What was the purpose of the residential school system in Canada?

What was the purpose of the residential school system in Canada?

With the colonization of Indigenous territories in the years following Confederation, the Canadian government established and expanded a formal system of residential schooling through legislation and policies with the goal of accelerating the assimilation of Indigenous peoples into settler society.

Was there anything good about residential schools?

The students’ experiences of residential schools were not all bad. Different people had differing experiences. Many dedicated, good people worked in the system. The system itself however was designed “to educate & colonize a people against their will,” as the missionary Hugh McKay admitted in 1903.

What was the purpose of the residential school system?

Two primary objectives of the residential schools system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their home, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate into the dominant culture.

What happened in the residential school system?

The residential school system officially operated from the 1880s into the closing decades of the 20th century. The system forcibly separated children from their families for extended periods of time and forbade them to acknowledge their Indigenous heritage and culture or to speak their own languages.

How did children in residential schools feel?

Many students reported a loveless childhood, coupled with humiliation and degradation by school staff. Hunger, poor nutrition, and repetitive food items were common complaints.

How many residential school survivors are alive?

The TRC estimates that 80,000 survivors of residential schools live in all regions of Canada today, and many other faiths and cultures have suffered in our borders, too.

How much money did residential school survivors get?

The day scholars settlement approved by the Federal Court last October includes individual compensation of $10,000 and a $50 million Day Scholars Revitalization Fund to support healing, linguistic and cultural reclamation. The claims process opened on Tuesday.

What happened to babies born in residential schools?

They were given new names, forcibly converted to Christianity and prohibited from speaking their native languages. Thousands died of disease, neglect and suicide; many were never returned to their families. The last residential school closed in 1996.

Why is a grave unmarked?

The underlying intention of some unmarked graves may be to suggest that the person buried is not worthy of commemoration, and should therefore be completely ignored and forgotten, e.g., school shooters Seung-Hui Cho and Adam Lanza.

Did parents know about residential schools?

They were established to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture. Indigenous parents and children did not simply accept the residential-school system….Resistance and Residential Schools.