0:05 from the 1800s until the 1990s the
0:07 canadian government funded and ran a
0:10 number of residential schools from the
0:12 outset the goal was to educate the
0:14 children of the indigenous people in
0:16 ways deemed more civilized and to
0:19 assimilate them into western culture
0:20 children were taken away from their
0:22 homes and kept away from their parents
0:25 their language and their culture in a
0:28 bid to destroy all trace of their way of
0:30 life what happened to these children has
0:32 left deep scars in the communities
0:35 ruined countless lives and resulted in
0:37 the deaths of an estimated 6 000
0:39 children and many of them buried in
0:42 unmarked graves in today's video we will
0:45 discuss the reasons behind such schools
0:47 what the survivors experienced and the
0:50 steps taken to address this historical wrong
0:52 wrong
0:54 prior to the european settlement the
0:55 indigenous peoples of canada were
0:57 organized into hundreds of distinct
1:00 territories known as the first nations
1:02 the implementation of the residential
1:04 schools can be traced back to early
1:06 missionary schools
1:08 these church-run institutions were
1:10 designed to civilize the native
1:12 populations a view based on colonial
1:15 imperialism and cultural supremacy this
1:17 was to be achieved by indoctrinating the
1:19 children into european and christian
1:20 ways of living with the goal of
1:23 assimilating them into a white society
1:25 these schools were pushed in the early
1:28 1800s in tandem with the other attempts
1:30 to pull the indigenous populations away
1:33 from their nomadic lifestyles such as
1:35 encouraging agriculture
1:38 this approach was formalized in 1844 in
1:40 a report from the bago commission
1:42 amongst many other matters pertaining to
1:44 the indigenous people it made
1:46 recommendations to control indian
1:49 affairs identifying that this could be
1:51 achieved through the assimilation and
1:53 education of native children
1:55 many of the recommendations were
1:59 codified in the indian act of 1857
2:01 which encroached on many aspects of the
2:03 indigenous people's lives with the goal
2:06 to westernize the first nations it also
2:07 provided government funding to the
2:10 catholic and anglican missionary schools
2:12 the canadian government took inspiration
2:14 from the industrial schools for
2:16 indigenous children in the united states
2:18 and began to take control of the
2:20 missionary schools and formally
2:22 established the residential schools in
2:25 1883 though in many instances they were
2:28 still run by the church as stated before
2:30 the goal of the residential schools was
2:32 to eradicate all aspects of the
2:34 indigenous people's culture by taking
2:36 the youth of the generation and
2:38 separating them from their homes
2:40 families and traditions on arrival
2:43 students had their hair cut short they
2:45 were dressed into uniforms designed to
2:47 westernize them and very often they were
2:49 referred to by numbers their daily
2:51 routine was strictly controlled by
2:54 stringent timetables all of the first
2:57 nation languages were banned whilst boys
2:58 and girls were kept in the same
3:01 institutions they were kept apart even
3:03 brothers and sisters were separated in
3:05 this manner with often violent
3:07 punishments for mixing
3:08 visits from family were heavily
3:10 restricted with children rarely allowed
3:13 to leave for the holidays or breaks
3:15 many of the parents would often camp
3:16 outside the school in hopes of seeing
3:19 their children but the past system that
3:21 kept the first nation peoples on the
3:24 reserves heavily restricted this and for
3:26 many of their parents it wasn't even an
3:28 option as their children were often sent
3:30 hundreds of miles away
3:32 whilst children were permitted to write
3:34 letters to their parents letters would
3:36 be screened so that the news leaving the
3:38 institutions was hidden although they
3:41 were referred to as residential schools
3:43 the level of education provided was
3:45 minimal supplies would be surplus from
3:47 the schools for europeans and the
3:49 teachers often lacked adequate training
3:51 and motivation
3:53 instead the children were taught
3:55 practical western skills for girls
3:58 education focused on homely duties
4:00 cooking doing the laundry and how to
4:02 look after the home
4:04 for boys focus was on carpentry
4:07 agriculture and metalworking in addition
4:09 to their training the children were
4:11 expected to help run the schools
4:13 this would be having the children run
