Residential Schools and Their Lasting Effect

Throughout the last couple years, there has been an increased knowledge of some of the atrocities that have happened to the First Nations of Canada, more recently with the findings of the little bodies of children who never made it home from the residential schools across the country. There are many children who became adults that have physically survived the schools but had their culture and identity torn from them, as well as the value of their personhood.  

Before I continue, I would like to make a disclaimer. I am a Cree Woman and a Christ follower. I do not represent the views of all/other First Nations peoples but am sharing and speaking from my own experience and from the experiences shared through the telling of my family members, from gathering knowledge from various sources, and from people passing on the parts of the culture to me. My view will differ on some areas of my culture simply because I am a Christian, but I, in no way, intend to demean or to insult my culture and the various First Nations in Canada. 

The Purpose of Residential Schools

The primary purpose of residential schools was not for the purpose of anything other than assimilation.“(If) Anything is to be done with the Indian, we must catch him very young. The children must be kept constantly within the circle of civilized conditions” - Nicholas Flood Davin, Report on Industrial Schools for Indians and Half Breeds, 1879. 

From the early 1800s and onward, residential schools as well as industrial schools became something that was a detriment to the First Nations of Canada and the U.S.A. The idea was to train the people, starting with the children, to eventually become accepted members of society, to give up their savage ways, and to become part of the civilized society that was being formed into Canada and the U.S.A. 

Children were required to be given up to the state, or else they would be forcibly removed by the Indian police. They would be taken to schools – mostly of Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, United Church, and Presbyterian denominations – and the government joined in partnership with them in about the mid 1800s. Once they arrived at the school, they would be stripped of their clothes (and dignity), deloused, scrubbed clean, given hair cuts, and were given new names. They were not allowed to speak their heart language, the one they grew up with. They were strapped, beaten, and made examples of when they behaved outside the lines of what was required of them, even if they didn’t understand what that was. Even worse things happened: abuse of all types, starvation, poor living conditions, and being treated as if they were not made with purpose or value. 

Real Experiences and Long Lasting Effects

My mommy heart aches, as I think of the heartbreak and the trauma that followed children being ripped away from parents, grandparents, and families. They were told that this would be a great opportunity for their children to become educated like the white man and that they could come home to visit. Many children were not allowed to go home, except for a short summer break if they were allowed at all. Many schools were year round schools. Any sort of resistance by families to the schools was met with violence and coercion. 

There are also many sad stories and accounts of children who ran away and never made it home from environmental factors/sickness. There are children who ran away and made it home and were brought back to school by the Indian police. There are many sad and heartbreaking stories of tragedy and wickedness that occurred at these places. 

Day schools were also quite prevalent from the 1860s up to 1996. The last day school and residential schools were closed around 1995/1996. Many of us have an equal amount of relatives that went to residential schools and day schools. The worst thing about day school though, even with the similar idea and principles as the residential school, was that the children were home each night so they lived with a sense of dread, knowing what they had to go back to in the morning. 

At day schools, assimilation was also the main objective followed by verbal, mental, and physical abuse by many of the staff. I am a day school survivor. Although I was a young girl, I attended from 4-7 years old and am convinced that had I gone to any other school, I might have had a chance of being a child without my innocence taken. 

The intergenerational and first hand trauma that was experienced by many from these incredibly invasive school systems is still felt today. There is a lot of brokenness in many families. Although I don’t speak for all, I speak from experience and with the utmost respect for my family members. We didn’t know how to be a family. There was a lot of dysfunction and addictions, abandonment, and brokenness. The schools took that God-given right of family away for generations, ironically enough, by those who made claims to be “Christian.” The way that these organizations moved forward clearly showed that they did not understand that all man was made in the image of God, for God by God. They took dignity, and they robbed the people of their value and their humanity. 

A small number of children enjoyed their time at school, and they were treated well. Some have fond memories of those who took care of them, but unfortunately, this was not common. 

Healing Through Christ Alone

As a young adult and mom, who desperately longed for a clean and sober life, to love my children well and raise them well, I was desperately longing for some solid guidance, direction, and some examples. I also was severely broken from the traumatic life I had as a child as an effect of this school system in which, praise the Lord, I was the last in my family line to attend. Only God, through Jesus Christ, His Son, could heal my brokenness and make me whole. He changed me and made me a new creation and gave me the grace to move toward healing. He carried me through that healing and is still carrying me through that healing. I know there are many who question why I, as a First Nations woman, would become a Christian after what has happened to my people; and my answer is this: Only God can give beauty for ashes. The people who worked for those institutions did not clearly know God or follow His word.    

We live in a sinful and fallen broken world, and even before residential schools caused trauma, there was still sin in the world – among people, among tribes. Humans are humans; they are sinful. But Christ, while we were yet sinners died for us (see Romans 5:8). Isaiah 45:22 says, “Look unto me and be saved, all the ends of the earth: For I am God, and there is none else.” 

There is no other God, and there is also no hurt too big for God to heal and carry. There is no amount of justice that I could do or write to the things that have happened in one small article, but my desire is to bring awareness and critical thinking when it comes to First Nations issues. 

Written by April Barth

My name is April, saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. Wife and homeschooling mom to 4. Cree woman from Alberta, Canada. Lover of books and truth. Dayschool survivor. Cycle breaker by God's grace.