Canadian Indian residential school system

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"Aboriginal residential schools" redirects here. For the residential school system in the United States, see American Indian boarding schools. For other uses, see Indian school (disambiguation).
Qu'Appelle Indian Industrial School in Lebret, District of Assiniboia, ca. 1885. Parents of First Nations children had to camp outside the gates of the residential schools in order to visit their children.
Aboriginal peoples
in Canada
A life-sized bronze statue of an Aboriginal and eagle above him; there is a bear to his right and a wolf to his left, they are all looking upwards towards a blue and white sky

In Canada, the Indian (aboriginal) residential schools were a network of "residential" (boarding) schools for indigenous Canadians (First Nations or "Indians"; Métis and Inuit). The network was funded by the Canadian government's Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and administered by Christian churches, predominantly the Roman Catholic Church in Canada (60%), but also the Anglican Church of Canada (30%), and the United Church of Canada, including its pre-1925 constituent church predecessors (10%).[1] The policy was to remove children from the influence of their families and culture, and assimilate them into the dominant Canadian culture.[2] Over the course of the system's existence, about 30% of native children, or roughly 150,000, were placed in residential schools nationally; at least 6,000 of these students died while in attendance.[3][4][5]

The system had origins in laws enacted before Confederation, but was primarily active following the passage of the Indian Act in 1876, until 1996, when the last federally-operated residential school was closed.[6] An amendment to the Indian Act made attendance at day schools, industrial schools, or residential schools compulsory for First Nations children; in some parts of the country, residential schools were the only option.[7] The number of residential schools reached its peak of 80 in 1931.[6][8]

Consensus emerged in the early 21st century that the latter schools did significant harm to Aboriginal children who attended them: by removing them from their families, by depriving them of their ancestral languages, through sterilization, by exposing many of them to physical and sexual abuse by staff members, and other students, and by forcibly enfranchising them. On June 11, 2008, a public apology was offered by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on behalf of the Government of Canada and the leaders of the other federal parties in the Canadian House of Commons.[9] Nine days prior, the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established to uncover the truth about the schools. The commission gathered statements from residential school survivors through public and private statement gatherings at various local, regional and national events across Canada. Seven national events held between 2008-2013 commemorated the experience of former students of residential schools.

The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA), a Canadian federal court-approved settlement agreement, was announced by the Canadian federal government on 8 May 2006, with implementation in September 2007.[10] The Agreement recognizes the damage inflicted by the Indian residential schools (IRS), and established a $2 billion compensation package for the approximately 86,000 then-living victims affected by these schools, as well as family members of deceased victims. The IRSSA was the largest class action settlement in Canadian history. By December 2012, a total of $1.62 billion was paid to 78,750 former students, 98% of the 80,000 who were eligible.[citation needed]

History[edit]

Attempts at assimilating Indigenous populations began as early as the 17th century with the arrival of French Jesuits in New France. The efforts, however, were resisted by Indigenous communities and the establishment of day and boarding schools was abandoned by French colonists by the 1690s. The political instability and realities of colonial life also played a role in the decision to halt the education programs.[11] An increase in orphaned and foundling colonial children limited Church resources and colonists benefited from favorable relations with Indigenous peoples in both the fur trade and military pursuits.[12]:3

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs officially encouraged the growth of the Indian residential school system as a valuable component in a wider policy of integrating Native Canadians with European-Canadian society, so as to avoid racial segregation.[12] Responsible for separating children from their families and communities, the system has been described as cultural genocide: "killing the Indian in the child."[13][14] Designed as an immersion program children were prohibited, in many schools, from (and sometimes punished for) speaking their own languages or practicing their own faiths.[15] The primary stated goal to convert Indigenous children to Christianity and to "civilize them."[16]

The renewed interest in Indian residential schools at the turn of the 19th century has been linked to the decline in military hostility faced by British settlers, particularly after the War of 1812. With the threat of invasion minimized Indigenous communities were no longer viewed as allies, but barriers to permanent settlement.[12]:3[17] This perspective was further underscored by the transfer of Indian affairs from military officials, familiar with and sympathetic to Indigenous communities, to civilian representatives concerned only with permanent colonial settlement.[16]:73-75

Religious Involvement[edit]

Residential schools were run by churches of various denominations: about 60 per cent were administered by Roman Catholics, 30 per cent by the Anglican Church of Canada, and 10 per cent the United Church of Canada, or its pre-1925 predecessors, the Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and Methodist churches.[1] This system of using established school facilities set up by missionaries was employed by the federal government for economic expedience. The federal government provided facilities and maintenance, while the churches provided teachers and their own lesson-planning.[18]

Front cover of "Statistics Respecting Indian Schools", 1898, including Egerton Ryerson's letter "Report by Dr Ryerson on Industrial Schools."

Some independent church-run schools have been traced back to the 1620s; these schools were closed in the 1680s.[6] There is some debate about which were the first residential school of the 1800s: some claim that the Mohawk Institute in Brantford, Ontario, founded in 1831, was the first.[19] Other sources say that Protestants, Catholics, Anglicans and Methodists began to operate residential schools in the 1820s, before any state-sanctioned operations.[6] Protestant missionaries opened residential schools in the current Ontario region, not only spreading Christianity, but also trying to encourage the Indigenous peoples to adopt subsistence agriculture as a way to ensure they would not return to their original ways of life upon graduation.[20]

Government Involvement[edit]

Although education in Canada was made the jurisdiction of the provincial governments by the British North America Act, aboriginal peoples and their treaties were under the jurisdiction of the federal government.[18] Residential schools were funded under the Indian Act, by what was then the federal Department of the Interior.

