Residential Schools

Off-reservation boarding schools for American Indian children began on November 1, 1878. Many non-Indians either aren’t aware of this shameful piece of American History or know very little about it. Native children in residential schools were taken away from their culture, language. Many boarding schools were established far away from reservations so that students would have no contact with their families and friends. They were forced to wear uniforms. Indian students had no privacy. Indian students were told that Indian people who retained their culture were stupid, dirty, and backwards.

Many boarding schools were established far away from reservations so that students would have no contact with their families and friends. Parents were discouraged from visiting and, in most cases; students were not allowed to go home during the summer. Indian boarding school students wore military uniforms and were forced to March. They were given many rules and no choices. To disobey meant swift and harsh punishment. Students were forbidden to speak their language. They were forbidden to practice their religion and were forced to memorize Bible verses and the Lord’s Prayer. Their days were filled with so many tasks that they had little time to think.

Boarding school students were expected to spy on one another and were pitted against each other by administrators and teachers. Students were taught that the Indian way of life was savage and inferior to the white way. They were taught that they were being civilized or "raised up" to a better way of life.

Indian students were told that Indian people who retained their culture were stupid, dirty, and backwards. Those who most quickly assimilated were called "good Indians." Those who didn’t were called "bad" Indians. The main part of their education focused on learning manual skills such as cooking and cleaning for girls and milking cows and carpentry for boys. Students were shamed and humiliated for showing homesickness for their families. When they finally did go home, as to be expected, many boarding school students had a difficult time fitting in.

It is very disappointing that these young children where taken from their homes and put in a school and treated the way they where. Canada and the United States have come so far since then. I think Canada and the United States will never be able to repay them for the things they did. Canada is real trying to make it a lot better though because we are trying to be multicultural. The boarding schools where locater far away from there homes. The students had no privacy at all. They were not aloud to learn about their cultures and their languages.