What happened at Indian boarding schools?
These boarding schools were first established by Christian missionaries of various denominations. The schools were usually harsh and sometimes deadly, especially for younger children who had been forcibly separated from their families and forced to abandon their Native American identities and cultures.
What was life like in Native American boarding schools?
At boarding schools, Indian children were separated from their families and cultural ways for long periods, sometimes four or more years. The children were forced to cut their hair and give up their traditional clothing. They had to give up their meaningful Native names and take English ones.
What was the purpose of the Native American boarding schools?
The boarding schools hoped to produce students that were economically self-sufficient by teaching work skills and instilling values and beliefs of possessive individualism, meaning you care about yourself and what you as a person own.
What impact did the Indian boarding schools have on Native American culture?
Under the pretense of helping devastated Indian Nations, boarding schools created places of assimilation, forcing children to attend and sometimes resorting to what would now be called kidnapping. Many of these children died from homesickness, working accidents, uncontrolled diseases and ill-planned escape attempts.
How many natives died in residential schools?
To date, the centre has documented 4,118 children who died at residential schools, as part of its work to implement the TRC’s Call to Action 72 to create a national death register and public-facing memorial register. Not all the deaths listed on the registry include burial records.
What kind of abuse happened in residential schools?
Physical abuse did flourish. Records show that everything from speaking an Aboriginal language, to bedwetting, running away, smiling at children of the opposite sex or at one’s siblings, provoked whippings, strappings, beatings, and other forms of abuse and humiliation.
How many children died in residential schools?
What was the purpose of residential schools?
Two primary objectives of the residential schools system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their home, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate into the dominant culture.
How did the trail of Tears affect Native American education?
Many Native Americans also died as a result of the harsh conditions experienced on the Trail of Tears. Beginning in the 19th century, there were a number of misguided attempts to educate Native American children. Residential schools, run by religious organizations, were set up, and Native American children were forced to attend.
What happened to the bodies of children who died in Indian homes?
Bodies of children were not returned to families, and parents rarely learned the circumstances of a child’s death. Often, the only death notification would be to send the child’s name to the Indian Agent at his or her home community. Residential school students at a cemetery in Northern Quebec in November 3, 1946. Photo by Archives Deschâtelets
What was the main killer of the Indian residential schools?
The main killer was disease, particularly tuberculosis. Given their cramped conditions and negligent health practices, residential schools were hotbeds for the spread of TB. The deadliest years for Indian Residential Schools were from the 1870s to the 1920s.
What was the death rate at Canadian Indian residential schools?
Sacred Heart Residential School in Southern Alberta had an annual student death rate of one in 20. Graphic showing the death rate at Canadian Indian Residential Schools. Right up until the 1950s, the schools were seeing a rate of fatalities well beyond anything seen among the non-Indigenous community.