4:15 maintenance or have them grow their own
4:17 food to eat these initiatives were
4:19 designed to cut costs and have the
4:22 institutions as self-reliant as possible
4:24 this was also at the expense of the
4:26 children's formal education meaning when
4:28 they left at 18 years old they would
4:30 leave with little more than a primary
4:32 level of education
4:34 whilst the separation of the children
4:36 can be seen as bad enough the horrendous
4:38 treatment of the first nation children
4:40 only makes the residential schools that
4:43 much worse they were often called dirty
4:46 or stupid or no good unless they
4:48 committed to the assimilation process
4:50 corporal punishment was seen as the
4:52 standard beatings for using their
4:54 indigenous language offer engaging in
4:56 ways that were seen contrary to
4:58 assimilation with a norm
5:00 even just talking about traditions or
5:02 culture was to be punished some
5:04 survivors even reported having needles
5:06 shoved into their tongues for speaking
5:08 their native language
5:10 more often than not such beatings were
5:12 done in front of other children as a
5:15 means to instill the consequences of
5:17 engaging in their culture there are even
5:20 reports of the children having to engage
5:22 in violently punishing each other for
5:25 infractions as minor as wetting the bed
5:27 s.a of the children by those working at
5:30 the institutions was unfortunately a
5:33 regular occurrence it is estimated that
5:35 around 5000 of these individuals
5:38 committed serious sa against minors
5:40 under their care
5:42 many of the schools were run by churches
5:44 which operated in the same manner seen
5:46 around the world where those responsible
5:49 were protected by the culture of secrecy
5:52 and cover-ups very often they would just
5:54 move to another institution without punishment
5:55 punishment
5:57 it is estimated that between 50 and 70
6:00 percent of their children were subjected
6:02 to some form of sa
6:04 due to these horrific conditions the
6:06 death rates of those at the residential
6:08 schools were much higher than the
6:11 national average in 1907 a government
6:13 medical inspector named peter henderson
6:16 bryce reported that between 15 and 25
6:18 percent of the previously healthy
6:20 indigenous children across canada who
6:22 are dying whilst at the residential schools
6:23 schools
6:26 this however does not reflect those ill
6:28 children who were sent home to die as
6:30 was the common practice
6:32 bryce reported that the children were
6:34 not given sufficient food and were
6:37 living in squared conditions and denied
6:39 proper medical treatment whilst he
6:41 suggested a number of improvements his
6:43 report was never published by the
6:45 canadian authorities and no improvements
6:47 were made this attitude of the
6:49 government being well aware of the
6:51 conditions yet being unwilling to make
6:54 changes was par for the course for the
6:56 duration of the residential school
6:58 system even as the residential school
7:01 system slowly wound down other methods
7:03 are seen to have been employed to
7:05 assimilate the indigenous children from
7:08 the 1960s to the 1980s thousands of
7:11 children were taken from their homes and
7:13 placed with white foster homes in what
7:16 is referred to as the 60s scoop
7:18 whilst indigenous children made up
7:20 around 5 of the population they
7:23 represented 20 of all children in care
7:26 in some territories the number would be
7:28 as high as 70 percent many of the
7:31 children placed into foster care would
7:33 never return to their parents due to the
7:35 amendments in the indian act the 60s
7:37 scoop particularly affected single
7:40 mothers as they were not allowed to live
7:42 with their children on the reservations
7:44 it became common practice that newborn
7:47 babies were taken from their mothers a
7:49 judicial inquiry was launched in the
7:52 1980s headed by judge edwin kimmelman
7:54 which found quote
7:56 the term best interest of the child had
7:58 been wrought with cultural bias in a
8:01 system dominated by white middle-class
8:03 workers boards of directors
8:07 administrators lawyers and judges they
8:09 also alleged that in the application of
8:11 the legislation there were many factors
8:13 which were crucially important to the
8:15 native people which had been ignored
8:18 misinterpreted or simply not recognized
8:20 by the children welfare system
8:22 by the 1990s the residential school
8:24 system was in the process of being
8:26 completely wound down
8:29 with the last school closing in 1996
