Canada, the true NorthCanada, the true North

The nativesThe natives

The nativesThe natives

EducationEducation

EducationEducation

Residential schools

In the 19th century, the Canadian government believed it was responsible for educating and caring for the country's aboriginal people.

learn English

Ideally, they would pass their adopted lifestyle on to their children, and native traditions would diminish, or be completely abolished in a few generations.

adopt Christianity

Adopt Canadian customs.

EducationEducation

Policy "aggressive assimilation"

at church-run, government-funded industrial schools under the Department of Indian Affairs. Attendance was mandatory.

Initially 1,100 students attended 69 schools across the country.

In 1931, peak 80 schools operating in Canada. There were a total of about 130 schools in every territory to the last, which closed in 1996

In all, about 150,000 aboriginal, Inuit and Métis children were removed from their communities and forced to attend the schools.

EducationEducation

2007

federal government $1.9-billion compensation package for those who were forced to attend residential schools.

Education TodayEducation Today

funding gap

Ninety per cent of preschool Aboriginal children have no access to appropriate early childhood education.

Over the past 15 years there has been no measurable improvement for on-reserve high school completion rates.

The Aboriginal student dropout rate, nationally, before Grade 12 is currently at 51 per cent.

Education TodayEducation Today

funding gap

Ninety per cent of preschool Aboriginal children have no access to appropriate early childhood education.

Over the past 15 years there has been no measurable improvement for on-reserve high school completion rates.

The Aboriginal student dropout rate, nationally, before Grade 12 is currently at 51 per cent.

Natives' rightsNatives' rights

Natives' rightsNatives' rights READ THIS ARTICLE

Members of Canadian aboriginal communities and human rights activists have rallied in several cities in Canada and around the world against Ottawa’s policies violating the rights of the aboriginals. Supporters of “Idle No More,” a protest movement campaigning for the rights of the aboriginals in Canada, demonstrated Monday in 30 Canadian cities, including Montreal, Halifax, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Calgary, despite the country’s freezing winter weather. Some 300 protesters marched on Parliament Hill in Ottawa as MPs returned to the House of Commons after the six-week-long winter break, urging the MPs to take action on the rights of the indigenous people. Similar demonstrations were held in several states across the United States, including Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Washington State, and North Carolina. Also in Europe, Idle No More supporters rallied in London, Paris, and the Swedish city of Malmo.

The movement began last November after Attawapiskat First Nations Chief Theresa Spence began a hunger strike over the violation of aboriginals’ rights. Spence ended her strike on Thursday after indigenous groups and opposition parties signed a deal spelling out a list of demands they would present to the government. The declaration calls for the government to improve housing and schools as well as to acknowledge treaty rights for Canada’s 600 native tribes.

Natives' rightsNatives' rights

Natives' rightsNatives' rights

Natives' cultureNatives' culture

Many native languages suffering

"In terms of the First Nations going off reserve, they had reported a lower proportion who could speak an aboriginal language compared to those living on reserves. So that's the trend. We've seen it for about 10 years,"

The cree alphabet