chapter 9 Flashcards
Where do people learn about culture?
Family, schools.
What 2 changes did the Indian Act of 1884 make?
Make it mandatory for status Indians under the age of 16 until they reached 18 years old.
What are residential schools?
The schools created under the Indian Act that were government funded and church run.
Only Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island did not have residential schools.
How many residential schools were there from 1884 to 1996?
130
What happened to parents that did not send their children to school?
They were fined or jailed.
Could students leave the school grounds?
Students were forced to stay in residences on school grounds. Often they were physically removed from their homes. Depending on how far away they lived from the school, many did not see their parents for 10 months in a year.
How were students treated?
Siblings were usually separated and placed on different floors of the schoo.
-they weren’t allow to speak their language
-they couldn’t play games with each other that they had learnt at home
-they were punished harshly if they did any of these things
What did Matthew Coon think was the purpose of residential schools?
To take the Indian out of the Indian.
Who was Duncan Campbell Scott. What did he see as the reason for education?
He was the Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs from 1913 to 1932. He used education to ‘assimilate’ first nations people.
He was quoted saying “I want to get rid of the Indian problem. Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed in the body politic and there is no Indian question. Education is in the forefront of their requirements now”
What was the treatment in residential schools?
-separation from community and family
- kept from speaking their language
- told negative things about their cultures
- poor living conditions
-physical and sexual abuse
How did the treatment in residential schools affect the students and their communities?
-low self esteem
- lack of positive role models
-loss of parenting skills
-loss of language, culture and identity
-separation from family and community
-feeling unloved and uncared for
-higher suicide rates among First Nations peoples compared to other Canadians
Who was Jane Stewart and what did she do in 1998?
She was the Minister of Indian Affairs and apologized on behalf of the Canadian government to students of residential schools. After the apology it was announce that the Aboriginal Healing Foundation would be set up to manage 245 million dollars to proved counselling and programs for former students.
Why did the need to speed up the compensation process for residential school students.
Many of them were elderly and ill. The government also set up a new department to deal with this in June 2001.
In November 2005 and agreement in principle was reached by the Assembly of First Nations and the federal government. What did it include?
Improved compensation process for victims of physical and sexual abuse
-$10,000 to each student for the loss of language, culture and family life
-60 million was provided to create a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to allow students to tell their stories
-5 years additional funding for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation
What is disaggregated mean?
divided into parts - removal of traditional territory, relocation of Aboriginal people and separation of child from parent and community