Failures of residential schools and how it is connected with the process and practices of colonization
Residential schools were run by the Catholic and the United churches. Nee, Victor & Richard (66) shows that residential schools were termed as one of the critical attempts at the genocide of the Aboriginal people .The initial objective of this education system in the area was to grab what was owned by the people. This included the land, the water available their lives too and all that these encompassed in Canada. Most of these schools were religious and also they were transforming native people to the Euro Canadian culture. This has been well articulated in the article of Indian Princes; Cultural Assimilation at St. Josephs Mission”, by Jenifer Mitchell. The author indicates that a lot of people had transformed through the residential education system which was funded by the government (Feir 10).The proposal discusses some of the practices which were highly practiced in the education system. Also, there is a description of how colonization impacted the mode of learning. In addition, have discussed some points which were omitted followed by conclusion on the suggestion of the residential system to the aboriginal people.
Failures of residential schools and how it is connected with the process and practices of colonization.
Some of the failures of the residential schools were;
Milloy shows that the main agenda of the residential schools in the nation was institutionalized assimilation which was to strip off aboriginal people’s language, culture and their total connection with the family (12). Different authors have indicated how aboriginal children were removed from their respective homes and they went to live in the residential schools. In most of these schools, aboriginal children were highly abused both spiritually, mentally and emotionally. Most of the schools forced them to pray even to those entities which were not even connected to (Morawska 300).This led to severe punishment to those individuals who tried to practice traditional spiritual beliefs in these schools.
The other failure was life in residential schools was described to be harsh and full of strict rules. This was illustrated through spending a lot of time in practicing Christian religious instruction, learning both English and French and doing other chores which were tough (MacDonald ,David & Graham 89).Most of the chaos done in these were out of the academic sphere. Girls spend most of their times in handling kitchen work, learning practical work such as cooking and sewing. These chores were strict and full of rules. This means that only an hour was spent on learning academic services in this schools. On the other hand, boys were taught in handling farm activities, cutting locks of trees and looking for trading strategies which were tiresome indeed. Xie, Yu & Emily indicated that when students were leaving these schools ill-prepared for the outside life that is life outside of class (81).
Also, the residential schools taught only English or French as the only language subject. This meant that aboriginal students were to learn only these two languages. Failure to forbid with the rule of learning English and French resulted in corporal punishment. Woolford (189) argues that students were not allowed to speak their aboriginal languages in school .In the end, large number of students had forgotten their original language thus adopting the languages of dominant society which was French or English. This resulted in the communication barrier especially when students were communicating with their parents, family members, and elders back at home. In addition, there was the issue of “staying by the bell.” This shows that residential schools were highly regimented and strict at all the times. It was revealed that residential schools were rudely awakened by the bell rang, went for lunch by use of bell, turning off light after rigging bell and changing class after the bell. In general, everything was done by use of the bell. This strict schedule reduced the self-esteem of the students in these schools (Woolford 199).Children stayed in these schools for a number of years. This facilitated loss of the traditional ways whereby they were taught that their traditional were wasteful and fake. This facilitated loss of original culture in the country thus subjecting people to cope with the new culture.
Aspect of colonization
In addition, there was increased torture in the country. For example, in the aspect of Christianity, there was much human torture (Taylor 11).This was evident when aboriginal children had to kneel on the cold floor when praying, kneeling on the hard floor and maintain their hand clasped while closing their eyes in the chapels. This was ironical since it was not religious rather it was a human torture to the aboriginal people in Canada. The children had no alternative and therefore they were to obey to terms and conditions. Also, there was the issue of cultural loss in the country. Most of the residential schools taught aboriginal students that storytelling by their parents was not true. Their coming of age ceremonies and seasonal ceremonies were regarded as the devil .According to Taylor (119) this led to the abandonment of traditions by the aboriginal and most of the students after school had no interest with the tradition more.
Colonialism is always described as parasitic and predatory in nature. It focuses on draining of material and wealth within the society. Sometimes it leads to brutal treatment which tends to affect society negatively (Feir 100).The issue of residential education was catalyzed by the colonial influence. The failures were due to the approach of colonialism. Aboriginals were highly interlinked by their traditional but the arrival of colonies in the country reduced their participation to their culture.
Some of the results which were not articulated in the discussion were;
Increased loss of meaning by the aboriginal people. The total trauma suffered by the aboriginal students according to Feir resulted in not knowing that they were highly disconnected from the terror and the entire horrific experiences (140).Most of the students developed a negative attitude on the treatments received in residential education. Some could not even forget treatment for the past thirty years.
Loss of families in the country. The strict schedule in the schools deterred students from meeting their family members and not going home during summer time. This kind of life aided in transforming the culture of aboriginal people in Canada. The culture had no value to aboriginal at all. Children were not able to understand their mother languages more.
There was an increased loss of childhood. Aboriginal students lost their childhood life. They were introduced to the early life that was beyond their status (Green 61).They were introduced in carrying out tough tasks at their childhood. Working for the farm activities at early ages is beyond their level.
There was the loss of feeling for the aboriginal people. This shows that there was no one who could comfort the children. There were no available parents to tell them that they were highly loved. No parental love was available for the children.
Conclusion
All the above mental, emotional and physical torture affected the well-being of Aboriginal people in Canada. Residential schools separated parental love and resulted in a lot of negative results to the aboriginal students in Canada (Green 261).In general, the residential schools highly changed the culture of people. From the concept of assimilation of English and French language, it has been found that students were no longer able to talk in their mother tongue languages anymore. Also, the increased loss of parental love for the children affected the social cohesion. Children stayed for a number of years without meeting their parents. Park, Julie & John summarized entire objective of the residential schools which was to drain all social activities practiced by the aboriginal in Canada (71).Therefore it’s our great expectations that the next generation will try to reorganize in realizing the cultural practices which disappeared through the residential schools. Therefore it’s the mandate of the society to ensure that culture, traditions, ceremonies, language, value, and beliefs are retrieved and available at any time to help people when the society and also for future benefits.
References
Feir, Donna L. “The long?term effects of forcible assimilation policy: The case of Indian boarding schools.” Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d’économique 49.2 (2016): 433-480.
Green, Robyn. “Unsettling cures: Exploring the limits of the Indian residential school settlement agreement.” Canadian Journal of Law & Society/La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société 27.1 (2012): 129-148.
MacDonald, David B., and Graham Hudson. “The genocide question and Indian residential schools in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique 45.2 (2012): 427-449.
Milloy, John S. A national crime: The Canadian government and the residential school system. Vol. 11. Univ. of Manitoba Press, 2017.
Morawska, Ewa. “Immigrant transnationalism and assimilation: a variety of combinations and the analytic strategy it suggests.” Toward assimilation and citizenship: Immigrants in liberal nation-states. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2014. 133-176.
Nee, Victor, and Richard Alba. “Rethinking assimilation theory for a new era of immigration.” The new immigration. Routledge, 2012. 49-80.
Park, Julie, and John Iceland. “Residential segregation in metropolitan established immigrant gateways and new destinations, 1990–2000.” Social Science Research 40.3 (2011): 811-821.
Taylor, Donald M. “The social psychology of racial and cultural diversity: Issues of assimilation and multiculturalism.” Bilingualism, multiculturalism, and second language learning. Psychology Press, 2014. 21-40.
Woolford, Andrew. “Nodal repair and networks of destruction: residential schools, colonial genocide, and redress in Canada.” Settler colonial studies 3.1 (2013): 65-81.
Xie, Yu, and Emily Greenman. “The social context of assimilation: Testing implications of segmented assimilation theory.” Social science research 40.3 (2011): 965-984.
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