Please click the links below, as they lead to websites that will discuss in greater detail the must know's about the history of the Indigenous people in Canada:
Indian Act
Residential Schools
Child Welfare System
Revitalization
Truth and Reconciliation Act
A brief history of residential schools, the Indian Act and the child welfare system
Canadian public policy has been involved in creating institutions such as residential schools, the Indian Act and the child welfare system, all of which have worked to eradicate Aboriginal culture, traditions and language. Fortunately, for years, people continued to practice their culture, traditions and language in secret despite the efforts of the Canadian government. Addressing these topics is vital to this project as it explains the “...doctrines [that were put in place many years ago,] that continue to disrupt life for Aboriginal peoples [today]” (Menzies, 2010, 65). This section also describes how Aboriginal healing methods such as drumming and sharing circles were revived and are now being practiced as a method for healing oneself.
For generations, Indigenous peoples of Canada were forcibly taken from their homes, from their families and everything that they knew. “In all, about 150, 000 First Nation, Inuit, and Métis children were removed from their communities and forced to attend [residential] schools” (News, A history of residential schools in Canada, 2016). According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, “Residential schools were government-sponsored religious schools established to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture” (Miller, 2012, p. 1). The Canadian government and Christian churches such as the Anglican, Methodist, United, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic institutions, forced the Indigenous people to adopt Christian and Canadian customs and learn English or French. The government’s objective in the 19th and 20th century, for the Indigenous population was called “making apples” (Robinson, 2001, p.1). This referred to changing the culture and way of life of Indigenous people “...so that they become ‘white’ on the inside, even as their skin remained red. The goal was to force the Natives to disappear within the larger, predominantly white, society” (Robinson, 2001, p.1). The Indigenous children who attended residential schools if caught practicing their traditions and language, would be severely punished.
Indigenous “students lived in substandard conditions and endured physical and emotional abuse. There have also been convictions of sexual abuse... Brothers and sisters at the same school rarely saw each other, as all activities were segregated by gender. According to documents obtained by the CBC, some schools carried out nutritional experiments on malnourished students in the 1940s and '50s with the federal government's knowledge. When students returned to the reserve, they often found they didn't belong. They didn't have the skills to help their parents and became ashamed of their native heritage...The aims of assimilation meant devastation for those who were subjected to years of abuse” (News, A history of residential schools in Canada 2016).
The last residential school to close was in 1996 in Punnichy, Saskatchewan.
The Indigenous people were not allowed to speak their own language, sing their songs, play their drums, practice their ceremonies, ways of healing or use their sacred medicines, if so many would face unjustly consequences. As Goudreau et al., (2008) noted, “missionaries were able to convince people, even some Aboriginal people, that the drum represented evil spirits” (Vennum, 1982, p. 73). It was during the 1800s and 1900s, that many ceremonies such as powwows and the Potlatch, a hugely elaborate gift-giving festival, were banned by the Canadian government. All of these ceremonies involved drumming. “True assimilation could only be attained through the abolishment, by law, of all cultural practices. Hence, under the Indian Act, the Potlatch Law, which included other ceremonies such as the Sun Dance, came into effect in 1880” (Joseph, 2015, p. 2). It was during this time that the use of Aboriginal musical instruments was a punishable “Indian offence” (Goudreau, et al., 2008, p. 73). The 1876 Indian Act, along with ensuing amendments “...confirmed the prohibition of various Indigenous ceremonies” (Filice, & Simpson, 2016, p.2). The objective for residential schools and the Indian Act is that Indigenous traditions and culture would diminish and ultimately disappear altogether. “The Indian Act is a part of a long history of assimilation policies that intended to terminate the cultural, social, economic, and political distinctiveness of Aboriginal peoples by absorbing them into mainstream Canadian life and values” (Hanson, 2009, p. 1). Not only was it cultural assimilation, it was “...cultural genocide, said [First Nations Chief, Perry] Bellegarde” (Tang, 2015, p.2).
