Residential Schools in Canada

Residential School Systems in Canada

Canada is known as a peaceful , polite country rich in cultural diversity . However , amidst the cultural mosaic that formed over the last century lies a dark part of its history that , to this day , the Canadian government is not proud to call its own . This bleak history surrounds Canada 's residential schools . Residential schools were created in the nineteenth century in to educate , enlighten and refine First Nation peoples in Canada . The government wanted the First Nation people to adopt a European way of life so that

they acted more like their European counterparts . Children were torn and separated from their families and European religions , education and history was forced upon them . The main focus of the schools ' regime was to force European culture on the First Nation population in to "civilize " the "uncivilized

Originating in Ontario in the 1800s , the first residential schools operated from a religious standpoint with churches as their backbone However , the Canadian government 's eventual involvement led to the Gradual Civilization Act in 1957 and financial reserves were allotted toward this effort . The government originally got involved in to carry out its responsibility under the Indian Act . Under the Act , the government was obligated to educate Aboriginal people as well as introduce a plan to integrate the contrasting cultures

By the mid-1800s , residential schools began to surface in Western Canada and in 1920 , 74 schools were in operation across the country The schools functioned well into the 1950s until stories about mistreatment began to circulate

To this day , reports and discussions about residential schools in Canada are controversial . Some youths within the First Nation culture tend to display a level of apathy toward educational systems and some blame the past residential school systems for this blatant lack of interest . Some argue that certainly not all of the schools mistreated students while others say that they are trying to forget about the experiences they had in the schools . It is a decidedly touchy and complicated subject because there were so many schools in operation therefore , the students ' experiences vary as much as the terrain does across the country

However , some aspects remain constant . Firstly , the children were separated from their family and friends . Secondly , while at school , the students were not allowed to speak their respective languages and all of the staff members only spoke English . Some of the children , who are now older adults , report that they were punished if they were caught speaking in their mother tongues . They say it was very frustrating and exhausting for most children because they entered school with no prior English language skills . They couldn 't express their feelings , wishes or opinions until they learned the foreign language . Some struggled with English for many years . On top of that , certain words that existed in the English language did not even exist in the Aboriginal languages so direct translations were difficult and /or impossible to ascertain

In addition , the students ' school environments...