Residential School System in Canada Essay

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This paper examines the healing process of Aboriginal communities from the devastating inter-generational effects of residential school system. The paper begins by evaluating the formation and purpose of residential school system in Canada. In this case, the establishment of the residential school systems to help assimilate Aboriginal children into the dominant culture in Canada is discussed. The development of the school system into residential school abuse is also examined and its devastating impacts evaluated. Traditional and non-traditional healing practices utilized by Aboriginals to deal with these effects are also discussed with respect to their effectiveness. The paper demonstrates the significance of utilizing healing practices developed by and within Aboriginal communities to cope with the historical trauma of residential school abuse in Canada.

Keywords: residential school abuse, residential school system, Aboriginal communities, healing practices, devastating impacts.

The Healing Process of Aboriginals from Residential School Abuse

The residential school era in Canada was characterized by the establishment of a network of boarding schools that were targeted towards Indigenous peoples. The school system was centered on removing and isolating Aboriginal children from their own traditions and cultures and assimilating them into the dominant culture (Hanson, 2009). This school system eventually had devastating impacts on Aboriginal communities to an extent that its commonly known as residential school abuse. Existing literature demonstrates that residential schools abuse contributed to the emergence of a generation of Aboriginals devoid of traditional or cultural means of coping with their daily existence. According to Goforth (2007), residential school abuse created devastating impacts on entire Aboriginal communities due to its inter-generational effects. However, existing literature also shows that Aboriginals have struggled to identify suitable healing methods for dealing with residential school abuse. Therefore, Aboriginals healing methods and strategies for residential school abuse should be determined and established by and within Aboriginal communities.

Residential School Abuse

One of the most important features in the history of Aboriginal communities is the residential school era, which was financed by the Canadian Government’s Department of Indian Affairs and implemented by Christian churches. The residential school system was established in order to remove and isolate Aboriginal children from the influence of their own traditions and cultures and assimilating them into the dominant Canadian culture (Hanson, 2009). The placement of Aboriginal children in residential schools was fueled by the assumption that Aboriginal traditions and beliefs were unequal and inferior.

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Through this process, Aboriginal children were forced to assimilate into Western culture, which was the dominant culture.

Since a huge population of Aboriginal children were placed in the residential school system, residential school abuse emerged because these children were subjected to practices that ended up having intergenerational effects. This school system systematically weakened the Aboriginal culture throughout Canada and disrupted families for several generations. Most of the Native Indian children who were forcibly placed in these schools wouldn’t see their families again for the next 10 years while others never reunited with their families (Pulitzer Center, 2016). In some cases, these children were punished for speaking their native languages or following their indigenous traditions and cultures.

Residential school abuse ended up having devastating impacts on the entire Aboriginal communities. According to a publication by Pulitzer Center (2016), residential school abuse had immeasurable impacts on Aboriginal populations or communities. Dionne (2008) states that the residential school system left many Aboriginal children devoid of cultural or traditional measures for coping with their daily lives. While some of these children died while in the residential schools, survivors of the system remain lost within the dominant culture (Dianne, 2008; Pulitzer Center, 2016). Spear (2008) states that residential school system left Aboriginal people with historical trauma that is characterized by a legacy of destruction, despair, and pain. Some of these devastating impacts include addictions, suicide, poverty, difficulty in establishing healthy relationships, crime, poor parenting skills, self-abuse and violence, and poverty.

The Healing Process

Given the devastating, inter-generational impacts of residential school abuse, Aboriginal communities have faced the need for utilizing appropriate healing procedures to overcome the social and cultural harm caused by Europeans. Most of the existing generations of Aboriginal children have grown up with a sense of worthlessness since they feel that they neither belong to the Aboriginal communities nor are part of the dominant culture in Canada. The feelings of a sense of worthlessness have in turn contributed to complexities on the healing process for Aboriginal communities. The healing process for these communities commenced in 1996 when the Aboriginal healing movement emerged after the last residential school was closed. The movement started focusing on some of the devastating impacts of residential school abuse.

The Aboriginal movement focused on additions and mental health problems generated by residential….....

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