Another method of government assimilation that became instrumental in the mid-1900’s, and is still prolific today, is the child welfare system. Aboriginal children were placed into foster care and were forced to assume the values of another culture. This contributed to poor mental health as well as the loss of identity. “The term Sixties Scoop was coined by Patrick Johnston, author of the 1983 report Native Children and the Child Welfare System. It refers to the mass removal of Aboriginal children from their families into the child welfare system, in most cases without the consent of their families or bands” (Hanson, 2009, p.1).
“The homes in which our children are placed ranged from those of caring, well-intentioned individuals, to places of slave labour and physical, emotional and sexual abuse. The violent effects of the most negative of these homes are tragic for its victims. Even the best of these homes are not healthy places for our children. Anglo-Canadian foster parents are not culturally equipped to create an environment in which a positive Aboriginal self-image can develop. In many cases, our children are taught to demean those things about themselves that are Aboriginal. Meanwhile, they are expected to emulate normal child development by imitating the role model behavior of their Anglo-Canadian foster or adoptive parents. The impossibility of emulating the genetic characteristics of their Caucasian caretakers results in an identity crisis unresolvable in this environment” (White & Jacobs, 1992, p. 19).
It wasn’t until the 1960s and the 1970s that drumming, and many other cultural traditions were revitalized. Many cultural traditions had been kept hidden, and some were forgotten. After World War II, “...many returning Indigenous veterans demanded freedom of religion and the right to practice traditional ceremonies” (Filice, & Simpson, 2016, p. 3). It was at this time that many traditional and cultural practices, were no longer practiced in secret.
The Canadian government is still slowly moving towards reconciliation. On Thursday February 1st, 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admitted during a town hall meeting in Edmonton that,
“The path of reconciliation ...has many, many steps to it... there’s the government’s step of recognizing what a nation to nation relationship truly is, of empowering political organizations and governments so that Indigenous communities can actually become in control of their own future, their own paths, their own young people, their own health care systems, their own communities, in a way that respects language, culture, traditions, and extraordinary richness of that culture that we should be learning from, instead of marginalizing, (Trudeau, Townhall meeting in Edmonton, Feb 1, 2018).
Canadian public policy has been involved in creating institutions such as residential schools, the Indian Act and the child welfare system, all of which have worked to eradicate Aboriginal culture, traditions and language. Fortunately, for years, people continued to practice their culture, traditions and language in secret despite the efforts of the Canadian government. Addressing these topics is vital to this project as it explains the “...doctrines [that were put in place many years ago,] that continue to disrupt life for Aboriginal peoples [today]” (Menzies, 2010, 65). This section also describes how Aboriginal healing methods such as drumming and sharing circles were revived and are now being practiced as a method for healing oneself.
For generations, Indigenous peoples of Canada were forcibly taken from their homes, from their families and everything that they knew. “In all, about 150, 000 First Nation, Inuit, and Métis children were removed from their communities and forced to attend [residential] schools” (News, A history of residential schools in Canada, 2016). According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, “Residential schools were government-sponsored religious schools established to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture” (Miller, 2012, p. 1). The Canadian government and Christian churches such as the Anglican, Methodist, United, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic institutions, forced the Indigenous people to adopt Christian and Canadian customs and learn English or French. The government’s objective in the 19th and 20th century, for the Indigenous population was called “making apples” (Robinson, 2001, p.1). This referred to changing the culture and way of life of Indigenous people “...so that they become ‘white’ on the inside, even as their skin remained red. The goal was to force the Natives to disappear within the larger, predominantly white, society” (Robinson, 2001, p.1). The Indigenous children who attended residential schools if caught practicing their traditions and language, would be severely punished.
Indigenous “students lived in substandard conditions and endured physical and emotional abuse. There have also been convictions of sexual abuse... Brothers and sisters at the same school rarely saw each other, as all activities were segregated by gender. According to documents obtained by the CBC, some schools carried out nutritional experiments on malnourished students in the 1940s and '50s with the federal government's knowledge. When students returned to the reserve, they often found they didn't belong. They didn't have the skills to help their parents and became ashamed of their native heritage...The aims of assimilation meant devastation for those who were subjected to years of abuse” (News, A history of residential schools in Canada 2016).
