[MUSIC] The school curriculum was set up in a half-day system with half the children in the classroom learning how to read and write. The remaining half of the children performed labour activities. Daily activities included agricultural tasks. Girls were given domestic duties, to sew, knit, cook and clean. Boys would engage in sports, agricultural duties, and chores. Indigenous children were to dress in a European civilized fashion and have their hair cut short in order to eliminate any trace of their Indigenous identity. The number of residential schools in operation reached the high point of 80 in 1931. With the exception of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador, residential schools had expanded into every province and territory. Without a choice, parents had to let go of their children, not knowing when or if they would ever see them again. Not including the Indigenous population, very few spoke out questioning the morality of the school system. The rare few non-Indigenous people who did speak out, like Dr. Peter Bryce, were silenced or terminated from their positions. >> Respecting this history, I sometimes imagine how it would be if my children were taken away and made to endure even a fraction of these terrifying and horrific experiences. As a parent, you expect you can always protect and care for your children. What a feeling of helplessness and terror it would be for my children and I. Indigenous parents were threatened with prosecution or fines if they refused to sign over custody of their children and send them to school. Both my maternal grandparents went to residential school and I wonder, how did my great grandmothers and great grandfathers feel when they had to say goodbye to their children? Did they even get to say goodbye? That I will never know. Neither of my grandparents spoke to me about their residential school experience. >> Although the majority of survivors that attended residential schools were First Nations, Métis children did attend and survive residential schools as well. Often Métis survivor stories and experiences are not prominent in the body of residential school narratives. For Métis people, residential school attendance resulted from their complicated relationship with the Canadian government. Understand, after the 1900s, the Canadian government did not acknowledge Métis as being within the jurisdiction of Indian Affairs. Nor did the government accept any responsibility, legal or otherwise, for the Métis, and this included their education. However, Métis children were sent to residential schools as much as they were excluded from it. Métis children were often used as a filler to fulfill the residential school's pupil quota in order to receive funds from Indian Affairs. As well, Métis children attended schools because they were seen as poor or living the Indian way of life. A considerable number of Métis children attended residential schools. And these survivors' experiences revealed cultural abuses different from Indian survivors. As Métis, you were not white enough to fit into the dominant society. And you were not Indian enough to be eligible for any Aboriginal rights. The last residential school in Canada closed its doors as recently as 1996. As residential schools closed or survivors reached 17 of years age, they were sent back home. Deprived of a childhood to bond with their families, stripped of the culture, and robbed of their native tongue, many Indigenous children faced isolation and detachment from their communities. The residential schools had raised children in fear and shame. And as survivors became parents themselves, they passed on a legacy of torment and hurt. Survivors were unable to parent their children as past generations had prior to residential schools. Survivors' inexperience in their ancestral cultural ideology of "all my relations" developed parenting methods based on their experiences in residential schools. The legacy of Indian residential schools impacted generations of family relationships and is known today as intergenerational trauma. Remember what was said at the beginning of the lesson? Children are seen as gifts from the Creator. Indigenous peoples' traditional ways of raising children are strongly interconnected and embedded in extended kinship systems. Now, imagine a community without children. Mandatory attendance in residential schools and the Indian Education Policy targeted the most vital part of Indigenous peoples' lives and the heart of the communities: the children. Residential schools replaced traditional ways of teaching and learning and were centred on authority, control, and force. Indigenous children were torn away from their homes and were defenceless. Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, Duncan Campbell Scott, described this education system as one that worked toward the full assimilation of Indians until there was no Indian question. By the 1950s, it was clear that the assimilationist practices through residential schools were not working. Indigenous cultures were still surviving, and in some areas, thriving. Indian Affairs started to question the efficiency of their residential school system. As a result, in 1951, the federal government revised the Indian Act. And although many residential schools still remained open, they began to integrate Indigenous children into public schools. The public school system was not welcoming, and many Indigenous students faced discrimination in this Eurocentric system. Together, parents in Indigenous communities started to resist and raise concerns over sending their children to residential schools. In the 1970s, the National Indian Brotherhood led the call to put an end to all residential schools. >> Because Indigenous children were forbidden to speak their native languages and forced to speak English, the cultural and language loss eroded the ability for parents to communicate with their children. Residential schools indoctrinated Indigenous children to believe that their traditional ways of life and world views were primitive and meaningless. Instead of building up children's self esteem, residential schools left a legacy of shame, humiliation, and pain. The lack of exposure to a loving family life and nurturing community would disrupt the way residential school survivors would raise their children. In isolation from every influence of their families and communities, residential schools had produced the dislocation of culture. Residential schools introduced dysfunctional family settings and destructive behaviours. Indian residential school survivors only knew how to raise children based on how they were raised. Previously, the relationship between the parents and the child was embedded in love and nurturing. Some survivor accounts talk about their inability to show affection for their children, even though they still love them. Owing to their experience in residential schools, many survivors were unable to create intimate bonds with their children. Raised in fear and shame, they simply did not know how. Survivors only knew the strict and cold environment of residential schools, not love and affection. Oftentimes, the harmful actions that took place in residential schools were repeated. It has created this ripple effect that has continued to impact survivors, their children, and grandchildren. This is what you call intergenerational trauma. The effect of residential schools gets passed on through the generations. Over the years, issues of abuse, alcohol and drug addiction, unemployment, and domestic violence stem back to colonialism. Indian residential schools were one of the main tools of colonization. >> Former Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, was one of the first to speak out about his experience in residential school. He talked about experiencing sexual and physical abuse, and described how the abuse caused insecurity and a loss of identity. Survivors dealt with their emotional pain in different ways. Many resorted to unhealthy ways of coping with the emotional traumatic stress. Like many who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, some survivors turned to drugs and alcohol to ease their pain. Harmful actions that took place in residential schools were repeated and created a ripple effect that continues to impact survivors, their children and grandchildren. The full intergenerational effect of residential schools can never be known. We do know there is an overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in prisons, and of Indigenous children in the child welfare system. Indigenous people have lower educational levels and higher unemployment. They suffer more from physical and sexual abuse, alcohol and drug addiction, and domestic violence. Research has connected the intergenerational trauma of residential schools to the dysfunction and trauma that occurs in many Indigenous communities. But, while government policies did their best to kill the Indian in the child, they did not succeed. Indigenous cultures continue to survive and thrive, revealing the resiliency and strength of Indigenous peoples. Further, the children who were sent to residential schools have shown great courage, carrying out acts of resistance and demonstrating remarkable survival skills. Despite the scars and battle wounds, Indigenous people continue to fight for their self determination. Indigenous peoples continue to remember, share, revitalize, and reclaim their culture and identity. [MUSIC]
