Hi, I’m Leah, and I will be discussing the News Magazine Education Week Video on Residential schools from 1955.
This video, which claims to accurately inform the viewer on the subject of Aboriginal Residential schools, is nothing more than a propaganda video aimed at an audience of white, suburban Canadians to validate their racism.
The video claims that residential schools have a positive impact on the aboriginal children who attend them. Throughout the video, these children are shown playing, learning, and generally having a good time. The voiceover during these video clips excitedly explains how “they not only learn about games and traditions, like the celebration of St. Valentine’s Day, but the mastery of words which will open to them
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They make themselves seem as credible as possible by being a part of “education week” which would have the positive connotations of “education” being a good thing, and that the people at home would assume they are being adequately educated on the subject, because of those explaining the situation, professional educators. They portray the principle as caring (as he “dispenses first aid”) and competent (“among his other duties”). They mention how this is only “one of 69 schools,” insinuating that these schools are so beneficial and effective that they have nearly 70 Canada-wide. The video also mentions the schools being “run by the department of Indian Affairs” which causes people to think that this is something aboriginal people are in favour of, that the experts from this department have decided this is the best thing. They also used their convincing, albeit flawed when examined critically, logic. They show various clips of students learning, as well as discuss how students learn vocabulary which will benefit them later in life, and how they give students scientific explanations for the world around them. This video, however, gets the majority of its weight from the pathos, or appeal to emotion, used. They make the schools sound like a humanitarian effort, a place “[for] orphans, convalescents, people who can’t make it to a daily school.” They show video clips of children being happy and having fun, while the “isolation and neglect of the past” is mentioned, making it seem like now these children are being given a fair and equal chance to “ordinary” Canadian society. The video ends with the line, “For the oldest Canadians, a new future.” This again sounds inspiring, and like these schools are such a kindhearted opportunity given to these people seen as “poor
In the story, a character named Stazz talks about his experience being taken to a residential school, “One spring morning with the arrival of a bus that was soon filled with sobbing bodies of children'' (Wagamese 322). He along with many other children were taken in broad daylight and forced into residential schools. This was a common method of stealing Indigenous children from their families, where they were then taken miles away from home and forced to attend one of these schools. These schools were designed as a tool to alienate Indigenous children, leaving them traumatized due to the horrific situations they experienced. Children were beaten and locked away from others for things such as speaking their language and practicing their own religious traditions such as prayers.
There was a lot that I took away from the Capturing Kids’ Hearts presentation. First off, I would have loved to have had a teacher like Rashel Ward-Bussard when I was in 8th grade. When I was that age I wanted to be treated like an adult, and yet, I did not know how to act like one. In the presenter’s class, it sounds like the students are not just taught science—but taught life lessons.
The atrocities that the children of residential schools had to endure is not something that can be ignored, just as the lessons these children learned, like shame, humiliation, hate, compassion, and forgiveness cannot be overlooked (Borrows 486-7). Borrows raises an important point, which is that the children of the Residential schools, who survived, grew up to eventually become elders (487). Although there are some who feel Residential schools had positive impacts, the high suicide rates in Indigenous communities cannot be
Before the Indian Act most of the young members of the First Nations followed the traditions and beliefs of previous generations, however, this changed with the introduction of Residential schools through the Indian Act. By 1948, there were 78 schools operating with nearly 10,000 students enrolled. This education network was established by the government but was controlled by the Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian churches. The objective of this school system was to teach young aboriginals how to integrate themselves into the “normal” Canadian life. In other words, this whole system was a major cultural genocide.
Novel/Paper Assignment Shirika Hariram 20952694 Professor Joelle Mcneil PLAN 233: People and Plans Section 1: Five Little Indians and The Sociological Imagination (518) Maisie's story blatantly shows the effects of residential schools on Indigenous children and communities. She suffers from the violence she endured physically and emotionally in the residential school and the trauma of being unwillingly torn away from her family and culture. We can see that she deals with the trauma she's endured in unhealthy ways, like self-harm and drugs, to end her life eventually.
What does this mean for those who experienced starvation, malnutrition and other forms of trauma in residential schools?” (Elliott 108). This quote reveals how generational trauma still impacts descendants of residential school survivors because it affects their DNA. Therefore, the physical and mental health problems that Indigenous people experience are predetermined since the horrific experiences of their ancestors have altered their genes. In her essay “Dark Matters”, Elliott compares dark matter to racism in the sense that they are both all around us but people cannot see them.
