residential school history
While the early founders of our nation formed a “more perfect union”, it was at the expense of another culture - the Indigenous peoples of North America. A collision of these cultures was inevitable. The government in the United States attempted to wipe away as many of the Indigenous people as possible (1). In 1887, U.S. Army Captain Richard Pratt was quoted as saying, "Kill the Indian, save the man."
Governments saw this plan as a viable means for dealing with Indigenous peoples, and opened boarding schools across Turtle Island (North America). Control of most schools was divided among Catholic, Protestant and, in Canada, Anglican church organizations (2). It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of children were enculturated in both the United States and Canada. A few remain open in the United States today, operating as modern public institutions. The last school in Canada closed in 1997.
The boarding school experience for Indian children began in 1860 when the Bureau of Indian Affairs established the first Indian boarding school on the Yakima Indian Reservation in the state of Washington. (3) U.S. Army Captain Richard Pratt theorized that by re-educating Indigenous children they could be assimilated into American culture, with American values and job ready skills. Hence, the first “Indian Boarding School” opened in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, two years later in 1879 (4). The first church-run Canadian residential school began in 1831 and, by the 1880s, there was a Canadian Government policy for mandatory attendance at Residential Schools.
During most of this history, Indian children were forcefully removed from their homes and sent to boarding schools far away from their families. The goal of "re-education" was to strip the Indian culture, language, and traditions from indigenous people.
These schools quickly became havens for physical, mental and sexual abuse by their caretakers. After years of trauma, if they survived (estimated many thousands did not), the children would be released to begin a new life of confusion, pain and learned behavioral patterns. These patterns included the same physical, mental and sexual abuse - this time directed toward their own children. sadly, this pattern continues to this day across North America.
At one school alone in Canada, many thousands of children were possibly murdered (5), and the discovery of more and more bodies continues as former residential school properties are investigated. Some schools operated without the serious issues noted, but they all robbed children of their freedom, culture and mental health. Indians who suffered at the hands of predators were left with dysfunctional families to live in poverty (5).
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