The design of a federally-supported residential school system relied on the expert advice of several prominent Canadian and British statesmen, including Peregrine Maitland, Charles Bagot, and Egerton Ryerson, who was then the Chief Superintendent of Education in Upper Canada. The Bagot Report of 1842 is seen as the foundational document for the federal system.[21]

Ryerson wrote a letter for George Vardon, Assistant Superintendent of Indian Affairs, on May 26th, 1847, asserting that "Indians should be schooled in separate, denominational, boarding, English-only and agriculturally-oriented (industrial) institutions" and "the North American Indian cannot be civilized or preserved in a state of civilization (including habits of industry and sobriety) except in connection with, if not by the influence of, not only religious instruction and sentiment but of religious feelings."[6][21][22] This letter was published as an appendix to a larger report entitled "Statistics Respecting Indian Schools."[22]

The Gradual Civilization Act of 1857 and the Gradual Enfranchisement Act of 1869 formed the foundations for this system prior to Confederation. These assumed the inherent superiority of French and British ways, and the need for Indians to become French or English speakers, Christians, and farmers. At the time, many Aboriginal leaders argued to have these Acts overturned.[23] The Gradual Civilization Act awarded 50 acres (200,000 m2) of land to any indigenous male deemed "sufficiently advanced in the elementary branches of education" and would automatically "enfranchise" him, removing any tribal affiliation or treaty rights.[20] With this legislation, and through the creation of residential schools, the government believed indigenous people could eventually become assimilated into the population. For graduates to receive individual allotments of farmland, however, would require changes in the communal reserve system, something fiercely opposed by First Nations governments.[citation needed]

Major legislation affecting aboriginal people ignored the matrilineal systems of many tribes, in which property was controlled and passed through the maternal line, as well as the major roles that Aboriginal women typically had in cultivating their crops after men had cleared the fields.[citation needed]

After Confederation in 1867, Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald commissioned Nicholas Flood Davin to write a "Report on Industrial Schools for Indians and Half-Breeds"[24] (now known as the "Davin Report"), which was submitted to Ottawa in March 1879 and led to public funding for the residential school system in Canada.[25]

In 1884, school attendance became compulsory by law for status Indians under 16 years of age.[7]

Several laws gave school administrators the supervision of the compulsory sterilization of students: in Alberta in 1928,[26] and in British Columbia in 1933.[27] Although some academic articles currently offer rough estimates of the numbers of sterilizations,[28][29] the review of archival documents that would produce more specific numbers is incomplete and ongoing.[30][31]

Compulsory school attendance ended in 1948, following the 1947 report of a Special Joint Committee and subsequent amendment of the Indian Act.[32] In 1969, after years of sharing power with churches, the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA) took sole control of the residential school system.[20]

The last residential school operated by the Canadian government, Gordon Residential School in Saskatchewan, was closed in 1996.[33]

A grouping of about 30 students in front of a brick building. There is a nun in the back row.
Students at the Blue Quills residential school in Alberta.

Aftermath: Self-governance, closure, and heritage[edit]

See also: List of Indian residential schools in Canada

When the government revised the Indian Act in the 1940s and '50s, some bands, along with regional and national native organizations, wanted to maintain schools in their communities.[citation needed] Motivations for support of the schools included their role as a social service in communities suffering extensive family breakdown; the significance of the schools as employers; and the seeming lack of other opportunities for children to receive education. In the 1960s, when the government decided to close certain schools, some Indian bands pleaded to have them to remain open.[34] For most others, the existence of buildings that formerly housed residential schools are a traumatic reminder, and there is much discussion about demolition, heritage status, and how to incorporate sites into the healing process.[35][36][37]

In the 1960s, a major confrontation took place at the Saddle Lake Reserve in Alberta. After several years of deteriorating conditions and administrative changes, parents protested the lack of transparency at the Blue Quills Indian School in 1969. In response, the government decided to close the school, convert the building into a residence, and enroll students in a public school five kilometres away in St. Paul, Alberta.[38] The TRC Report states:

Fearing their children would face racial discrimination in St. Paul, parents wished to see the school transferred to a private society that would operate it both as a school and a residence. The federal government had been open to such a transfer if the First Nations organization was structured as a provincial school division. The First Nations rejected this, saying that a transfer of First Nations education to the provincial authority was a violation of Treaty rights. (pg. 84)[38]

In the summer of 1970, members of the Saddle Lake community occupied the building and demanded the right to run it themselves. Their protests were successful and Blue Quills became the first Native-administered school in the country.[39] It continues to operate today as the Blue Quills First Nations College, a tribal college.

