The Stolen Generation: Misconception Of Residential Schools

The Stolen Generation
Most Canadians today have the misconception of residentials school existing a long time ago and is considered history when in fact, the last residential school closed 20 years ago. The main purpose of the residential schools was to force indigenous children into the Canadian society by educating them through the church's teachings. The residential schools existed for 165 years, the first school opening in 1831 that resulted in victimizing about 150,000 children. The system took children away from their homes only to return as teenagers that lead to them not being exposed to their culture. The students were dubbed as the stolen generation. The legacy of residential schools impacted the future generations of aboriginals
The system was created to brainwash the children into thinking that their aboriginal heritage was inferior to european culture and forbid them to speak their own language. The residential schools were depicted as being a great place for first nations students where they are cared for and properly educated through propaganda. However, the truth behind the school system were unfolded through the experiences of the survivors. The retelling of their past revealed the horrible abuse they received from the school officials. The aboriginal children were subjects of many experiments, often starved and were physically or sexually abused. In the movie “We Were Children”, the testimony of 2 survivors Lena and Glen showed the horrors of the residential schools as they were punished for speaking their language by being beaten with rulers or belts. It also showed how the school officials repeatedly physically and sexually abused children as young as 6 years old. These atrocious acts are often denied by many Canadians according to Lena herself. The school system was nothing more than an institution full of sexual predators under clergy clothing. In
The school system still impacts future generation of aboriginals in Canada as they struggle to protect their language and ultimately preserve their culture. Although, many people are trying to make the “call for official recognition of First Nations languages,” (CBC news) a lot of these languages are endangered. One of the factors as to why aboriginal languages should be passed is the decline of fluent speakers throughout Canada due to the fact that “ first nations traditionally preserved and transmitted their culture and history through the oral tradition, no First Nations language in Canada had a writing system prior to European contact.” (Huang). But in British Columbia, many “linguists are trying to record as many mother-tongue speakers of Aboriginal languages as they can” and first nations languages program in UBC provide the opportunity for the new generation to learn the language. The efforts made by the aboriginals peoples and the government’s efforts for reconciliation of assimilation lead to the Royal Commision to acknowledge that aboriginal languages as an “expression of their identity, empowerment” (Huang) and the embodiment of their culture that should be revitalized for future