The last Canadian residential school to close was Gordon Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan!! Canada’s residential schools were an assimilation system that aimed to “kill Indians within the child.” From the 1870s to the 1990s nearly 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools in Canada. Some children were taken away from their homes. The Canadian government supported the operation of these schools which were run by Christian churches 🍁 🇮🇳 🏫 ⛪ ..
Residential schools were established to assimilate Indigenous children into Canadian and Western culture taking them away from their traditional ways of life! Unfortunately Indigenous students experienced physical emotional sexual abuse in addition to harsh discipline and neglect at these institutions 🍁 🏫. Furthermore, Indigenous languages and cultures weren’t respected; students were forbidden to speak their native tongue or practice any customs or beliefs of their own.
The first residential school in Canada opened in 1840, and all the way through the next century, higher than 130 schools were established around the country. Some of the largest and most notorious residential schools included the Mohawk Institute in Brantford Ontario the Alberni Residential School in British Columbia, and the La Tuque Indian Residential School in Quebec. The schools were often established as part of remote areas and could be difficult to access.
In 1969, the federal government passed the White Paper, a document that sought to end the special status of Indigenous peoples in Canada ️ 🇨🇦 🔚. As part of the policy, Indigenous children would no longer be required to attend residential schools, and new schools would no longer be established 🆕 🏫. Instead, the government proposed to make education more accessible to Indigenous communities .
In Canada, the last residential school to close was Gordon Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan in 1996 🏫 🇮🇳. Following its demise, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was formed in 2008 to document and promote reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and Canada’s government 🇨🇦. Since then, numerous reports have been released by the TRC containing its 2015 report on Canada’s legacy of residential schools.
The legacy of residential schools has had a profound and lasting impact on Indigenous communities in Canada ️ 🇨🇦 🔛 🏫. While the last residential school closed in 1996, the effects of this system of assimilation continue to become felt today. In recent years, there has been an increased focus on reconciliation, with the government investing in programs, and initiatives like the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
While the closure of the last residential school in 1996 marked an important milestone there is still much work to get done to address the legacy of the residential school system and to build a better future for Indigenous people in Canada ️ 🇨🇦 🏫. As the TRC has noted “reconciliation is an ongoing process that will take deliberate and meaningful action from all Canadians consisting of Indigenous peoples and Canadians from all walks of life . ” . .
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