Very few other former residential schools have transitioned into independently-operated community schools for aboriginal children. White Calf Collegiate in Lebret, Saskatchewan was run by the Star Blanket Cree Nation from 1973 until its closure in 1998, after being run by the Oblates from 1884 to 1969. Old Sun Community College is run by the Siksika Nation in Alberta, in a building that operated as a residential school from 1929 to 1971, first run by the Anglicans and taken over by the federal government in the 1969.[40] After the Albertan government chose to bus children to nearby public schools, it was converted into adult learning and stood as a campus of Mount Royal College from 1971 to 1976. In 1976, the Siksika Nation took over operations and in 1988, the Old Sun College Act was passed in the Alberta Legislature.[41][42]

Conditions in residential schools[edit]

There was an elevated rate of physical and sexual abuse in residential schools. Corporal punishment was often justified by a belief that it was the only way to "save souls," "civilize" the savage, or punish and deter runaways - whose injuries or death sustained in their efforts to return home would become the legal responsibility of the school.[citation needed] Overcrowding, poor sanitation, inadequate heating, and a lack of medical care led to high rates of influenza and tuberculosis; in one school, the death rate reached 69%.[15] Federal policies that tied funding to enrollment numbers led to sick children being enrolled in order to boost numbers, thus introducing and spreading disease.[citation needed]

Students in residential school systems were faced with a multitude of abuses from teachers and administrators. Physical genocide, biological genocide, and cultural genocide all occurred: physical, through abuse; biological, through sterilization; cultural, through forced assimilation.[2] One person has stated that “[o]ne in 25 children were killed at residential schools, countless others were raped and all who attended were kidnapped.”[43] Children also suffered from malnourishment and harsh discipline that would not have been tolerated in any other school system.

Parents were told that they were unfit to care for their children because they wanted to teach them aboriginal languages and traditions. Where residential schools were the only option, children were often forcibly removed from their families, or their families were threatened with fines or prison if they failed to send their children.[44] Many 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 in some cases had no contact for years. In many of the schools, students were discouraged or 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. In some schools, they were subject to corporal punishment for speaking their own languages or for practising non-Christian faiths, policies that have given rise to allegations of cultural genocide.[45][46][47]

St. Paul's Indian Industrial School, Middlechurch, Manitoba, 1901

After the Second World War, the Canadian Family Allowance Act began to grant "baby bonuses" to families with children, but ensured that this money was cut off if parents refused to send their children to school. This act further coerced indigenous parents to accept the residential school system.[48]

Until the late 1950s, residential schools were severely underfunded and often relied on the forced labour of their students to maintain their facilities, although it was presented as training for artisan skills. The work was arduous, and severely compromised the academic and social development of the students. In many cases, literacy education, or any serious efforts to inspire literacy in English or French, was almost non-existent. School books and textbooks, if they were supplied, were drawn mainly from the curricula of the provincially funded public schools for non-Aboriginal students, and teachers at the residential schools were often poorly trained or prepared. During this same period, Canadian government scientists performed nutritional tests on students and knowingly kept some students undernourished to serve as the control sample.[49]

In the 1990s, investigations and memoirs by former students revealed that many students at residential schools were subjected to severe physical, psychological, and sexual abuse by school staff members and by older students.[50] Several prominent court cases led to large monetary payments from the federal government and churches to former students of residential schools. The settlement offered to former students was implemented on September 19, 2007.[6]

Details of the mistreatment of students were published numerous times throughout the 20th century. Following the government's closure of most of the schools in the 1960s, the work of indigenous activists and historians led to greater awareness by the public of the damage the schools had caused, as well as to official government and church apologies, and a legal settlement. This has been controversial both within indigenous and non-indigenous communities.[11]

Mortality rates[edit]

Residential school group photograph, Regina, Saskatchewan 1908

In 1909, Dr. Peter Bryce, general medical superintendent for the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA), reported to the department that between 1894 and 1908, mortality rates at some residential schools in Western Canada ranged from 30% to 60% over five years (that is, five years after entry, 30% to 60% of students had died, or 6–12% per annum). These statistics did not become public until 1922, when Bryce, who was no longer working for the government, published The Story of a National Crime: Being a Record of the Health Conditions of the Indians of Canada from 1904 to 1921. In particular, he alleged that the high mortality rates could have been avoided if healthy children had not been exposed to children with tuberculosis.[51] At the time, no antibiotic had been identified to treat the disease.

In 1920 and 1922, Dr. A. Corbett was commissioned to visit the schools in the west of the country, and found similar results to Bryce. At the Ermineskin school in Hobbema, Alberta, he found 50% of the children had tuberculosis.[20] At Sarcee Boarding School near Calgary, all 33 students were "much below even a passable standard of health" and "[a]ll but four were infected with tuberculosis." In one classroom, he found 16 ill children, many near death, who were being made to sit through lessons.[20]

In May 2015, research by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission revealed that at least 6,000 students had died, mostly from disease.[4] In 2011, reflecting on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's research, Justice Murray Sinclair told the Toronto Star: "Missing children—that is the big surprise for me, [...] That such large numbers of children died at the schools. That the information of their deaths was not communicated back to their families."[52] In a legal report, the Canadian Bar Association concludes that "Student deaths were not uncommon".[53]:3

Reconciliation attempts[edit]

Former St. Michael's Residential School in Alert Bay. Formerly standing on the traditional territory of the 'Namgis First Nation, it was demolished in February 2015.[54]

Reconciliation attempts had begun in the 1980s with church apologies for what had been done to Aboriginal peoples.[2] From 1986-1994, The United Church, the Catholic Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the Anglican Church, and the Presbyterian Church had formally apologized for participating in the residential school system.[55]

In summer of 1990, the Oka crisis had taken place when the Mohawks of Kanesatake had confronted the government about their land claims and recognition of territory. The government of Canada had created a Royal Commission to look into the state affairs with Aboriginal peoples in Canada. By 1996, the Royal Commission had presented a clear vision for reconciliation.[2]

In March 1998, the government made a Statement of Reconciliation – including an apology to those people who were sexually or physically abused while attending residential schools – and established the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. The Foundation was provided $350 million to fund community-based healing projects focusing on addressing the legacy of physical and sexual abuse at Indian residential schools. In its 2005 budget, the Canadian government committed an additional $40 million to continue to support the work of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation.

