A history of residential schools in Canada - CBC News
What is a residential school?
In the 19th century [the 1800s], the Canadian government believed it was responsible for educating and caring for aboriginal people [First Nations, Métis, and Inuit] in Canada. It thought their best chance for success was to learn English and adopt Christianity and Canadian customs [traditions and ways of life]. Ideally, the children would pass their adopted European lifestyle [ways of living like people in Europe] on to their children, and native traditions [Indigenous customs and culture] would diminish [get smaller], or be completely abolished [ended] in a few generations.
The Canadian government developed a policy [a government plan or rule] called "aggressive assimilation" [a forceful way to make people change their culture] to be taught at church-run, government-funded industrial schools, later called residential schools. The government felt children were easier to mold [influence or change] than adults, and the concept of a boarding school [a school where children live and sleep] was the best way to prepare them for life in mainstream society [Canadian society outside of Indigenous communities].
Residential schools were federally run [run by the national government], under the Department of Indian Affairs [a part of the government that managed Indigenous issues]. Attendance was mandatory [required by law] for children in the many communities that didn't have day schools. Agents [government workers] were employed by the government to ensure all native children attended school.
How many residential schools and students were there?
Initially [at the beginning], about 1,100 students attended 69 schools across the country. In 1931, at the peak [highest point] of the residential school system, there were about 80 schools operating in Canada. There were a total of about 130 schools in every territory and province except Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick from the earliest in the 19th century to the last, which closed in 1996.
In all, about 150,000 First Nation, Inuit and Métis children were removed from their communities and forced to attend the schools.
What went wrong?
Residential schools were established [created] with the assumption [the belief] that aboriginal culture was unable to adapt [change to fit] to a rapidly modernizing society [a quickly changing world]. It was believed that native children could be successful if they assimilated [completely changed to fit into another culture] into mainstream Canadian society by adopting Christianity and speaking English or French. Students were discouraged [told not to] from speaking their first language or practising native traditions. If they were caught, they would experience severe [very serious] punishment.
Throughout the years, students lived in substandard conditions [homes that were poor, unsafe, or dirty] and endured [suffered through] physical and emotional abuse. Students at residential schools rarely had opportunities to see examples of normal family life. Most were in school 10 months a year, away from their parents; some stayed all year round. All correspondence [letters] from the children was written in English, which many parents couldn't read. Brothers and sisters at the same school rarely saw each other, as all activities were separated by gender [boys and girls were kept apart].
When students returned to the reserve [land set aside for Indigenous communities by the government], they often found they didn't belong. They didn't have the skills to help their parents, and became ashamed [embarrassed or unhappy] of their native heritage [their culture, history, and traditions]. The skills taught at the schools were generally substandard [not very good]; many found it hard to function [live and work] in an urban setting [a city or town]. The aims of assimilation meant devastation [great harm or destruction] for those who were subjected to years of abuse.
When did the calls for victim compensation begin?
In 1990, Phil Fontaine, then-leader of the Association of Manitoba Chiefs, called for the churches involved to acknowledge [admit and speak about] the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse endured [suffered] by students at the schools. A year later, the government convened [gathered] a Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples [a special group to study and make recommendations about Indigenous issues]. Many people told the commission about their residential school experiences, and the commission's 1996 report recommended a separate public inquiry [a full investigation] into residential schools. That recommendation was never followed.
Over the years, the government worked with the Anglican, Catholic, United and Presbyterian churches, which ran residential schools, to design a plan to compensate [give something back to] the former students.
In 2007, two years after it was first announced, the federal government formalized [made official] a $1.9 billion compensation package for those who were forced to attend residential schools.
Under the federal compensation package, what have former students received?
Compensation [money to make up for harm done] called Common Experience Payments was made available to residential schools students who were alive as of May 30, 2005. Former residential school students are eligible [able to receive] $10,000 for the first year or part of a year they attended school, plus $3,000 for each subsequent year [each year after the first].
Any money remaining from the $1.9-billion package will be given to foundations that support learning needs of aboriginal students.
As of Sept. 30, 2013, $1.6 billion had been paid, representing 105,548 cases [people who applied].
Is there more to the package than compensating the victims?
The government funded a Commemoration initiative [a plan to help remember something important], which consisted of events, projects and memorials on a national and community level.
The Aboriginal Healing Foundation was established in 1998 with a $350-million grant from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada to help former students who were physically or sexually abused, but federal funding ended in 2010.
The settlement also promised a Truth and Reconciliation Commission [a group created to tell the truth about what happened and help make peace] to examine the legacy [lasting effects] of the residential schools.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered an official apology to residential school students in Parliament on June 11, 2008.
Who else has apologized for the abuse?
Many churches implicated [involved in something bad] in the abuse apologized in the 1990s. Archbishop Michael Peers offered an apology on behalf of the Anglican Church of Canada in 1993, stating "I am sorry, more than I can say, that we were part of a system which took you and your children from home and family."
Four leaders of the Presbyterian Church signed a statement of apology in 1994. "It is with deep humility [respect and sadness] and in great sorrow [feeling of sadness] that we come before God and our aboriginal brothers and sisters with our confession," it said.
The United Church of Canada formally apologized to Canada's First Nations people in 1986, and offered its second apology in 1998 for the abuse that happened at residential schools. "To those individuals who were physically, sexually, and mentally abused as students of the Indian Residential Schools in which the United Church of Canada was involved, I offer you our most sincere apology," the statement by the church's General Council Executive said.
Though the Catholic church oversaw [was in charge of] three-quarters [¾] of Canadian residential schools, it was the last church to have one of its leaders officially address the abuse.
On April 29, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his "sorrow" [feeling very sorry] to a delegation [group] from Canada's Assembly of First Nations for the abuse and "deplorable" [terrible and shameful] treatment that aboriginal students suffered at Roman Catholic Church-run residential schools.
At the time, then Assembly of First Nations Leader Phil Fontaine said it wasn't an "official apology," but added that he hoped the statement would "close the book" [bring an end] on the issue of apologies for residential school survivors.
In July 2022, Pope Francis visited Canada to apologize for the Catholic Church's role in the residential school system. Speaking to Indigenous communities in Maskwacis, Alberta, near the site of a former residential school, he expressed deep sorrow and asked for forgiveness for the harm caused by many Christians. He acknowledged the suffering inflicted on Indigenous peoples and the wrongs committed by members of the Church. This visit was part of his effort to promote healing and reconciliation between the Catholic Church and Indigenous communities in Canada.
What is the mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission?
Established on June 1, 2008, the goals of the TRC include documenting [recording] and promoting the extent and impact of residential school experiences; providing a safe setting for former students to share their stories; and producing a report to the federal government on the legacy [long-term effects] of the residential school system.
The commission has held events in several Canadian cities to publicly address [talk about openly] the experiences of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit children in residential schools across the country.
One of the accomplishments [things they achieved] of the TRC was gaining access to more of the 3.5 million documents held by the federal government related to residential schools. First Nations leaders and activists say these files could build a stronger case for genocide [when a group of people is hurt or destroyed because of who they are] in Canada.