The last residential school to close was in 1996 in Punnichy, Saskatchewan.
The Indigenous people were not allowed to speak their own language, sing their songs, play their drums, practice their ceremonies, ways of healing or use their sacred medicines, if so many would face unjustly consequences. As Goudreau et al., (2008) noted, “missionaries were able to convince people, even some Aboriginal people, that the drum represented evil spirits” (Vennum, 1982, p. 73). It was during the 1800s and 1900s, that many ceremonies such as powwows and the Potlatch, a hugely elaborate gift-giving festival, were banned by the Canadian government. All of these ceremonies involved drumming. “True assimilation could only be attained through the abolishment, by law, of all cultural practices. Hence, under the Indian Act, the Potlatch Law, which included other ceremonies such as the Sun Dance, came into effect in 1880” (Joseph, 2015, p. 2). It was during this time that the use of Aboriginal musical instruments was a punishable “Indian offence” (Goudreau, et al., 2008, p. 73). The 1876 Indian Act, along with ensuing amendments “...confirmed the prohibition of various Indigenous ceremonies” (Filice, & Simpson, 2016, p.2). The objective for residential schools and the Indian Act is that Indigenous traditions and culture would diminish and ultimately disappear altogether. “The Indian Act is a part of a long history of assimilation policies that intended to terminate the cultural, social, economic, and political distinctiveness of Aboriginal peoples by absorbing them into mainstream Canadian life and values” (Hanson, 2009, p. 1). Not only was it cultural assimilation, it was “...cultural genocide, said [First Nations Chief, Perry] Bellegarde” (Tang, 2015, p.2).
Another method of government assimilation that became instrumental in the mid-1900’s, and is still prolific today, is the child welfare system. Aboriginal children were placed into foster care and were forced to assume the values of another culture. This contributed to poor mental health as well as the loss of identity. “The term Sixties Scoop was coined by Patrick Johnston, author of the 1983 report Native Children and the Child Welfare System. It refers to the mass removal of Aboriginal children from their families into the child welfare system, in most cases without the consent of their families or bands” (Hanson, 2009, p.1).
“The homes in which our children are placed ranged from those of caring, well-intentioned individuals, to places of slave labour and physical, emotional and sexual abuse. The violent effects of the most negative of these homes are tragic for its victims. Even the best of these homes are not healthy places for our children. Anglo-Canadian foster parents are not culturally equipped to create an environment in which a positive Aboriginal self-image can develop. In many cases, our children are taught to demean those things about themselves that are Aboriginal. Meanwhile, they are expected to emulate normal child development by imitating the role model behavior of their Anglo-Canadian foster or adoptive parents. The impossibility of emulating the genetic characteristics of their Caucasian caretakers results in an identity crisis unresolvable in this environment” (White & Jacobs, 1992, p. 19).
It wasn’t until the 1960s and the 1970s that drumming, and many other cultural traditions were revitalized. Many cultural traditions had been kept hidden, and some were forgotten. After World War II, “...many returning Indigenous veterans demanded freedom of religion and the right to practice traditional ceremonies” (Filice, & Simpson, 2016, p. 3). It was at this time that many traditional and cultural practices, were no longer practiced in secret.
The Canadian government is still slowly moving towards reconciliation. On Thursday February 1st, 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admitted during a town hall meeting in Edmonton that,
“The path of reconciliation ...has many, many steps to it... there’s the government’s step of recognizing what a nation to nation relationship truly is, of empowering political organizations and governments so that Indigenous communities can actually become in control of their own future, their own paths, their own young people, their own health care systems, their own communities, in a way that respects language, culture, traditions, and extraordinary richness of that culture that we should be learning from, instead of marginalizing, (Trudeau, Townhall meeting in Edmonton, Feb 1, 2018).