In the fall of 2003, after some pilot projects launched since 1999, the Alternative Dispute Resolution process or "ADR" was launched. The ADR was a process outside of court providing compensation and psychological support for former students of residential schools who were physically or sexually abused or were in situations of wrongful confinement.

On November 23, 2005, the Canadian government announced a $1.9 billion compensation package to benefit tens of thousands of former students at native residential schools. National Chief Phil Fontaine of the Assembly of First Nations said the package covers, "decades in time, innumerable events and countless injuries to First Nations individuals and communities." Justice Minister Irwin Cotler called the decision to house young Canadians in church-run residential schools "the single most harmful, disgraceful and racist act in our history." At a news conference in Ottawa, Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan said: "We have made good on our shared resolve to deliver what I firmly believe will be a fair and lasting resolution of the Indian school legacy."[56]

This compensation package became the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement in May 2006. It proposed, among other things, some funding for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, for commemoration and for a "Truth and Reconciliation" program in aboriginal communities, as well as an individual Common Experience Payment (CEP).[57] Any person that could be verified as residing at a federally run Indian residential school in Canada, as well as other criteria, was entitled to this CEP. The amount of compensation was based on the number of years a particular former student resided at the residential schools: $10,000 for the first year attended (one night residing there to a full school year) plus $3,000 for every year resided thereafter.

The Settlement Agreement also proposed an advance payment for former students alive and who were 65 years old and over as of May 30, 2005. The deadline for reception of the advance payment form by IRSRC was December 31, 2006.

Following a legal process including an examination of the Settlement Agreement by the courts of the provinces and territories of Canada, an "opt-out" period occurred. During this time, the former students of residential schools could reject the agreement if they did not agree with its dispositions. This opt-out period ended on August 20, 2007.

The Settlement Agreement gave way to the Independent Assessment Process (IAP), a case-by-case, out-of-court resolution process where claims from former Indian Residential School students are examined by an Adjudicator. The IAP became available to all the former students of residential schools on September 19, 2007. All former students (who met certain criteria) had to apply by themselves or through a lawyer of their choice to receive their full compensation. The deadline to apply for the IAP was September 19, 2012. This gave former students of residential schools four years from the implementation date of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement to apply for the IAP. Claims involving physical and sexual abuse can be compensated up to $275,000.[58]

Similar forced residential boarding schools for indigenous communities were operated in Australia (where the students are referred to as the Stolen Generation). The Native American boarding schools that operated in the United States through the 1970s were far less harsh and not comparable, although its former students have similar complaints, especially about prohibitions against using their own languages and traditions.

Apologies[edit]

Federal government apology[edit]

Main article: Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission

On June 11, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a formal apology, on behalf of the sitting Cabinet, in front of an audience of Aboriginal delegates, and in an address that was broadcast nationally on the CBC, for the past governments' policies of assimilation.[59] The Prime Minister apologized not only for the known excesses of the residential school system, but for the creation of the system it self.

Provincial apologies[edit]

Alberta[edit]

On June 22, 2015, Rachel Notley, Premier of the province of Alberta, issued a formal apology as a Ministerial Statement in a bid to begin to address the wrongs done by the government to the aboriginal peoples of Alberta and the rest of Canada.[60] Notley's provincial government called on the federal government to hold an inquiry on the missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada at the same time. They also stated intent to build relationships with provincial leaders of aboriginal communities, and sought to amend the provincial curriculum to include the history of indigenous culture.[61]

Saskatchewan[edit]

Saskatchewan Premier, Brad Wall, stated that he intended to issue a formal apology for the provincial governments role in the Sixties Scoop on June 25, 2015. He also reiterated that while the apology would be forthcoming, no compensatory funds would be offered to the victims, rather there would be an emphasis on education initiatives to increase awareness of the issue.[62] While not strictly related to the Indian residential school system, there is an inherent link between the scoop and residential schools, as both systems robbed aboriginal people of their traditions and forcibly separated children from their parents.[63] [64]

Manitoba[edit]

On June 18, 2015, Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger became the first politician to issue a formal apology for the government's role in the Sixties Scoop.[65] Class action lawsuits have been brought against the Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario governments for the harm caused to victims of the large scale adoption scheme that saw thousands of aboriginal children forcibly removed from their parents in the sixties.[66] Aboriginal leaders responded by insisting that while apologies were welcomed, action - including a federal apology, reunification of families, compensation and counselling for victims - must accompany words for them to have real meaning.[67]

The Mohawk Institute, a residential school in Brantford, Ontario, circa 1932.

