GRSJ224/Abuse In The Residential School System

The Residential School System

The Residential School system was put in place in an attempt to isolate aboriginal children from their families and culture so they could be assimilated into Canadian culture and fit in with the dominant culture. At the time there was a belief that the Aboriginal culture and way of life was inferior to that of the rest of Canadian culture. The Residential School System would take First Nations kids and place them into schools hundreds of kilometers away from their homes, in an attempt to make visitations from family near impossible, and reinforce the ideals of isolation from Aboriginal culture. First Nations children ages 6- 15 years old were required by the 1894 revised Indian Act (originally developed in 1876) to attend these schools; with additional pressure being added from Priests forced them to be taken away from their families. The Residential Schools were federally funded, but they were established in partnership with both Catholic and Protestant churches. Residential schools remained in use until the last one closed in 1996. Residential Schools would operate under a system where half of the day was spent in the classroom, and the other half of the day would be spent working. The idea was to be able to provide the Aboriginal students with skills they could use later on in their lives, however the reality was that the schools needed the child labour in order to help fund the operation cost of the school. (Residential Schools, 2012)

Abuse within the system

While in attendance of the schools, students faced numerous forms of abuse, including mental, physical, and sexual abuse. The entire process of being at the school was traumatic for most of the children, leaving them with mental struggles upon their release. To be taken from their families and home, then to have their entire culture, language and history denounced left these children without a sense of belonging. Upon release they could not return home due to having just been forced to abandon the culture and beliefs, but they were also unable to truly fit in with the rest of Canada. This left many First Nations people who had attended the Residential Schools to feel a lack of sense of belonging leading to various forms of mental illness and addictions to drugs and alcohol. In addition to mental abuse the children faced many forms of physical abuse that were justified disciplinary actions for even the smallest of infractions while attending the school.

2006 Study of 127 Residential School Students

It is difficult to find proper records of the amount of abuse that went on at the schools, however “in a sample of 127 British Columbia litigants. All of the litigants had suffered sexual abuse and 90 percent experienced physical abuse while at residential school. Seventy percent were male. More than three-quarters of the respondents reported that they had abused alcohol after residential school. Half of the subjects reported that they had a criminal record, the majority for assault and sexual assault. Thirty-one percent reported that they had assaulted police officers. All but two had been diagnosed with at least one mental disorder. The diagnoses included: PTSD (64.2 percent), substance abuse disorder (26.3 percent), major depression (21.1 percent), dysthymic disorder (20 percent), anxiety disorder (7.4 percent), borderline personality disorder (7.4 percent), and RSS (6.3 percent). The researchers concluded that “Residential School Syndrome is a subtype of PTSD which focuses on intense feelings of fear and anger and the tendency to abuse alcohol and drugs””(Robertson, 2006). This study concludes that abuse in the Residential School system was far more common than what was suspected in the past. It also shows that the effects of abuse on the students was quite sever, leading to a variety of forms of mental disorders, along with drug and alcohol addiction and increasing the chance of committing abuse on others. It can be determined that the Canadian Government to this point has not done an appropriate job of providing therapy or rehabilitation for those involved in the Residential School System.

Death at Residential Schools

In addition to the various forms of abuse and mental illnesses that followed, there were also many cases of disease and malnutrition within the schools that even lead to the deaths of numerous children, while they were still in attendance of the schools. There were also numerous deaths from fires that burned down a number of the schools. In total it is estimated that there were as many as 6,000 children who died while still in attendance of the Residential Schools. “Those 6,000 deaths put the odds of dying in Canadian residential schools over the years they operated at about the same as for those serving in Canada's armed forces during the Second World War.” (Truth and Reconciliation Commission: By the Numbers, 2015)

Reconciliation for abuse in Residential Schools

In an effort to make some sort of reconciliation the Canadian Federal Government reached a settlement with about 86,000 Aboriginal people who attended Residential Schools in Canada many of whom sited abuse in their personal statements. The agreement was called the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and the total compensation package for all parties involved is up to as high as $2 billion. (Indian Residential Schools Class Action Settlement-Official Court Website, 2006) The money being given to Aboriginal peoples in this settlement can obviously provide some help in allowing them to attain financial stability in their lives, however there is still a lack of resources available to the people affected by the abuse in the Residential School System. More than just money is required to aid these people in living healthy lives after suffering through the trauma that they experiences whilst at the schools. Therapy and rehabilitation programs should be something that the Aboriginal people have free and easy access to as an attempt to truly help them deal with the horrors they experienced.

Resources

--BruceYari (talk) 11:17, 10 November 2017 (PST)--BruceYari (talk) 11:17, 10 November 2017 (PST)

Robertson, L. H. (2006). The Residential School Experience: Syndrome or Historic Trauma. 1-28.

Indian Residential Schools Class Action Settlement-Official Court Website. (2006). Retrieved November 08, 2017, from http://www.residentialschoolsettlement.ca/

Schwartz, D. (2015, June 03). Truth and Reconciliation Commission: By the Numbers. Retrieved November 08, 2017, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/truth-and-reconciliation-commission-by-the-numbers-1.3096185

Miller, J. (2012, October 10). Residential Schools. Retrieved November 10, 2017, from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools/