The Importance Of Residential Schools

The reserve system and residential schools are directly responsible for the current, generally poor, state that Native Canadians find themselves in today. Abuse, poverty, and inequality are all linked to one another, essentially relating back to the reserve system and residential schools.

Abuse lasts a lifetime and can be passed down, generation to generation. When children were ripped away from their family and friends on the reserve and taken to residential schools, their lives changed for the worse, affecting future generations. These children were torn away at a variety of ages, altering their experiences within residential schools. Some may have not been as heavily abused as others, but no one within these schools did not experience
Native Canadians often find themselves in this dreadful situation. More often than none this is a direct result of residential schools and the reserve system. Residentials schools created great amounts of stress upon Native Canadians compelling most to turn to drugs and alcohol for relief. Living on reserves allowed for Natives to create a culture of their own. Following the implementation of residential schools, the overall state of the reserves started to deteriorate. As many struggled with substance abuse, their lifestyles were no longer the same without the children and many gave up. This loss of hope generated poverty for many Native Canadians living on reserves. Poverty is a treacherous state and is difficult to recover from, forcing Native Canadians to continue presently living in
Native Canadians were not often accepted by others, leaving them to fend to themselves and to help each other to the best of their ability. Native Canadians were devastated when the children living on the reserves were unapologetically taken from them, and sent to residential schools. These children were forced to discard anything learned or inhabited while living on the reserve. They were not called by their name, but instead a number they were given on their first day. Their native language was forbidden, a residential school survivor once stated “ I thought I was sinning if I talk, if I smile.”, another suggested “everytime we spoke we got hit.” (Cruel Lessons). These evidential statements present the disturbing truth about discrimination and inequality involving Native