Ontario[edit]

On May 30, 2016, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne issued a formal apology and acknowledgement of "one of the most shameful chapters in Canadian history."[68] In a 105-minute ceremony, Wynne announced that the Ontario government would spend $250 million on education initiatives and renamed the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, lead by David Zimmer. It was further annouced that the first week of November would be known as Treaties Recognition Week.[69]

Newfoundland[edit]

In 2008, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued the national apology for the residential schools, Newfoundland and Labrador were excluded - it was argued that the government should not be held accountable for pre-confederation actions. Residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador were located in St. Anthony, Cartwright, North West River, Nain and Makkovik. These schools were run by The International Grenfell Association and the German Monrovian Missionaries.[70] The government argued that because these schools were not created under the auspices of the Indian Act, they were not true residential schools. More than 1000 survivors disagreed and filed a class action lawsuit against the government for compensation in 2007. By the time the suit was settled in 2016, almost a decade later, dozens of plaintiffs had passed away. It was expected that up to 900 former students would be compensated.[71]

Students in the classroom, with a teacher in nun's garb at the back of the room.
Students of St. Anne's Indian Residential School in Fort Albany, Ontario, circa 1945.

Vatican expression of sorrow[edit]

In 2009, Chief Fontaine had a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI to try to obtain an apology for abuses that occurred in the residential school system.[72] The audience was funded by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. Following the meeting, the Vatican released an official statement on the church's role in residential schools:

His Holiness [i.e. the Pope] recalled that since the earliest days of her presence in Canada, the Church, particularly through her missionary personnel, has closely accompanied the indigenous peoples. Given the sufferings that some indigenous children experienced in the Canadian Residential School system, the Holy Father expressed his sorrow at the anguish caused by the deplorable conduct of some members of the Church and he offered his sympathy and prayerful solidarity. His Holiness emphasized that acts of abuse cannot be tolerated in society. He prayed that all those affected would experience healing, and he encouraged First Nations Peoples to continue to move forward with renewed hope.[73]

Fontaine later stated at a news conference that at the meeting, he sensed the Pope's "pain and anguish" and that the acknowledgement was "important to me and that was what I was looking for."[74]

Other apologies[edit]

On Friday, August 6, 1993, at the National Native Convocation in Minaki, Ontario, Archbishop Michael Peers offered an apology to all the survivors of the Indian residential schools on behalf of the Anglican Church of Canada. Archbishop Peers said:

I accept and I confess before God and you, our failures in the residential schools. We failed you. We failed ourselves. We failed God.
I am sorry, more than I can say, that we were part of a system which took you and your children from home and family.
I am sorry, more than I can say, that we tried to remake you in our image, taking from you your language and the signs of your identity.
I am sorry, more than I can say, that in our schools so many were abused physically, sexually, culturally and emotionally.
On behalf of the Anglican Church of Canada, I present our apology.[75]

In 1994, the Presbyterian Church in Canada adopted a confession at its 120th General Assembly in Toronto on June 5, recognizing its role in residential schools and seeking forgiveness.[76] The confession was presented on October 8 during a ceremony in Winnipeg.[77]

In 2004, immediately prior to signing the historic first Public Safety Protocol with the Assembly of First Nations, RCMP Commissioner Zaccardelli veered from his corporate speech and issued an apology on behalf of the RCMP for their role in the Indian Residential School System. "We, I, as Commissioner of the RCMP, am truly sorry for what role we played in the residential school system and the abuse that took place in the residential system".[78]

On October 27, 2011 University of Manitoba president David Barnard apologized to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the institution's role in educating people who operated the residential school system. This is believed to be the first time a Canadian university has apologized for playing a role in residential schools.[79]

Lasting effects of residential schools[edit]

The residential school system had a lasting and adverse effect on the transmission of Aboriginal culture from one generation to the next.[2] Over 150 000 students attended residential schools, constituting approximately 30% of the population of native children in Canada.[3] The legacy of the schools on aboriginal people of today has been referred to as a “collective soul wound.”[80] A sample of 127 survivors revealed that half of these survivors have criminal records, 65% have been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder, 21% have been diagnosed with major depression, 7% have been diagnosed with anxiety disorder and 7% have been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.[81]

Many survivors of the residential schools also suffer from historic trauma. It is the idea that the “military, economic, and cultural conquest of people aboriginal to the American continents was a form of genocide,” and that, much like in the inter-generational trauma caused by the Holocaust, the Aboriginal people of Canada are suffering across more than just one generation. Historic trauma refers to the way in which even those not directly related to the residential school experience suffer from it. Like psychological baggage it gets passed on from generation to generation, and spans across many lifetimes through transmission to younger generations.[81]

Some native people feel that no amount of time would be enough to heal this wound, such as the thousands of families of missing children. Some children attended residential school in the late sixties disappeared from them never to be heard from again. Their families are unable to move on from this because the missing children’s fate is still a mystery. The families feel that without finding out what happened to their missing members, they will not receive the closure they need to move on and no amount of compensation from the government will be enough to repair the damage.[82]

Some survivors that were sexually abused kept their suffering a secret for decades after their time in the residential schools. One survivor has been quoted saying “you can’t forget everything in five years, in ten years,”[82] and many aboriginals feel that though the Canadian government has made a start in reconciliation, it will be a long process, because they cannot instantly feel better.[83]

The lasting impact that the schools have had is also manifested in the rate of drug and alcohol abuse among survivors. As an attempt to hide from the memories and the pain many aboriginal people found themselves turning to substance abuse,[83] which means that the suffering continues as they and those around them are forced to deal with addiction on a daily basis. It is both because the residential schools continue to cause harm, and because the hardships they created in the past continue to haunt survivors, that the aboriginal people are simply unable to be consoled at present time.

