RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS

What was a Residential School?

A residential school was a special school for natives.

The government would collect the native children and take them to the school.

The students would learn to read and write and do basic jobs.

What’s Wrong With That?

The motivation of the governments and churches was to teach the children to not be native’s anymore.

They were trying to strip them of their identity and assimilate them into the “white man’s” way of life.

The government perspective is that they were SAVAGES that needed to be tamed.

What Happened at the School?

The children were often bribed away from the reserve with candy and toys.

When they got to the school, they were bathed, changed and got hair cuts.

Boys and girls were separated and they lived under strict rules.

They were not allowed to go home and not allowed to get letters or send letters. Although the school let them think that they could.