Residential Schools and the Process of Assimilation in Canada

This article discusses the failures of residential schools in Canada and how it is connected with the process and practices of colonization. It also explores the impact of residential schools on the Aboriginal people and their culture. The article highlights the trauma suffered by the students and the loss of traditional ways of life. The conclusion emphasizes the need to retrieve and preserve cultural practices, traditions, ceremonies, language, value, and beliefs for future generations.

Surname1
Name
Professor
Course
Date
The residential schools; Process of assimilation.
Introduction.
Residential schools were run by the Catholic and the United churches. Nee, Victor &
Richard (66) shows that residential schools were termed as one of the critical attempts at the
genocide of the Aboriginal people .The initial objective of this education system in the area was
to grab what was owned by the people. This included the land, the water available their lives too
and all that these encompassed in Canada. Most of these schools were religious and also they
were transforming native people to the Euro Canadian culture. This has been well articulated in
the article of Indian Princes; Cultural Assimilation at St. Josephs Mission", by Jenifer Mitchell.
The author indicates that a lot of people had transformed through the residential education
system which was funded by the government (Feir 10).The proposal discusses some of the
practices which were highly practiced in the education system. Also, there is a description of
how colonization impacted the mode of learning. In addition, have discussed some points which
were omitted followed by conclusion on the suggestion of the residential system to the aboriginal
people.
Failures of residential schools and how it is connected with the process and practices of
colonization.

Surname2
Some of the failures of the residential schools were;
Milloy shows that the main agenda of the residential schools in the nation was institutionalized
assimilation which was to strip off aboriginal people's language, culture and their total
connection with the family (12). Different authors have indicated how aboriginal children were
removed from their respective homes and they went to live in the residential schools. In most of
these schools, aboriginal children were highly abused both spiritually, mentally and emotionally.
Most of the schools forced them to pray even to those entities which were not even connected to
(Morawska 300).This led to severe punishment to those individuals who tried to practice
traditional spiritual beliefs in these schools.
The other failure was life in residential schools was described to be harsh and full of strict rules.
This was illustrated through spending a lot of time in practicing Christian religious instruction,
learning both English and French and doing other chores which were tough (MacDonald ,David
& Graham 89).Most of the chaos done in these were out of the academic sphere. Girls spend
most of their times in handling kitchen work, learning practical work such as cooking and
sewing. These chores were strict and full of rules. This means that only an hour was spent on
learning academic services in this schools. On the other hand, boys were taught in handling farm
activities, cutting locks of trees and looking for trading strategies which were tiresome indeed.
Xie, Yu & Emily indicated that when students were leaving these schools ill-prepared for the
outside life that is life outside of class (81).
Also, the residential schools taught only English or French as the only language subject. This
meant that aboriginal students were to learn only these two languages. Failure to forbid with the
rule of learning English and French resulted in corporal punishment. Woolford (189) argues that
students were not allowed to speak their aboriginal languages in school .In the end, large number

Surname3
of students had forgotten their original language thus adopting the languages of dominant society
which was French or English. This resulted in the communication barrier especially when
students were communicating with their parents, family members, and elders back at home. In
addition, there was the issue of "staying by the bell." This shows that residential schools were
highly regimented and strict at all the times. It was revealed that residential schools were rudely
awakened by the bell rang, went for lunch by use of bell, turning off light after rigging bell and
changing class after the bell. In general, everything was done by use of the bell. This strict
schedule reduced the self-esteem of the students in these schools (Woolford 199).Children stayed
in these schools for a number of years. This facilitated loss of the traditional ways whereby they
were taught that their traditional were wasteful and fake. This facilitated loss of original culture
in the country thus subjecting people to cope with the new culture.
In addition, there was increased torture in the country. For example, in the aspect of Christianity,
there was much human torture (Taylor 11).This was evident when aboriginal children had to
kneel on the cold floor when praying, kneeling on the hard floor and maintain their hand clasped
while closing their eyes in the chapels. This was ironical since it was not religious rather it was a
human torture to the aboriginal people in Canada. The children had no alternative and therefore
they were to obey to terms and conditions. Also, there was the issue of cultural loss in the
country. Most of the residential schools taught aboriginal students that storytelling by their
parents was not true. Their coming of age ceremonies and seasonal ceremonies were regarded as
the devil .According to Taylor (119) this led to the abandonment of traditions by the aboriginal
and most of the students after school had no interest with the tradition more.
Aspect of colonization

