3.8 Flashcards
(30 cards)
Who were the residential schools built and run by?
The government and the catholic, anglican, methodist, united and presbyterian churches.
Around how many FN children attended residential schools?
150 000
When did the majority of residential schools operate?
1857-1996
Why did churches run residential schools?
Because the government didn’t want to fund them. Bible and plow.
What was the goal of residential schools?
To make Aboriginal children talk, dress, think and act like non-Aboriginal Canadians.
When did the Prime Minister of Canada apologize?
June 11, 2008
What were some long term issues of residential schools (List 6).
- FN students received a poor education and many did not have the literation or leadership skills needed to succeed in after schooling was complete.
- Over 40% of the teaching staffs had no professional training
- Many children died from diseases
- Schools were designed to break the children from their parents and their cultural way of life.
- Others suffered from psychological, sexual, and physical abuse.
- The continuation of ethnocentrism devalued the perception of themselves and their culture.
What is the Aboriginal Healing Fun?
a $350 million dollar government plan to aid communities affected by the residential schools.
Why did some FN feel as if the government’s apology did not go far enough?
It addressed only the effects of physical and sexula abuse and not other damages caused by the residential school system.
When was the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement reached and what is it?
2006 It is the largest class action settlement in Canadian history
What did the gederal government and churches agree to do in September of 2007?
agreed to pay individual and collective compensation to residentials school survivors and the government pledged to create measures and support for healing and the establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
When did the government ban potlatches?
1884 under the Indian Act with other ceremonies as the sun dance to follow in the coming years.
What was the potlatch?
It was one of the most important ceremonies for coastal FN in the west, and marked important occasions as well as served a crucial role in distribution of wealth.
How did non-natives and missionaries view the sharing of wealth and food at potlatches? How did Indian Agents and missionaries feel about it?
excessive and wasteful. but untimately they knew how integral it was to sustaining FN cultures.
They felt it interrupted assimilation tactics.
What was impossible as long as the potlatch existed?
Aboriginal people shifting from an economic system of redistribution to one of private property ownership–which is what the government wanted.
When did the government add Section 141 to the Indian Act?
the 1920s
What is Section 141?
It outlawed the hiring of lawyers and legal counsel by Indians, effectively barring Aboriginal peoples from fighting for their rights through the legal system.
When did Enfranchisement become legally compulsorary?
The Indian Act of 1876
What were some of the things that FN would be enfranchised for getting/joining?
- the army
- university education
- leaving reserves for long periods of time (getting a job)
- marrying non-indian men (Aboriginal women)
What was the aim of residential schools?
The aim of residential schools was to separate FN youth from their families and encourage them to adopt a more European lifestyle.
What was the role of the church?
The churches were involved because they believed that they needed to play an important part in educating FN people. The churches believed they were acting in the best interests of the FN people. Residential schools were operated by churches and many teachers were priests, nuns, and ministers. They taught Christian faith in schools.
Did Inuit and Metis people go to residential schools?
Inuit children went to residential schools but they were far away from their homes. The government initiatives for educating Inuit came late. The government ignored the educational needs of Metis people. Those who lived like Euro-Canadians ere not seen as needing the schools. They were not forced ot attend, but many did as it was their only option for a formal education.
Make a list of the intended and unintended consequences of residential schools? Were they caused by Eurocentric ideas?I
Intended: assimilation, loss of traditions, loss of culture, loss of heritage, loss of language, loss of traditional practices, the belief that their culture was inferior received an inferior education.
Unintended: emotional, sexual, physical abuse, and the effects that it would have on FN people and their families for year to some.
What was the potlatch and how was it suppressed?
The potlatch was a gift giving ceremony. It enforced traditional spiritual beliefs as Elders used it to teach younger generations about their culture. It was supporessed by a ban in the Indian Act that inhibited it. In the 1920s, the government of Canada and the Government of BC increased the enforcement and began arresting people and sending them to jail for participating in the ceremony. To avoid jail, FN could hand over their ceremonial masks and gifts to authorities.