Survivors of the residential schools have difficulty receiving compensation because they must prove that they attended the schools. This is difficult and sometimes impossible to do because the schools kept little to no records.[84]

Many students were fluent in their Aboriginal languages when they first entered residential schools. Teachers strictly prohibited the use of these languages despite many students having little or no understanding of English or French. Traditional activities and spiritual practices, such as the Sun Dance were also banned. Many survivors recalled being strapped for speaking Aboriginal languages while some students were forced to eat soap because native languages were viewed as dirty and evil. Although encouragement to keep Aboriginal languages alive was given by some schools, many students could no longer speak their languages when they left schools due to years of forbiddance. Some survivors even felt ashamed for being Aboriginal as their identities were considered as ugly and dirty.[57]

Healing[edit]

The healing process is a long and difficult one.[82] Many Aboriginals find it difficult to talk about their experiences, but when they do, healing slowly begins.[82] The national event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission allows the survivors to share their stories and put them on record.[82] Some survivors say that this allows them to see that their suffering is shared and allows them to find joy and laughter with one another which demonstrates that it is a healing process.[82]

The four churches of the Settlement Agreement, the United, Roman Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian churches,[57] have all agreed to participate in the reconciliation process between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. Since the 1990s, they have been involved in funding various projects and services that assist former residential school students and their families in healing from their trauma caused by the schools. The Toronto Urban Native Ministry offers counseling and provides spiritual education to Aboriginals in need. The Language Immersion Canoe Course in Tofino, British Columbia has been facilitating the transmission of language and culture for years by bringing young Aboriginals from Vancouver Island together for one month and traveling to different traditional sites to learn the Hesquiaht language (through canoe-carving) and reconnect with their ancestors. The churches have also engaged in reconciliation initiatives such as the Returning to Spirit: Residential School Healing and Reconciliation Program, which is a workshop that aims to unite Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals through helping Aboriginals come to terms with the legacy of residential schools and fostering a healthy environment for both peoples to communicate and develop a mutual understanding of one another.[2]

In 2014, the federal government had ceased to contribute funds to Aboriginal health organizations such as the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. Since then, more pressure has been placed on churches to sustain their active participation in these healing efforts.[2]

Portrayals in media[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Director Notes
1978 Wandering Spirit Survival School National Film Board This school, organized by concerned parents, broke with tradition by introducing subjects that are of particular relevance to its pupils. The experience of the children is contrasted with the very different life experienced by their parents, educated in the old residential schools.
1985 The Mission School Syndrome Northern Native Broadcasting A documentary feature that investigates the effect of residential schools in the Yukon, focusing on former residents of the Lower Post Residential School, the Baptist Indian Mission School (Whitehorse), and the Chaoutla Indian Residential School (Carcross), as well as the Yukon Hall Residence in Whitehorse.
1989 Where the Spirit Lives Bruce Pittman A CBC dramatic portrayal of a young Aboriginal girl, Ashtoh-Komi, who is abducted and taken to a residential school in the 1930s.
1991 "The Learning Path" Loretta Todd A powerful, ground-breaking documentary which follows three Aboriginal women educators and includes the harrowing experiences that two of the women faced in residential schools. Using a unique blend of documentary footage, dramatic re-enactments, and archival film, Todd weaves together the life stories of three unsung heroines who are helping to restore Aboriginal control over education.
1991 Violation of Trust Fifth Estate A compelling documentary about Canada's worst-kept secret, examining the lives of residential school survivors, along with stories of abuse.
1992 Sleeping Children Awake Rhonda Kara Hanah Inspired by Shirley Cheechoo's play Path with no Moccasins, Sleeping Children Awake is both a personal record of Canada's history, and a tribute to the enduring strength of Native cultures.
1993 Beyond the Shadows Gryphon Productions Ltd. A powerful documentary about the legacy of Native residential schools (missionary schools). The video touches on the historical background of these schools, but primarily depicts painful personal experiences; the causes of multi-generational grief and healing processes underway in communities today.
1998 Kuper Island: Return to the Healing Circle National Film Board Like thousands of other Aboriginal people across Canada and the United States, the former residents of Kuper Island are now beginning to break the silence and to speak out about the trauma of their residential school experience. For them, the time for healing has come.
2001 Childhood Lost Doug Cuthand Through interviews, archival photos, and re-enactments, this program illuminates the experiences of four individuals who were sent to residential schools when they were very young.
2005 A Day at Indian Residential Schools in Canada Indigenous Education Coalition This 26 minute documentary, hosted by youth, explores the life at three Indian residential schools. Survivors recollect their daily routines, time spent on chores, and their feelings of isolation. This film features archival images of life at the schools as well as interviews with survivors who had never before spoken on camera about their experiences.
2007 The Fallen Feather: Indian Industrial Residential Schools Canadian Confederation Randy N. Bezeau The fallen feather provides an in-depth critical analysis of the driving forces behind the creation of Canadian Indian residential schools.
2007 Unrepentant: Kevin Annett and Canada's Genocide Kevin Annett A documentary describing the crimes committed in church-run residential schools.[85]
2008 Muffins for Granny Mongrel Media Nadia McLaren tells the story of her own grandmother by combining precious home movie fragments with the stories of seven elders dramatically affected by their experiences in residential school.
2008 Stolen Children CBC Learning In this package of documentaries from The National, CBC explores the impact of residential schools on former students and the larger community, presenting ideas for what more can be done to address this painful chapter in Canada's history.
2009 The Experimental Eskimos Barry Greenwald In the early 1960s the Canadian government conducted an experiment in social engineering. Three young Inuit boys were separated from their families in the Arctic and were sent to Ottawa, the nation's capital, to live with white families and to be educated in white schools.
2009 Unseen Tears Ron Douglas Native American families in Western New York and Canada continue to feel the impact of the Thomas Indian School and the Mohawk Institute in Ontario. Survivors speak of traumatic separation from their families, abuse, and a systematic assault on their language and culture. Western New York Native American communities are presently attempting to heal the wounds and break the cycle of inter-generational trauma resulting from the boarding school experience. Unseen Tears documents testimonies of boarding school survivors, their families, and social service providers.[86]
2009 Kakalakkuvik (Where the Children Dwell) Jobie Weetaluktuk Kakalakkuvik recounts the vivid memories of former students from Port Harrison (now Inukjuak, Quebec), the first group of Inuit to sue the federal government for compensation.
2009 Shi-Shi-Etko Kate Kroll Shi-Shi-Etko will soon be taken away from her home to begin her formal western education at a residential school. Her mother, father and grandmother want her to remember her roots and they wait for her return in the spring to continue passing down those ideals to her.
2012 We Were Children Tim Wolochatiuk Documentary film about the experiences of survivors Lyna Hart (Guy Hill Residential School) and Glen Anaquod (Lebret Indian Residential School).[87]
2013 Rhymes for Young Ghouls Jeff Barnaby A fictional film about teenager Aila, who runs a drug crew on her reserve, and is assaulted by an Indian Affairs agent who then detains her in a residential school, where other children are frequently abused.[88]

