Residential Schools In Canada
Who
Indigenous peoples including First Nation, Inuit, and Métis children attended residential schools.
What
Residential schools systematically undermined Aboriginal culture across Canada and disrupted families for generations, severing the ties through which Aboriginal culture is taught and sustained, and contributing to a general loss of language and culture as well as self and worth.
Where
There was an estimated 139 residential school located in all provinces and territories of Canada. The majority of the schools were located in the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario.
When
The residential school system operated from the 1880s into the closing decades of the 20th century.
Why
Residential schools were government-sponsored
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Residential schools have left an unintended catastrophic imprint on the mental health of students and on later generations. This has manifested itself in self-abuse, resulting in high rates of alcoholism, substance abuse, and suicide. In result, the number one cause of death is suicide and self-inflicted injury.
Representation and symbolism of key historical issues or trends
Residential schools are largely symbolic today of Canadian racism and discrimination. With the effects massively widespread, Residential schools have become symbolic of the government's treatment of aboriginal people. With this, we’ve seen the Canadian government treat aboriginal people as less than them. Residential schools embody all of these traits, continuing to in its symbolic representation of pain, desperation, and racism among Canadian
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This event has impacted countless lives along with profoundly damaging Indigenous culture, heritage, and language. Residential schools have also contributed to the symbolization of Canada’s treatment of Aboriginal people representing how Canada will achieve greater equality of Indigenous peoples.
With the horrors and impacts of residential schools, it has become a major contribution to Canadian heritage and history, forever affecting Canada.
Significance at the time that it was happening
Residential schools were very significant at the time they occurred with widespread tragedies as a result of these still taking place today. Kids were stripped of their parents and parents their kids, they were given incredibly lackluster education, had Christianity forced upon them and weren’t allowed to speak their language. Kids who didn’t follow the rules were beaten, resulting in a death toll of over 4000. Although residential schools were not very notable in the eye of the public at the time they were open, they have become extremely damaging to the aboriginal
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