Residential Schools Essay
26 May 2013
Inside of the Residential School System
Every person has a different way of living his or her life. Just because it may be different than another, it does not mean that it is wrong. For whatever reason, some people are under the impression that others who do not share the same religious or cultural views as themselves are mistaken and need help to figure out the right way to live. This is what happened to the Aboriginal People of North America; the European settlers thought the Natives to be savage and in dire need of guidance to become ‘civilized’ as they were. They believed that if they were to demolish the Native way of life, the best way to do so was to take an Aboriginal child away from their homes, teach them to forget their Native heritage and to learn how to live life as a Euro-Canadian child, this is where the idea of Residential Schools came into play. The imposition of residential schools for Native children was a form of cultural genocide.
First, the main purpose for the creation of the residential school system was to assimilate Native Peoples into mainstream society. This objective was based on the assumption that Aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal to the beliefs of the European settlers. The first residential school in Canada, called the Presbyterian Coqualeetza Indian Residential School was built in 1861 in Chilliwack, British Columbia. There were numerous religious groups who ran the schools including
Cross-Kihs 2 the Anglican Church, Methodist, The Presbyterian Church, The Roman Catholic Church and The United Church of Canada. Although the different churches may have different names and slight differences in tradition and beliefs, the objective of the schools was all the same, to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures in hopes that they would lose all aspects of their Native heritage. The newcomers to North America took the differences
Inside of the Residential School System
Every person has a different way of living his or her life. Just because it may be different than another, it does not mean that it is wrong. For whatever reason, some people are under the impression that others who do not share the same religious or cultural views as themselves are mistaken and need help to figure out the right way to live. This is what happened to the Aboriginal People of North America; the European settlers thought the Natives to be savage and in dire need of guidance to become ‘civilized’ as they were. They believed that if they were to demolish the Native way of life, the best way to do so was to take an Aboriginal child away from their homes, teach them to forget their Native heritage and to learn how to live life as a Euro-Canadian child, this is where the idea of Residential Schools came into play. The imposition of residential schools for Native children was a form of cultural genocide.
First, the main purpose for the creation of the residential school system was to assimilate Native Peoples into mainstream society. This objective was based on the assumption that Aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal to the beliefs of the European settlers. The first residential school in Canada, called the Presbyterian Coqualeetza Indian Residential School was built in 1861 in Chilliwack, British Columbia. There were numerous religious groups who ran the schools including
Cross-Kihs 2 the Anglican Church, Methodist, The Presbyterian Church, The Roman Catholic Church and The United Church of Canada. Although the different churches may have different names and slight differences in tradition and beliefs, the objective of the schools was all the same, to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures in hopes that they would lose all aspects of their Native heritage. The newcomers to North America took the differences