Church Sponsored Residential Schools
The Residential School Scandal was a huge social problem in Canada that began in the late 1870's, continuing until the last of the residential schools was closed in 1996. Under the government of John A. Macdonald, and following the Indian Act in 1876, the idea of church and government sponsored boarding schools for First Nations and Inuit Children. The schools were first owned and operated by the Government and Canada and the Churches of Canada in the late 1890's. During the 1900's, the residential school system grew and expanded across the country, and soon schools were built in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and the Territories in order to educate the some 150 000 Aboriginal children who passed through these schools.
The main goal of these schools was to focus on the idea of aggressive assimilation. The government wanted to assimilate the Aboriginal culture in the country, and teach them to live a new, more european lifestyle, including teaching them to speak English instead of their native language. Unfortunately the schools were not very well built, were homes to unsanitary amounts of children, and they were physically and sexually abused if they misbehaved. These conditions were so bad for the children that about half of them died while they were in the schools, or shortly after leaving. Over the years the Residential School Scandal has come to be known by many names, including the Canadian Holocaust, as it resulted in the death of tens of thousands of children¹.
The main goal of these schools was to focus on the idea of aggressive assimilation. The government wanted to assimilate the Aboriginal culture in the country, and teach them to live a new, more european lifestyle, including teaching them to speak English instead of their native language. Unfortunately the schools were not very well built, were homes to unsanitary amounts of children, and they were physically and sexually abused if they misbehaved. These conditions were so bad for the children that about half of them died while they were in the schools, or shortly after leaving. Over the years the Residential School Scandal has come to be known by many names, including the Canadian Holocaust, as it resulted in the death of tens of thousands of children¹.