Although many view these schools as events that occurred a long time ago, in truth the last residential school closed only two decades ago. (Hanson, 2016, para. #18) Residential school syndrome is a term created by a psychologist called Charles Brasfield and it refers to a disorder experienced by survivors of the residential school system. This disorder is similar to post-traumatic stress disorder, but with a much more cultural focus that can completely change the behaviour of those affected. (Brasfield, 2016, para. # 2) The effects of what transpired in that system are still being felt generations later from descendants of those who were in residential schools or even residential school survivors themselves. (Hanson, 2016, para. #19) Generations of aboriginal youth had to grow up in situations with no stable and nurturing family to take care of them, and many therefore lack the skills needed to parent their own children. (Hanson, 2016, para. #19) The trauma sustained in residential schools has caused a serious increase in domestic abuse and violence that results in broken homes. The cycle of abuse has continued years and years later, still causing disruption in Aboriginal families. (Hanson, 2016, para. #20) It was found that among indigenous people aged 10 to 44, the primary cause of death that is responsible for almost 40% of the mortalities is suicide and self-inflicted injury. There are also seriously high rates of alcoholism and substance abuse found on reserves. (Hanson, 2016, para. #20) Though the residential schools may not be the only cause of this, it is certainly the root of many problems for Aboriginal individuals and the healing process will be a long
For decades in Canada, officially beginning in 1892, children were taken away from their families and put into schools that would change and take away their views and beliefs, initial knowledge, image, and identity. In the earlier stages, these schools were referred to as Industrial Schools for Indians. Today, we call them Residential Schools with Aboriginal survivors who are able to tell their stories. Aboriginal people suffered while there schools were running. This essay will compare the knowledge in a recent article to primary sources that were written while Industrial Schools were in action. The actions of assimilating Aboriginal people through a strict form of education caused a negative butterfly effect upon the public and Aboriginal
The indigenous people have a long and proud history, including the rich cultural and spiritual traditions. However, many of these traditions have been changed or even disappeared after the arrival of the European settlers. Forced introduction of European culture and values, Aboriginal community, indigenous land being deprived, and the imposition of a period of governance outside the pattern of the beginning of a cycle of social, physical and spiritual destruction. You can see the effects of today. Some of the effects include poverty, poor health, and drug abuse. The basis of these problems is a loss of identity and a sense of knowing that their values are oppressed, and their rights are ignored. Likewise, non-indigenous Canadians have become increasingly aware of the unfairness of the richness of indigenous and aboriginal cultures that are taking place.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is a starting point; however, it is simply not enough to integrate the aboriginals into Canadian society. Apologizing for wrong doing and compensating individuals that have lived through the terror of residential schools is not enough to prevent the issue from recurring again. There are multiple steps that need to be taken in order to correct for Canada’s original sin. First, negotiations between the federal government and the aboriginal people need to take place. Next, Canadians need to educate their youth of the historical truth. Lastly, it is necessary to look at aboriginals as people, and not a foreign
The ‘Bringing Them Home Report’ was a significant event for the civil rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as what they experienced between 1910 to 1970 was something no human being should have to go through, The Stolen Generations suffered a great deal of traumatic experiences. On 11 of May 1995 change, had to take place as this wasn’t a lifestyle a human being should live, the inquiry period began for The Bringing Them Home Report. It was a National Inquiry that looked into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. It was a complicated
Some women are afraid for their lives, that if they leave their partner, they or their family will be harmed. In Heavenfire’s case, she truly loved and cared for Falardeau and did not want to see him go to jail for his crimes. Falardeau financially supported Heavenfire and she did not want to involve her family for support if she were to leave Falardeau. Heavenfire’s was an exceptional case as she was the first aboriginal to be cleared of all charges in her husband’s killings. Inequality in the criminal justice system is evident. Indigenous people are incarcerated at much higher rates than non-Indigenous in Canada and are incarcerated for longer periods of time (Cook & Roesh, 2012, p.222). Canadians have put Indigenous communities through much heartache and pain. With the colonization of Indigenous people to residential schools, Canadians continue to stigmatize and treat Indigenous people poorly. Indigenous people are more likely to suffer from drug abuse using needles because of the intergenerational trauma suffered through their parents attending residential schools in Canada (Bombay, Matheson, & Anisman, 2014, p. 327). This puts them at a higher criminal risk than others because of what they have been subjected to. Reasons et al., (2016) found that, “offending and victimization are a consequence of multiple risk factors,
How different would life be if your nation was discriminated and seen as unequal to the rest of the people in your country? Unfortunately, this is a major problem in the Indigenous community of Canada today. Discrimination against the Indigenous dates back to early European settlement, and although efforts have been made in recent generations to make the country a mosaic of peoples and cultures, a recent poll suggests that more than one-third of respondents believe racism against Indigenous people is increasing in Canada. Although the Indigenous are considered the “First Peoples of Canada,” they are continuously being discriminated because of their ethnicity / race, they are being unreasonably searched, and they are not receiving the basic
Aboriginal people continue to be victimized and incarcerated at much higher rates than non-Aboriginal people. The overrepresentation of Canadian Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system is a question that has not yet been answered. This research paper will focus on the risk factors experienced by many Aboriginal people, residential school experiences, and institutional racism, and their roles in the overrepresentation of Canadian Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system. The Canadian government system has tried to deal with this issue, but looking at the high rates of overrepresentation, there approach has not been successful.
