Residential Schools Essay

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Residential schools were a type of boarding school for the First Nations, Metis and Inuit children. Their purpose was to assimilate these people and erase their traditional langue, culture and way of life. Thousands of people were affected by the creation and presence of these schools. Primarily active from the1830’s to 1950’s it was a Canadian wide occurrence that shook the foundations of the original peoples of our country and have left a tarnished mark in Canada’s history and is still today effecting citizens lives. Residential schools or previously called Government Funded Industrial Schools were a type of boarding school for First Nation, Metis and Inuit children. These institutions included classrooms, school grounds and student residences. The original infrastructure of the residential school was enforced with the belief that it was the government’s duty to teach the Indian population and help them adapt to be more functional members of the quickly approaching modern mainstream society. The government, partnered with the Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, United and Presbyterian Churches, took children from their family and educated them in the appropriate mannerisms and culture of the Europeans and the holy religion. Residential schools became federally active including involvement from the government in 1883, beginning with three schools on the prairies and spread through Canada. Previous to this the residential schools started in Canada in the 1840’s, but these schools were run strictly by the Church. In 1884 the Indian Act was amended to make residential schools no longer optional, but mandatory for all First Nations aged 16 and younger. Agents were employed under the government to ensure all children attended. By the end of the residential schools, the system was focused on complete cultural assimilation and “cultural genocide” and, “killing the Indian
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