Throughout studying the Indian Country Today news article on the good and bad things of Indian Boarding Schools one of the main things that it discusses is not only the recent studies by other scholars who have documented education in forced Indian boarding schools, but how many of those schools affect long-run outcomes such as the employment and language fluency of those who attend. Another main item that is covered is how many Canadian boarding schools strove to assimilate Native children both socially, educationally, and religiously. Another highlight from the article is that there have also been benefits from Native American children attending Indian boarding schools. Some of these benefits were that there was a higher possibility of graduating high school, being less likely to depend on government welfare programs, and having a greater opportunity in being employed.
Residential schools had horrible effects on both the students who attended them and the generations which followed as the conditions were terrible, abuse left scarring memories and the actions/incidents had a dreadful impact on their life. Living conditions of the schools were so harsh that more than 4000 students died during ther time in the schools. The overcrowded schools made it difficult for many of the students who did not understand English or were new to the school to get extra lessons or help from the teachers, leading to severe punishment. In the movie, Abraham faced a similar situation as he did not know what the teacher was saying while the students were practicing marching, so along with beating him up with a stick,
Residential schools are a shameful part of Canadian history and have had negative long-term effects on Indigenous Canadians. This investigation will be focusing on the long term socio-economic effects on the Indigenous population of Canada that are evident even today, such as substance abuse, the relationship between the criminal justice system and Indigenous people and communities and finally the financial situations and living conditions of people on reserves. An estimated 150,000 Indigenous children attended residential school. The schools were run by Christian missionaries, primarily Roman Catholics and Anglicans.
The school was embedding such thoughts into their young minds creating hatred for their culture and identity. Therefore, Canada failed in the treatment of indigenous children in residential schools because of the isolation of children’s cultures and identity. Lastly, Canada failed in the treatment of indigenous children in residential schools because of the severe physical abusement student’s received. Students were often punished on a daily basis at the school, the punishments were brutal as they would abuse by “withholding of meals, and washing the child’s mouth with soap. In extreme cases…electrical shocks or pushed needles into their tongues”(Stolen Lives, 138).
We Were Children, the documentary on residential schools, is a re-enactment of two aboriginal children and their first hand experiences in the residential school system. The kinds of problems this documentary presented include mistreatment faced by the children who attended these schools, corruption and scandal inside the administration of the schools, and the false perception about these schools that resonated amongst Canadian society. These two children talk about the bullying they had to endure from the nuns which show that the children were not seen as equal to a child of non-Aboriginal decent. Furthermore, the types of abuse administration would put these kids through was immensely disturbing considering this was a state run institution.
Imagine being ripped apart from family members, culture, tradition, and labelled a savage that needs to be educated. Imagine constantly facing punishment at school for being one’s self. Unfortunately, these events were faced head on for many First Nations people living in Canada in the late 20th century. These First Nations people were the victims of an extensive school system set up by the government to eradicate Aboriginal culture across Canada and to assimilate them into what was considered a mainstream society.
The TRC’s “The History” author appeals to logos through the use quantitative findings. The use of logical evidence from the collection of testimonials made by former residential school students is an effective way to aid the persuasion of a reader. Throughout “The History”, the author describes the memories of known First Nations peoples Frederic Ernest Koe, Marlene Kayseas, Lily Bruce and many others. In addition, the author quotes Vitaline Elsie Jenner’s use of ‘kaya nakasin’ (TRC, 2015, p.38) in describing her experience with residential school. The author’s example that contains the use native language reaffirms his credibility and detailed knowledge of the
The buildings are used for sports or martial arts classes (Canada is a sixth degree black belt in tae kwon do and continues to teach his own classes). These schools and centers have come out of an understanding that Canada and his staff, “have realized that you cannot save children without saving families, and you cannot save families without rebuilding communities” (Canada, 2010, ch. 20 para. 3). The philosophy requires an intense commitment to the program.
or she saw with one or two low-income student. As a future counselor, a statement in such matter showed that this person should not be a teacher. That teacher prefers to not integrate his or her school. Looking at this article through a counselor lens, I believe it is our duties to advocate for all students no matter their SES or ethnic background. There is clearly more work in advocating for students in working class school, but there are students that still needs our help in the upper class school.