Canadian Indian Residential School System
The Indian residential schools of Canada were a network of "residential" (boarding) schools for Aboriginal peoples of Canada (First Nations, Metis, and Inuit ) funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs, and adminstered by Christian churches, most notably the Catholic Church in Canada and the Anglican Church of Canada. The system had origins in pre-Confederation times, but was primarily active following the passage of the Indian Act in 1876, until the mid-twentieth century. The last residential school was not closed until 1996.
There has long been signifigant historigraphical and popular controversy about the conditions experienced by students in the residential schools. However, a new consensus emerged in the early twentieth-first century that the schools did signifigant harm to Aboriginal children by removing them from their families, depriving them of their ancestral languages, and exposing many of them to physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their teachers and other students. This consensus was symbolized by the June 11, 2008 public apology offered, not only by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on behalf of the Government of Canada, but also by the leaders of all the other parties in the Canadian House of Commons As well, just nine days previous, the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established to uncover the truth about the schools. The Comission's hearings were still ongoing in October of 2012.
Read more about Canadian Indian Residential School System: History, Mortality Rates, Reconciliation Attempts, Federal Government Apology, Other Apologies, Vatican Expression of Sorrow, Portrayals in Film, Portrayals in Novels, Portrayals On Stage, Lasting Effects of Residential Schools, Discovery of Human Remains At Mohawk Institute in Brantford, Ontario
Famous quotes containing the words canadian, indian, residential, school and/or system:
“We’re definite in Nova Scotia—’bout things like ships ... and fish, the best in the world.”
—John Rhodes Sturdy, Canadian screenwriter. Richard Rossen. Joyce Cartwright (Ella Raines)
“I think that the farmer displaces the Indian even because he redeems the meadow, and so makes himself stronger and in some respects more natural.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“[The Republicans] offer ... a detailed agenda for national renewal.... [On] reducing illegitimacy ... the state will use ... funds for programs to reduce out-of-wedlock pregnancies, to promote adoption, to establish and operate children’s group homes, to establish and operate residential group homes for unwed mothers, or for any purpose the state deems appropriate. None of the taxpayer funds may be used for abortion services or abortion counseling.”
—Newt Gingrich (b. 1943)
“Children in home-school conflict situations often receive a double message from their parents: “The school is the hope for your future, listen, be good and learn” and “the school is your enemy. . . .” Children who receive the “school is the enemy” message often go after the enemy—act up, undermine the teacher, undermine the school program, or otherwise exercise their veto power.”
—James P. Comer (20th century)
“As long as learning is connected with earning, as long as certain jobs can only be reached through exams, so long must we take this examination system seriously. If another ladder to employment was contrived, much so-called education would disappear, and no one would be a penny the stupider.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)