- Information
- AI Chat
Aboriginal Studies argumentative essay
Introduction to Aboriginal Studies (Ghum 1035)
George Brown College
Related Studylists
ENGL 213Preview text
ABORIGINAL STUDIES ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS PROFESSOR: Lori Budge Karin Sunshine 101041777 Residential schools were government-sponsored religious schools established to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian society. Successive Canadian governments used legislation to strip Indigenous peoples of basic human and legal rights, dignity and integrity, and to gain control over the peoples, their lands, resources and natural rights. The Indian Act, first introduced in 1876, gave the Canadian government license to control almost every aspect of Indigenous people’s lives. The Act required children to attend Residential schools, the majority of which operated after 1880. Residential schools were originally created by Christian churches and the Canadian government. The goals of these schools were to civilize Indigenous peoples by forcibly converting them to Christianity, and to integrate them into Canadian society through a process of cultural, social, educational, economic and political assimilation. Residential schools were underfunded and overcrowded; they were rife with starvation, neglect, and physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, often including isolation from normal human contact and nurturing. Students were forcibly removed from their communities, homes and parents, and frequently forbidden to speak their Indigenous language and perform traditional music and dance. However, the experience of Survivors varied dramatically from school to school. The legacy of the schools has been to alienate generations of Indigenous peoples from their beliefs, traditions and lifestyles. According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, approximately 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Metis children attended residential schools. An estimated 6,000 children died while in the residential school system, and many more remain unaccounted. Often, officials refused to send the bodies of dead children back to their parents, claiming the cost was too high. Many children were buried in graves with multiple bodies. As Residential schools have inflicted immeasurable damage creating intergenerational trauma that still continues to affect indigenous individuals and communities across Canada today. from their parents will then display low self-esteem, a general distrust of others, mood disorders (including depression and anxiety), socio-moral immaturity, and inadequate social skills. People who survived the residential schools continue to struggle with their identity since they have been taught to hate themselves and their culture. All the abuse described previously not only affected the individuals, but also had strong consequences on the Aboriginal faith, culture, families and communities of the children who were part of the Indian Residential Schooling System. Historically, the Canadian First Nations satisfied their material and spiritual needs through the natural resources surrounding them. However, the school authorities would force children to abandon their traditional languages, religion, clothing and lifestyle to impose the Catholic, United, Anglican or Presbyterian traditions and faith. The nuns, priests and social workers involved in Residential School System attempted to articulate, negotiate, and enforce certain valued constructions of gender, class, and race, sexuality, and spirituality within a group of children. The system caused a strong devastation from land base, culture, families and Aboriginal language. Although the Indian Residential School System was finally put to an end, the Aboriginal individuals the repercussions are still present. The Aboriginal people continued to believe that they belonged to a culture different from the one imposed on them by the residential schools, an Aboriginal culture, but were ashamed of it. Moreover, negative effects of the Indian Residential Schooling System are felt on modern Aboriginal communities. The report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples blamed the Indian Residential School System for the high rates of suicide, substance abuse, and family dysfunction in Aboriginal communities. For example, the rate of suicide for Aboriginal communities is almost four and a half times higher than the 2001 overall Canadian rate. Sharon Blakeborough, the young IRSS survivor describes her recent experience in her family’s community after coming back from the residential schools, "There were no values. It was nothing like the traditional days, because the residential schools, the poverty, the alcohol had all done their job to take away from us everything we held sacred." Because of what they learned in residential schools, the children observed that adults often exert power and control through abuse. By reproducing this same pattern, the communities are therefore regulated on violence and power abuse. Even after these traumatic experiences at the residential schools, the effects of the schools have continued to influence not only the individuals but all Native populations up to today generations. At every turn Aboriginals were considered savage and uncivilized citizens of society even though they were the ones being abused. The children that suffered from the Indian Residential School System must be apprise that what they have lived through is wrong and they have a right to be protected. Aboriginal people and communities need to inform the rest of the Canadian population of what happened in the residential schools. There should be a better integration of suited health care and increased participation of the Aboriginal peoples in the creation and management of health programs and services. The process of reconciliation between the Aboriginal people and the rest of the country is not only about allowing Aboriginal people to heal with many health programs put in place by the government; it is also about non-Aboriginal people learning to bear the responsibilities they have had in the issue. Each Canadian individual has a small part of responsibility and has to acknowledge the ways he has profited from the inequities and injustices perpetrated in the name of the Canadian religious and political authorities. the most important action that can be taken by Canadian individuals is to acknowledge what happened to the Aboriginal people during the IRSS. The individuals have Reference Annett, K. D., M. A., M. Div. (2000). Hidden from History: The Canadian Holocaust. NYS historic newspaper. Retrieved from nyshistoricnewspapers/lccn/sn87008345/2002-04-04/ed-1/seq-13.pdf Fontaine, P. (n). Knock on the Door. The essential schools from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Retrieved from bb-gbc.blackboard/bbcswebdav/pid-3751950-dt-content-rid-51935648_1/ courses/CRN-11860-201801/A%20Knock%20on%20the%20Door Independent_Documentary. (2013). UNREPENTANT: Canada’s Residential Schools Documentary (Video file). Retrieved from youtube/watch?v=0brD50DIv5Q McLeod, S. (2016). Bandura - Social Learning Theory. Simply Psychology. Retrieved from simplypsychology/bandura.html Turtle Island Native Network. (1992). Healing and Wellness. Focus on children. Retrieved from turtleisland/healing/liberate.html
Aboriginal Studies argumentative essay
Course: Introduction to Aboriginal Studies (Ghum 1035)
University: George Brown College
This is a preview
Access to all documents
Get Unlimited Downloads
Improve your grades
This is a preview
Access to all documents
Get Unlimited Downloads
Improve your grades
Why is this page out of focus?
This is a preview
Access to all documents
Get Unlimited Downloads
Improve your grades