Published texts[edit]

Year Title Author ISBN Notes
1988 Resistance and Renewal: Surviving the Indian Residential School Celia Haig-Brown ISBN 0889781893 One of the first books published to deal with the phenomenon of residential schools in Canada, Resistance and Renewal is a disturbing collection of Native perspectives on the Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS) in the British Columbia interior. Interviews with thirteen Natives, all former residents of KIRS, form the nucleus of the book, a frank depiction of school life, and a telling account of the system's oppressive environment which sought to stifle Native culture.
1992 My Name Is Seepeetza Shirley Sterling ISBN 0888991657 First published in 1992 in Canada, where it won the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Book Prize, this autobiographical novel is written in the form of Seepeetza's diary in her Grade 6 year in the 1950s.
1998 Kiss of the Fur Queen Tomson Highway ISBN 0385258801 Jeremiah and Gabriel grow into acclaimed artists attempting to work within white, European traditions while retaining the influence of Native culture. The novel follows the boys from the idyllic innocence of their Cree childhood through a forced relocation to an abusive residential school to their lives as young artists attempting to discover how far their natural talents can take them.
2001 No Time to Say Goodbye: Children's Stories of Kuper Island Residential School Sylvia Olsen ISBN 1550391216 A fictional account of five children sent to aboriginal boarding school, based on the recollections of a number of Tsartlip First Nations people. These unforgettable children are taken by government agents from Tsartlip Day School to live at Kuper Island Residential School.
2005 Finding My Talk: How Fourteen Canadian Native Women Reclaimed Their Lives After Residential School Agnes Grant ISBN 1894856570 Fourteen aboriginal women who attended residential schools, or were affected by them, reflect on their experiences. They describe their years in residential schools across Canada and how they overcame tremendous obstacles to become strong and independent members of aboriginal cultures and valuable members of Canadian society..
2005 Shi-shi-etko Nicola I. Campbell ISBN 0888996594 Shi-shi-etko counts down her last four days before going away. She tries to memorize everything about her home–tall grass swaying to the rhythm of the breeze, determined mosquitoes, working bumblebees.
2006 Behind Closed Doors: Stories from the Kamloops Indian Residential School Jack Agnes (Editor) ISBN 1894778413 Behind Closed Doors features written testimonials from 32 individuals who attended the Kamloops Indian Residential School. The school was one of many infamous residential schools that operated from 1893 to 1979. The storytellers remember and share with us their stolen time at the school; many stories are told through courageous tears.
2007 Moving Beyond: Understanding the Impacts of the Residential Schools Brent Stonefish ISBN 1896832814 The residential school system in Canada continues to have a significant impact on Aboriginal people. We continue to struggle with the trauma of this unwanted legacy. In this book, we take a look at the history but focus on the inter-generational impacts that exist today from the residential school system. These lasting impacts affect learning, education, and family relations. “Moving Beyond” highlights positive approaches and paths to healing and promotes the development of healthy individuals, families and communities.
2008 Shin-Chi's Canoe Nicola I. Campbell ISBN 0888998570 This moving sequel to the award-winning Shi-shi-etko tells the story of two children's experience at residential school. Shi-shi-etko is about to return for her second year, but this time her six-year-old brother, Shin-chi, is going, too.
2009 Porcupines and China Dolls Robert Alexie ISBN 1894778723 Enough alcohol silences the demons for a night; a gun and a single bullet silences demons forever. When a friend commits suicide and a former priest appears on television, the community is shattered. James and Jake confront their childhood abuse and break the silence to begin a journey of healing and rediscovery.
2010 Blue Saltwater Dan Green ISBN 1451581246 Haida teen, Blue Saltwater, exposes the evil underbelly of the St. Ignatius Residential School before making a daring escape to return to his island home of Haida Gwaii.
2010 Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools: A Memoir Theodore Fontaine ISBN 192661366X Sense the oppression and marginalization of culture through an author's 'Healing Journey'.
2010 Fatty Legs: A True Story Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton ISBN 1554512468 Taunted and humiliated by Raven, the unkind nun in charge of the young girls, Margaret is willing to endure almost anything as long as she can learn to read. The unpleasant chores do not daunt her, but the teasing of other students and the unfair punishments do. When she is the only girl forced to wear ugly red stockings, however, Margaret has had enough, and fights back.
2010 From Lishamie Albert Canadien ISBN 1894778650 Albert Canadien fondly recounts his boyhood years in Lishamie, a traditional Dene camp north of the Mackenzie River, and reflects on the devastating and long-lasting impact residential schooling had on him, his family and his people.