Indigenous peoples of Canada have been considered inferior to all other citizens, and have been abused and neglected through European history, and can be seen as a form of genocide. In Canadian residential schools, children were removed from the home, sexually assaulted, beaten, deprived of basic human necessities, and over 3 500 women and girls were sterilized, and this went on well into the 1980 's (Nicoll 2015). The dehumanization of Indigenous peoples over the generations has left a significant impact on society today; the generational trauma has left many Indigenous peoples heavily dependent of drugs and alcohol, and the vulnerability of Indigenous women has led to extremely high rates of violent crime towards these women. A report that
Aboriginal women prior to colonization were respected, prominent members, and a vital part of their community. Precolonization Aboriginal women did not stay home as house wives; they were an important participant within harvest and other duties that supported their families and communities. Children were reared by the “mother clan” it took the whole family to raise a child from husbands, brothers, and extended family leaving little room for family violence (Martin-Hill, 2012, p. 110). Canada’s Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples referred to the voices of Aboriginal women pre-colonization:
Residential schools were religious schools that were sponsored by the government in order to convert aboriginal children into the European – Canadian way of living.2 The government believed that if they were able to successfully assimilate the children, the Native culture would cease to exist, the children that would have participated in those schools would only be able to pass down the Euro-Canadian culture. Residential schools were ran in a methodical way, bells will ring waking up the children and motioning them to dress up then they were forced to attend a Christian church regardless of what they believed. After that breakfast would arrive then they would attend classes and do school work. There was a short period for the children to play, followed with dinner and then bedtime. Although there are some students that associate the school with happiness, there are certainly a greater amount that don’t, being the reason that many students were damagingly abused and will be scared for a long duration of their life. The meals that were provided by the school were in small quantity and disgusting, the clothes often did not provide the children with proper protection in the winter and were rarely well fitting. The sole languages that were spoken in school were English and French which majority of the children were unable to comprehend. In
Aboriginal Australian peoples have been placed in unfair situations that have resulted in disconnections from society due to bias in culture, racism and because of previous historical events such as colonisation that led to colonialism and horrible events such as The Stolen Generation. These events act like a scar to the Aboriginal Australian peoples and their culture, those previously mentioned historical events symbolises the cut, the immense pain that was caused in that moment is still a factor and the pain from it is still prevalent and is symbolised by the scar. The scar also represents the factors that still manage to affect the Aboriginal Australians today, such as racism and lack of quality and access to education, money and health care.. The Indigenous peoples are also affected by various other factors such as limited access to health care that may be of poor quality, such resources may also bring fear to the Indigenous peoples because practitioners are not always sensitive or respectful to
The impact of the forcible removal is still affecting current generations in various ways, including poor parenting skills. Children were not the only ones affected by the Stolen Generation, the parents of the children suffered greatly. Parents that had their children taken away never recovered from their loss, and turned to suicide or alcohol to cope. Several generations were removed from the Indigenous community where cultural history and knowledge vanished on future generations. Future indigenous families suffer mental illnesses, behavioural problems and unsettled emotional grief (McIntyre and McKeich, 2009). A loss of identity when the stolen child was taken due to lies on who they were transitioned in part of their heritage becoming lost. Indigenous people rely on their culture, land and heritage to establish their identity. Siblings were separated when
With a topic like missing and murdered indigenous women, it is a very serious topic. My research title will need to be a title that should discuss the hardships that these women have to face and also the fear that it implements on all indigenous women. Therefore, after careful consideration, I have decided that my title would be: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women: The Forgotten Victims of Canada.
The way that society sees you should not depend on the colour of your skin. Even today, in the 21st century, people in our society judge other human beings by their colour or race. One of the main racism issues is the discrimination towards our Indigenous people. National data from the Challenging Racism Project reveals that 27% of Aboriginal people over the age of 15 experience racism more than once in their life. Racism towards Indigenous Australians includes mostly verbal abuse such as name-calling and insulting language. Exclusion from workplaces and social events also plays a major part in the racial discrimination. Do we really want Australia to be seen as such a racist and prejudiced nation? What can we as individuals do to stop this racial hate from going on? All of this is happening because we stole the Aboriginal people’s land. If we had