Surname4
Colonialism is always described as parasitic and predatory in nature. It focuses on draining of
material and wealth within the society. Sometimes it leads to brutal treatment which tends to
affect society negatively (Feir 100).The issue of residential education was catalyzed by the
colonial influence. The failures were due to the approach of colonialism. Aboriginals were
highly interlinked by their traditional but the arrival of colonies in the country reduced their
participation to their culture.
Some of the results which were not articulated in the discussion were;
Increased loss of meaning by the aboriginal people. The total trauma suffered by the aboriginal
students according to Feir resulted in not knowing that they were highly disconnected from the
terror and the entire horrific experiences (140).Most of the students developed a negative attitude
on the treatments received in residential education. Some could not even forget treatment for the
past thirty years.
Loss of families in the country. The strict schedule in the schools deterred students from meeting
their family members and not going home during summer time. This kind of life aided in
transforming the culture of aboriginal people in Canada. The culture had no value to aboriginal at
all. Children were not able to understand their mother languages more.
There was an increased loss of childhood. Aboriginal students lost their childhood life. They
were introduced to the early life that was beyond their status (Green 61).They were introduced in
carrying out tough tasks at their childhood. Working for the farm activities at early ages is
beyond their level.

Surname5
There was the loss of feeling for the aboriginal people. This shows that there was no one who
could comfort the children. There were no available parents to tell them that they were highly
loved. No parental love was available for the children.
Conclusion
All the above mental, emotional and physical torture affected the well-being of
Aboriginal people in Canada. Residential schools separated parental love and resulted in a lot of
negative results to the aboriginal students in Canada (Green 261).In general, the residential
schools highly changed the culture of people. From the concept of assimilation of English and
French language, it has been found that students were no longer able to talk in their mother
tongue languages anymore. Also, the increased loss of parental love for the children affected the
social cohesion. Children stayed for a number of years without meeting their parents. Park, Julie
& John summarized entire objective of the residential schools which was to drain all social
activities practiced by the aboriginal in Canada (71).Therefore it's our great expectations that the
next generation will try to reorganize in realizing the cultural practices which disappeared
through the residential schools. Therefore it's the mandate of the society to ensure that culture,
traditions, ceremonies, language, value, and beliefs are retrieved and available at any time to help
people when the society and also for future benefits.

Surname6
Work cited
Feir, Donna L. "The long‐term effects of forcible assimilation policy: The case of Indian
boarding schools." Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique 49.2
(2016): 433-480.
Green, Robyn. "Unsettling cures: Exploring the limits of the Indian residential school settlement
agreement." Canadian Journal of Law & Society/La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société 27.1
(2012): 129-148.
MacDonald, David B., and Graham Hudson. "The genocide question and Indian residential
schools in Canada." Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science
politique 45.2 (2012): 427-449.
Milloy, John S. A national crime: The Canadian government and the residential school system.
Vol. 11. Univ. of Manitoba Press, 2017.
Morawska, Ewa. "Immigrant transnationalism and assimilation: a variety of combinations and
the analytic strategy it suggests." Toward assimilation and citizenship: Immigrants in liberal
nation-states. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2014. 133-176.
Nee, Victor, and Richard Alba. "Rethinking assimilation theory for a new era of
immigration." The new immigration. Routledge, 2012. 49-80.

Surname7
Park, Julie, and John Iceland. "Residential segregation in metropolitan established immigrant
gateways and new destinations, 1990–2000." Social Science Research 40.3 (2011): 811-821.
Taylor, Donald M. "The social psychology of racial and cultural diversity: Issues of assimilation
and multiculturalism." Bilingualism, multiculturalism, and second language learning.
Psychology Press, 2014. 21-40.
Woolford, Andrew. "Nodal repair and networks of destruction: residential schools, colonial
genocide, and redress in Canada." Settler colonial studies 3.1 (2013): 65-81.
Xie, Yu, and Emily Greenman. "The social context of assimilation: Testing implications of
segmented assimilation theory." Social science research 40.3 (2011): 965-984.