2011 A Stranger at Home: A True Story Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton ISBN 1554513618 Travelling to be reunited with her family in the Arctic, 10-year-old Margaret Pokiak can hardly contain her excitement. It has been two years since her parents delivered her to the school run by the dark-cloaked nuns and brothers.
2011 Unsettling the Settler Within: Indian Residential Schools, Truth Telling, and Reconciliation in Canada Paulette Regan ISBN 077481778X Unsettling the Settler Within argues that non-Aboriginal Canadians must undergo their own process of decolonization in order to truly participate in the transformative possibilities of reconciliation. Settlers must relinquish the persistent myth of themselves as peacemakers and acknowledge the destructive legacy of a society that has stubbornly ignored and devalued Indigenous experience. A compassionate call to action, this powerful book offers a new and hopeful path toward healing the wounds of the past.
2012 Indian Horse Richard Wagamese ISBN 9781553654025 A young Ojibway boy named Saul Indian Horse is taken to St. Jerome's Indian Residential School in White River, Ontario. The novel focuses on Saul's experiences at the school and the escape he finds through playing hockey.
2012 They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School Bev Sellars ISBN 0889227411 In this frank and poignant memoir of her years at St. Joseph's Mission, Sellars breaks her silence about the residential school's lasting effects on her and her family-from substance abuse to suicide attempts-and eloquently articulates her own path to healing.
2014 Back to the Red Road Florence Kaefer and Edward Gamblin ISBN 1927575370 In 1954, when Florence Kaefer was just nineteen, she accepted a job as a teacher at Norway House. Unaware of the difficult conditions the students were enduring, Florence and her fellow teachers nurtured a school full of lonely and homesick young children. Many years later Florence unexpectedly reconnected with one of her Norway House students, Edward Gamblin. Motivated to apologize on behalf of the school and her colleagues, Florence contacted Edward.
2014 Indian School Road: Legacies of the Shubenacadie Residential School Chris Benjamin ISBN 1771082135 In Indian School Road, journalist Chris Benjamin tackles the controversial and tragic history of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School, its predecessors, and its lasting effects, giving voice to multiple perspectives for the first time.
2014 On the Goose: A Labrador Metis Woman Remembers Josie Penny ISBN 1459719123 Josie Penny's life as part of a loving Métis family in an isolated corner of Labrador changed dramatically when she was taken away to a residential school. Abused by the students, Josie became increasingly angry and isolated from her family and community as she grew into her teens. At seventeen she left for Goose Bay to make her fortune and start her own life.
2014 Up Ghost River: A Chief's Journey Through the Turbulent Waters of Native History Edmund Metatawabin and Alexandra Shimo ISBN 0307399877 In the 1950s, 7-year-old Edmund Metatawabin was separated from his family and placed in one of Canada’s worst residential schools. Fuelled by alcohol, the trauma from his past caught up with him, and his family and work lives imploded. Now Metatawabin’s mission is to help the next generation of residential school survivors.
2015 The Education of Augie Merasty: A Residential School Memoir Joseph Auguste (Augie) Merasty with David Carpenter ISBN 0889773688 Merasty attended St. Therese Residential School in the community of Sturgeon Landing, Manitoba, from 1935 to 1944. As Merasty recounts, these schools did more than attempt to mold children in the ways of white society. They were taught to be ashamed of their native heritage and, as he experienced, often suffered physical and sexual abuse. Even as he looks back on this painful part of his childhood, Merasty’s generous and authentic voice shines through.

Stage[edit]

Year Title Writer Director Notes
2008, 2012 "Where the Blood Mixes" Kevin Loring Bradley Moss "Winner of the 2009 Governor General’s Award, Where the Blood Mixes is a beautiful play about family, loss, redemption and healing. Floyd and Mooch, raised in residential schools, must confront their past when Floyd’s daughter Christine returns to Kumsheen after 20 years, to discover her past and her family"[89]
2014 "Going Home Star - Truth and Reconciliation" Joseph Boyden Mark Godden Commissioned by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, with the support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, "Going Home Star - Truth and Reconciliation explores the world of Annie, a young, urban First Nations woman adrift in a contemporary life of youthful excess. But when she meets Gordon, a longhaired trickster disguised as a homeless man, she’s propelled into a world she’s always sensed but never seen. Not only do they travel the streets of this place but also the roads of their ancestors, learning to accept the other’s burdens as the two walk through the past and toward the future. Together, both Annie and Gordon learn that without truth, there is no reconciliation."[90]


See also[edit]

Portal icon Aboriginal peoples in Canada portal

References[edit]

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Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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