Residential schools were fist started by different churches under the Indian or aboriginal act. Aboriginal children were taken away from there home and sent to residential school. There the aboriginal children would learn to become farmers, become religious and adopt British culture.
An example of this would be the residential schools in Canada and Australia. Where the aboriginal kids were taken away and schooled. Many of them were physically beaten and mentally abused during there schooling.
The purpose of the Residential Schools was to assimilate Aboriginal children into a Christian way of life. They started in the 1880’s and the last one closed in 1996.
They were severely punished if they followed their own way of life, like speaking their own language and were eventually cut off from their own culture. They never returned home the same.
The following video expresses reasons as to why an apology from Stephen Harper was necessary.
On Wednesday, June 11, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a formal apology for Residential Schools. A portion of the speech is below.
“Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today to offer an apology to former students of Indian residential schools.
The treatment of children in Indian residential schools is a sad chapter in our history.
In the 1870s, the federal government, partly in order to meet its obligation to educate aboriginal children, began to play a role in the development and administration of these schools.
Two primary objectives of the residential schools system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture.
These objectives were based on the assumption aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal. Indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, `to kill the Indian in the child.' Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country.
Most schools were operated as `joint ventures' with Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian or United churches.
The Government of Canada built an educational system in which very young children were often forcibly removed from their homes, often taken far from their communities.
Many were inadequately fed, clothed and housed. All were deprived of the care and nurturing of their parents, grandparents and communities.
First nations, Inuit and Metis languages and cultural practices were prohibited in these schools.
Tragically, some of these children died while attending residential schools and others never returned home.
The government now recognizes that the consequences of the Indian residential schools policy were profoundly negative and that this policy has had a lasting and damaging impact on aboriginal culture, heritage and language.”
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/c/c5/275px-Indian_school.jpg
An example of this would be the residential schools in Canada and Australia. Where the aboriginal kids were taken away and schooled. Many of them were physically beaten and mentally abused during there schooling.
The purpose of the Residential Schools was to assimilate Aboriginal children into a Christian way of life. They started in the 1880’s and the last one closed in 1996.
They were severely punished if they followed their own way of life, like speaking their own language and were eventually cut off from their own culture. They never returned home the same.
The following video expresses reasons as to why an apology from Stephen Harper was necessary.
On Wednesday, June 11, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a formal apology for Residential Schools. A portion of the speech is below.
“Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today to offer an apology to former students of Indian residential schools.
The treatment of children in Indian residential schools is a sad chapter in our history.
In the 1870s, the federal government, partly in order to meet its obligation to educate aboriginal children, began to play a role in the development and administration of these schools.
Two primary objectives of the residential schools system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture.
These objectives were based on the assumption aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal. Indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, `to kill the Indian in the child.' Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country.
Most schools were operated as `joint ventures' with Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian or United churches.
The Government of Canada built an educational system in which very young children were often forcibly removed from their homes, often taken far from their communities.
Many were inadequately fed, clothed and housed. All were deprived of the care and nurturing of their parents, grandparents and communities.
First nations, Inuit and Metis languages and cultural practices were prohibited in these schools.
Tragically, some of these children died while attending residential schools and others never returned home.
The government now recognizes that the consequences of the Indian residential schools policy were profoundly negative and that this policy has had a lasting and damaging impact on aboriginal culture, heritage and language.”
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080611/harper_text_080611
Edited by huang-rundle