically abused while attending residential schools. The Aboriginal Healing Foundation was also created and provided $350 million to fund community-based healing projects focusing on addressing the legacy of physical and sexual abuse at Indian residential schools.

In 2005, the Canadian government announced a $1 In 2005, the Canadian government announced a $1.9 billion compensation package to benefit tens of thousands of survivors of abuse at native residential schools. And, on June 11, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper publicly apologized to an audience of Aboriginal delegates on national television for past governments' policies of assimilation. The Prime Minister apologized not only for the known excesses of the residential school system, but for the creation of the system itself. Federal Govt. Apology and Reconciliation Video