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Terrible Legacy of Residential Schools - Speakeasy News - Article July 2021

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Terrible Legacy of Residential Schools - Speakeasy News - Article July 2021

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The Residential School system which removed indigenous children from their families and forced them to assimilate, was described by a Canadian government as "cultural genocide". Indigenous groups searching for information have carried out searches of schools looking for the traces of children who died there. Since May, more than 1,000 sets of remains have been found.

Between 1863 and 1998, more than 150,000 indigenous children were removed from their families and sent to these schools, often far from home. More than 130 compulsory boarding schools were funded by the Canadian government and run through church organisations. They had the avowed intention to assimilate indigenous children into the dominant culture, and the children were banned from speaking their native languages or practising their culture.

"It was our government's policy to 'get rid of the Indian' in the child. It was a breakdown of self, the breakdown of family, community and nation."
Former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Perry Bellegarde

"Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic and there is no Indian question, and no Indian Department, that is the whole object of this Bill."
Duncan Campbell Scott, Department of Indian Affairs, 1920

There was little oversight of the schools and pupils suffered from a lack of food, heat and medical care. By 1945, the death rate at the schools was five times the national average - and those were the recorded deaths.

The Residential school system was first created in 1883. The schools became compulsory in 1920 for the children of Canada's three indigenous groups: First Nations, Métis and Inuit.

The system was phased out from the 1960s to 1996, however a parallel system took its place, referred to as the Sixties Scoop. This time children were removed from their families and placed with foster families.

In 2008, the Canadian government formally apologised for this policy but that hasn't erased the trauma felt by entire communities. Many older indigenous people today describe themselves as survivors of residential schools. Many others never returned to their communities and it is not known whether they ran away from the schools and made their lives elsewhere, or if they died.

When Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission reported on the residential schools in 2015, they said there were 6000 recorded deaths in the schools, but that many records were missing and there were no doubt more. Now First Nations communities have decided to search former schools for grave sites. They hope that no matter how traumatic the searches are, they will ultimately bring relief to families who will finally find out what happened to their children.

In May, the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announced the initial discovery of 215 unmarked graves near the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia, the largest former residential school. Since then, there have been several more discoveries at different sites across the country, with more ongoing.
"We acknowledge that the work done to date represents but a fraction of the Kamloops Indian Residential School grounds and oral telling indicates that more investigation in other areas is required. This is a long process that will take significant time and resources. They were children, robbed of their families and their childhood. We need to now give them the dignity they never had."
Statement from Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Chief and Council, 15 July 2021

30 September is marked as Orange Shirt Day in Canada in memory of the children sent to Residential Schools. Download our A2+ resource about the day, and the film Indian Horse.

Downloadable resources ready to use in class
> Orange Shirt Day

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Terrible Legacy of Canadian Residential Schools

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The Residential School system which removed indigenous children from their families and forced them to assimilate, was described by a Canadian government as "cultural genocide". Indigenous groups searching for information have carried out searches of schools looking for the traces of children who died there.

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Send your video, or a link to teacher : duruyteachers@gmail.com - you will receive a confirmation as soon as I have downloaded your work. Keep a copy of it !!!

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Send your video, or a link to teacher : duruyteachers@gmail.com - you will receive a confirmation as soon as I have downloaded your work. Keep a copy of it !!!

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The shameful history of Residential Schools   - The Guardian - Interactive Article Sept. 2021

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The shameful history of Residential Schools   - The Guardian - Interactive Article Sept. 2021

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In May, Canadians were shocked at the discovery of the remains of 215 children at the site of a former school in British Columbia. The bodies belonged to Indigenous children, some believed to be as young as three years old, who went through Canada's state-sponsored "residential school" system. The schools, scattered across the country, were aimed at eradicating the culture and languages of the country's Indigenous populations.

The findings have brought the world's renewed attention to this shameful chapter of Canadian history, left deep wounds in hundreds of communities and sparked fresh demands for justice aimed at the Canadian government and the churches that ran the schools for decades.

In 2015, the truth and reconciliation commission, which collected thousands of hours of testimony from survivors, determined that the residential school systems had amounted to a "cultural genocide" of Indigenous people. The federal government formally apologised for the schools in 2008, but the recent discoveries of graves have prompted calls for an independent investigation, including the possibility of criminal charges against the government and the Catholic church.

The prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has pledged to take "concrete action" to help Indigenous communities in their searches, but the costs are expected to far exceed money offered by the government. A previous request of $1.5m in funding to search for the graves was denied by the federal government in 2009. Meanwhile, as the searches continue, the number of unmarked graves - and those who died attending the schools - is only expected to rise.
Sources and methodology
Indian residential schools dataset: National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba
Native land claims dataset: native-land.ca
Historical Treaties dataset: canada.ca
St Eugene mission pictures: Indian Residential School History & Dialogue Centre
Journey animations are based on survivors' testimonies; the Guardian reconstructed the journeys using Google Maps. Distances provided are approximate
This article was amended on 8 September 2021. The earlier version erroneously included the Peace and Friendship Treaties and the Douglas Treaties among the Numbered Treaties.

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'Cultural genocide': the shameful history of Canada's residential schools - mapped

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Recent discoveries of unmarked graves have shed new light on the country's troubled colonial legacy

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video : Investigation underway after remains of 215 children found at BC residential school site - May 29, 2021

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video : Investigation underway after remains of 215 children found at BC residential school site - May 29, 2021

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Investigation underway after remains of 215 children found at BC residential school site

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Residential school survivor: 'I grew up hating the colour of my skin.'

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A residential school survivor shares his story of trauma and healing

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Residential school survivor separated from siblings

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Residential school survivor on waiting for reconciliation

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Cycle of trauma from residential schools lasts for generations