History of Settler Colonialism and Residential Schools

Settler Colonialism

Canada’s history of settler colonialism has created a society where Indigenous communities have struggled tremendously to reclaim their sovereignty and have their rights recognized. Settler colonialism can be described as “different from other forms of colonialism in that settlers come with the intention of making a new home on the land” (Tuck & Yang 2012, pg. 5). Within Canada’s history, Indigenous land dispossession has been a massive part in dismantling previous settler relations and building a European nation. In Canada, “large-scale immigration played a decisive role in the conquest and peopling of sparsely occupied territories, as nations, they were founded, populated, and built by immigrants” (Alba & Foner 2015, pg. 11). Large-scale immigration onto Indigenous land coincided with efforts to assimilate Indigenous groups and thus create a new society dominated by European settlers.

Indigenous peoples were the first to settle upon the land know as Canada. As time progressed, the French began settle along the St. Lawrence river, essentially to traid fur with Indigenous people (Knowles 2016). However, “the fur trade was not the sole reason for the settlement’s existence. In the eyes of Champlain and other devout Frenchmen, it was also an invaluable commercial tool to be used in the pursuit of a higher goal: the conversion of the Indians to Catholicism” (Knowles 2016, pg. 14). The goal for European settlement was to assimilate Indigenous peoples and eliminate their ways of living, while convertiing Indigenous communities to Catholicism. The idea behind Samuel de Champlain’s conquests was that colonization and conversion of the “Indians” to Catholicism were essential to European settlement. For Europeans to effectively and sufficiently settle upon the land, they believed they had to dismantle the current ways of Indigenous life.

Residential Schools

Residential schools were and still are a big part of Canadian history. Residential schools were created to assimilate Indigenous children and erradicate their Indigenous beliefs and practices. They “subjected thousands of students to horrific experiences and contributed to serious problems for Aboriginal peoples and Canadian society” (Barnes & Josefowitz 2019, pg. 65). The objective behind European settlement, which continued for many years to come, was to assimilate and convert the Indigenous community to Catholicism.

The horrific abuse and experiences of residential schools “contributed significantly to the present poor welfare of many Aboriginal children, lagging Aboriginal educational and economic success, jeopardized Aboriginal languages and cultures, health problems among Aboriginal peoples, and the overrepresentation of Aboriginal peoples in the criminal justice system” (Barnes & Josefowitz 2019, pg. 65). The European language, beliefs, and foods that were pushed upon Indigenous children in residential schools were profoundly different from Indigenous experiences and practices and ultimately were intended to assimilate Indigenous children and youth European ways of living (Barnes & Josefowitz 2019, pg. 68).

References

Alba, R. D., & Foner, N. (2015). Strangers no more: immigration and the challenges of integration in North America and Western Europe. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press

Barnes, R., & Josefowitz, N. (2019). Indian Residential Schools in Canada: Persistent Impacts on Aboriginal Students’ Psychological Development and Functioning. Canadian Psychology, 60(2), 65-76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cap0000154

Knowles, V. (2016). Strangers at our gates: Canadian immigration and immigration policy, 1540-2015 (Fourth ed.). Dundurn.

Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, education & society, 1(1).