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How did the residential school affect Canada’s First Nations people?

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How did the residential school affect Canada’s First Nations people?
How did the residential school affect Canada’s First Nations people?

In Canadian history, there are a lot of interesting events happened in the past. Some of them are events that are proudly presented such as Battle of Vimy Ridge, Canadian peace keeper and others. On the other hand, there are also a lot of tragedy events that happened in the past. Indian Act is one of an important act which occurred in 1876 and it led to establishment of Indian residential school, and the Indian residential school is a tragedy event that happened in Canada. It was the school that most of First Nation people will never forget. What was the reason? What did the residential school do with those First Nation people?

“The Indian residential schools of Canada were a network of ‘residential’ (boarding) schools for Aboriginal peoples of Canada (First Nations [Indians], Metis, and Inuit) funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs, and administered by Christian churches, most notably the Catholic Church in Canada and the Anglican Church of Canada.” (“Canadian residential school system,”1) The main purpose of residential school was to assist in the assimilation of Aboriginal people into Canadian society. A lot of Aboriginal children attended the school from the mid-1800s until early 1970s. By the late 1960s, there were 10,000 aboriginal students that attended 60 schools. However, these children had to be separated from their family in order to attend the school. Even though some family lived close to the school, the students were not allowed to live outside the school because the government afraid that the students might take bad influence from their parents and community, and when they attend the school, they would not become civilized as Christian setting as the school expected.

In addition, the residential school system was consistently under-funded and often poorly managed. School buildings were badly constructed, and students were often poorly fed. The house



Cited: “Canadian residential school system,” Wikipedia: 1-2.2013. Print. Dempsey, Pauline. "My Life in an Indian Residential School." Alberta History 59.2 (2011): 22. Print. "Former Ontario Residential-School Students Allege Attempted Genocide: Final Edition." Whitehorse Star: 9. 2000. Print. Jacobs, Beverley. "Response to Canada 's Apology to Residential School Survivors." Canadian Woman Studies 26.3-4 (2008): 223. Print. Morse, Bradford W. "Government Responses to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement in Canada: Implications for Australia." Australian Indigenous Law Review 12.1 (2008): 41-59. Print. "Some Key Facts about Canada 's Residential School History."Canadian Press NewsWire 2000. Print.

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