Negative Legacy of Residential Schools in Saskatchewan Social Essay

The Negative Legacy of Residential Schools in Saskatchewan
Student Name
Institutional Affiliation
The Negative Legacy of Residential Schools in Saskatchewan
The need for the Canadian government and the church to assimilate Aboriginal children into the mainstream Canadian society and Christian values led to the development of residential schools. While the nominal objective was educating these children, indoctrinating them into Euro-Canadian and Christian ways was the main objective. The schools operated from the 1880s and closed decades into the 20th Century. The schools firstly forced Aboriginal children from their homes. The children were required to follow strict rules that forbid them from acknowledging their culture and speaking their languages. Children who violated these rules received heavy punishment. The system was followed by what the U.S. had done several decades earlier with the Native Americans. The U.S. had built schools outside of the indigenous people’s reservations to forcibly assimilate them into the British culture. The system of residential schools caused emotional, physical, and sexual abuse among native learners, which had adverse effects on the growth and development of the Aboriginal children.
Residential schools contributed to broken family ties. The system forcefully took children from their homes. The aim was to separate them from their families so that they can experience a new culture. Since the Aboriginal students were removed from their families, a majority of them grew up without the nurturing of their parents and family (Neissen, 2017). Siblings rarely interacted, which further weakened family ties. As a result, they did not acquire the skills and knowledge on how to raise their children, since the residential system prevented them from experiencing such care. Growing up, it became challenging for the Aboriginal children who had undergone the system to raise their families effectively. The loss of family ties and values continued to have significant adverse effects on their family lives.
Additionally, residential schools contributed to the loss of indigenous culture. The ultimate aim of the residential schools was to eliminate all the aspects of the indigenous peoples' culture (Wilk, Maltby & Cooke, 2017). The schools did anything possible to eliminate the cultural aspects of the Aboriginal children, even when it harmed them. For instance, the learners were forced to cut their hair short, dress in uniforms, and adhere to strict timetables, which was against their usual way of life. Further, the learners were forbidden from speaking their languages. While a majority of the children did not know any other language apart from their native languages, they were severely punished for violating the rule. This forced them to abandon their culture and assimilate into that of the settlers, against their will.
Furthermore, the education system in residential schools was poor compared to the general population. While the public school system was well-funded, the residential schools remained sorely underfunded. This is because the residential schools, unlike the general population ones, were not concerned about offering education to the Aboriginal children. Instead, the residential sch...