residential schools

By lisc00

  • First operating residential schools in Canada

    The Mohawk Institute in Brantford, Ontario, accepted its first boarding students in 1831.

  • the Indian act

    The Indian Act, which was enacted in 1876 and has since been amended, allows the government to control most aspects of aboriginal life: Indian status, land, resources, wills, education, band administration and so on. Inuit and Métis are not governed by this law.

  • the indigenous traditions are banned

    in residential schools the kids were punished for speaking their own language and following their family traditions

  • illnesses taking a toll

    In the winter of 1926–27, around 13 children would die from a combination of measles and whooping cough at the Lytton school.

  • trying to make a change

    in the 1940s it was obvious to both the government and most missionary bodies that the schools were ineffective, and Indigenous protests helped to secure a change in policy.

  • allowing children to go home on holidays

    Only from the 1960s on did the schools routinely send children home for holidays. Therefore, many students in the residential school system did not see their family for years.

  • last residential school closed

    in 1996 the last residential school in Canada was shut down.

  • attempting to "make it better"

    In 2005, the federal government established a $1.9 billion compensation package for the survivors of abuse at residential schools.

  • Prime minister apologizes

    Prime Minister Stephen Harper, asks to apologize on the behalf of the government to the former students and families of the abuse in Canada.

  • finding the truth

    names of 2800 children who died in residential schools in Canada were released