Residential Schools Historical Overview 1840-1922

1840's – Residential schools are established as part of the government's efforts to force assimilation of Canada's Aboriginal peoples. Many students experienced physical, emotional and sexual abuse. The last residential school in Canada was closed in 1996. Indian residential schools of Canada were a network of "residential" (boarding) schools for Aboriginal peoples of Canada (First Nations [formerly "Indians"], Metis, and Inuit [formerly "Eskimos"]) funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs, and administered by Christian churches, most notably the Catholic Church in Canada and the Anglican Church of Canada. The system had origins in pre-Confederation times, but was primarily active following the passage of the Indian Act in 1876, until the mid-twentieth century. An amendment to the Indian Act in 1920 made attendance at a day, industrial or residential school compulsory for First Nations children and, in some parts of the country, residential schools were the only option. The number of residential schools reached 80 in 1931 but decreased in the years that followed. The last federally-operated residential school was closed in 1996.
Chapter 3: Residential Schools as Policy Legacy of Hope Foundation – http://www.wherearethechildren.ca/en/blackboard/page-7.html

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1842 – Bagot Commission Reports that Indians ought to acquire 'industry and knowledge' and recommends agriculture-based boarding schools, placed far from parental influence. This Report laid the cornerstone for Indian Residential Schools. he root of religious outreach was a desire to save souls from hell's fire while filling up the pews-goals complementary to the policy of assimilation adopted by the federal government at that time.

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1845 – Government reports to the legislative assembly of Upper Canada and recommends that Indian boarding schools be set up.

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1847 – Egerton Ryerson's study of Indian education is carried out at the request of the Assistant Superintendent General of Indian Affairs. This study becomes the model for future Indian Residential Schools. Ryerson's report to Indian Affairs stated: "The education of Indians consists not merely of training the mind but of a weaning from the habits and feelings of their ancestors and the acquirements of the language, arts and customs of civilized life". He suggests a partnership between government and church and that schooling be of a religious nature.

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1876 – Nicholas Flood Davin was sent to the US to study the Indian education system. Davin recommended that four denominational industrial boarding schools be established so that Indian children could learn Christian morality and work habits away from the influences of the home. Davin's report had an important influence in shaping the early residential school system.

April 12, 1876 – "An Act to amend and consolidate the laws respecting Indians", aka: "The Indian Act, 1876", passed, essentially extinguishing any remaining self-government for natives and making them wards of the federal government.
An Act to amend and consolidate the laws respecting Indians. (April 12, 1876) Library and Archives Canada – http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/301/ic/cdc/aboriginaldocs/stat/w-1876a.htm

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1891 -
“Why should we expect that Indians alone, of all people, should be quietly ready to give up all old customs and traditions and language, and adopt those of the aggressor upon their soil? The change which we expect the Indian to make, and make so quickly, is a far greater one than is required of any of those nations above enumerated [Germany, Sweden, France, Italy], who have left the shores of one civilized country to come to those of another. With the Indian, the change is a radical one — a change of dress, a change of dwelling, a change in mode of gaining livelihood, a social change, a religious change, an educational change, a totum in toto change. And this — not so much for his own benefit, as for our own convenience. We want the land. We cannot have Indian hunters annoying our farmers and settlers. If the Indian is to remain, we expect him to be a decent neighbour; and to be a decent neighbour, we expect him to accept our religion, our education, our laws, and our customs. We allow him no choice and we allow him no time.” ~ Attributed to E.F. Wilson. Principal of Shingwauk Residential School. May 1891. The Canadian Indian. Vol.1, no.8.

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1907 – Chief Medical Inspector P.H. Bryce reports numerous deficiencies of the schools to the Department of Indian Affairs. As a result of government inaction, he published his findings in a 1922 book: The Story of a National Crime: Being a Record of the Health Conditions of the Indians of Canada from 1904 to 1921.

Full text of The story of a national crime : being an appeal for justice to the Indians of Canada ; the wards of the nation, our allies in the Revolutionary War, our brothers-in-arms in the Great War – http://www.archive.org/stream/storyofnationalc00brycuoft/storyofnationalc00brycuoft_djvu.txt

THE STORY OF A NATIONAL CRIME: BEING AN APPEAL FOR JUSTICE TO THE INDIANS OF CANADA The Wards of the Nation : Our Allies in the Revolutionary War : Our Brothers-in-Arms in the Great War. BY P. H. BRYCE, M,A., M.D. Published by James Hope & Sons, Limited OTTAWA. CANADA 1922 – http://www.wherearethechildren.ca/en/documents/bryce_extract.pdf [pdf]

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