8:33 but also in the 1990s began a major push
8:35 for recognition of the crimes at this
8:38 point entire generations of indigenous
8:40 people had experienced the same trauma
8:42 with older relatives coming to grips
8:44 with the fact the younger generations
8:47 had faced what they had often in the
8:50 same schools this can perhaps be best
8:53 explained by chief george gurin he said
8:56 i tried very hard not to cry when i was
8:58 being beaten and i can still just turn
9:01 off my feelings and i'm a lucky man many
9:04 of the men my age either didn't make it
9:07 ended their lives or died violent deaths
9:10 or alcohol got them and it wasn't just
9:13 my generation my grandmother who's in
9:16 her late 90s to this day it's just too
9:17 painful for her to talk about what's
9:19 happened at her school
9:22 on the 30th of october 1990 phil
9:24 fontaine the head of the assembly of the
9:27 monotober chiefs gave a televised
9:30 interview where he explained what he and
9:32 many others had experienced
9:34 this was perhaps the first public
9:36 explanation by a survivor of the
9:38 residential homes and hope to encourage
9:40 more survivors to begin the healing and
9:43 reconciliation process since then there
9:46 have been concerted efforts by both the
9:47 indigenous people and the canadian
9:50 government to address these crimes
9:53 in 2006 the indian residential school
9:56 settlement agreement was reached this
9:58 agreement established compensation for
10:00 the survivors of the schools and set up
10:03 the truth and reconciliation commission
10:05 despite delays and issues of leadership
10:07 the commission was able to compile
10:10 thousands of testimonies and obtain
10:12 around 1 million government documents on
10:14 how the schools were run
10:16 but one of the darkest projects
10:18 established by the commission was the
10:21 missing children project in 1917 the
10:23 department of indian affairs ceased
10:25 recording the deaths of children under
10:26 their care
10:29 since the 1990s countless unmarked
10:32 graves have been uncovered on or near
10:34 the sites of the former schools the vast
10:36 number of those who died were victims of tuberculosis
10:38 tuberculosis
10:41 exacerbated by the poor conditions
10:44 in 2021 a large number of unmarked
10:46 graves were uncovered prompting more
10:48 searches at the sites of the former
10:51 schools this renewed public interest has
10:55 led to 1400 unmarked graves of children
10:58 being uncovered in 2021 alone
11:00 there can be no doubt as to the aims of
11:03 the residential school system from its
11:05 outset until the 20th century those in
11:08 charge used the schools to destroy and
11:10 fragment the indigenous way of life
11:13 one notable example of such a mindset
11:15 can be seen in a quote from duncan
11:17 campbell scott scott was a deputy
11:20 minister of indian affairs and was in
11:22 charge of the residential school system
11:27 from 1913 to 1932. in 1920 he is quoted
11:29 as saying i want to get rid of the
11:31 indian problem i do not think as a
11:34 matter of fact that the country ought to
11:36 continuously protect a class of people
11:38 who are unable to stand alone our
11:41 objective is to continue until there is
11:43 not a single indian in canada that has
11:46 not been absorbed into the body politic
11:47 the damage done to the indigenous people
11:50 of canada by these policies has been catastrophic
11:51 catastrophic
11:54 entire generations have been affected
11:56 but it is important to remember this is
11:58 but one of many attempts to destroy the
12:01 traditional way of life the motivations
12:02 were to destroy a culture deemed
12:05 inferior by the european settlers and
12:07 continued to be a policy for hundreds of
12:10 years adopted by the canadian government
12:11 there are many that believe the
12:13 residential schools in particular
12:16 constitute a genocide notably the
12:18 definition of forcibly transferring
12:20 children with the goal to destroy a culture
12:21 culture
12:23 this is still an ongoing and developing
12:26 story with more unmarked graves to be
12:28 uncovered and bodies to be identified
12:30 and returned home
12:32 i will be including links in the
12:33 description to the stories of the
12:36 survivors i would strongly advise you to
12:37 take the time to listen to a few to
12:40 better understand what these people
12:42 endured as children it is a difficult
12:44 watch but one necessary for us all to
12:46 understand the consequences of such
12:49 policies not only on the individuals but
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