Pope Francis met representatives of the Indigenous peoples of Canada in Rome in April 2022 and in Canada in July 2022. At these meetings he offered sincere apologies for the ways in which the Catholic Church had colluded with the strategy of cultural assimilation of the Indigenous people in Canada. This was especially abhorrent in the residential…

Michael Pitblado and Agnieszka Chalas, history teacher and art teacher respectively, describe how and why they responded to a call by Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission to engage students with difficult aspects of Canada's past, including the forced cultural assimilation of Indigenous peoples through the Indian Residential School System.…

Indian residential schools lasted in Canada for nearly 150 years, with the last one closing in 1996. Canada's recently concluded Truth and Reconciliation Commission has confirmed what Indigenous families have said all along: many Indigenous children endured abuse, prolonged separation between parent and child, and intergenerational legacies.…

The Indigenous people of Canada have endured great hardships and injustices in the past that have greatly affected them as a people and as individuals. For about a century, the young and innocent were taken from their homes and communities and placed in residential schools. The formal educational system of the past failed many students, harmed…

Education is stated as the number one priority of the Government of Nunavut's "Sivumiut Abluqta" mandate. The Nunavut education system is seen by many as failing to provide Inuit with the promise of supporting Inuit economic and social well-being. Today in Nunavut, there is a growing awareness of the effects of past colonialist polices…

This study is shaped by an underlying theoretical assumption that literacy is a cultural practice, shaped by and shaping social factors such as culture, gender, politics, and economics. As a result, this article focuses on the literacy practices of two mothers who participated in the study. Because of their Aboriginal ancestry and the historical…

Canada's official residential school policy, functioning between 1879 and 1986, acted as a weapon in a calculated attack on indigenous cultures, seeking--through such now infamous procedures as familial separation, forced speaking of non-Native languages, and propagandist derogation of precontact modes of existence and Native spiritual systems--to…

In Canada, more than 9,000 lawsuits have been filed by American Indians and Inuits seeking reparations for the mistreatment Indigenous children suffered in residential schools operated by four religious groups and financed by the Canadian government. Although most suits allege "cultural damage" caused by schooling practices, little of…

Members of the Canadian Association of School Superintendents and Inspectors have contributed articles delineating the progress of Indian education in Canada and emphasizing the accomplishments of Indian children in both Federal and provincial schools. Topics presented include the history of the development of financial and administrative…

Traces the Canadian Indian residential school movement from its beginnings in the 1830s. Describes emerging negative response of both the government and Indian parents. Notes that the initial goal of assimilation has produced graduates who have led the struggle for Native identity. (NEC)