Research Topic
History of residential schools, discipline and punishment, and the long term effects.
Key Ideas and Questions
- History of discipline in residential schools
- How did they enforce discipline?
- What sort of disciplinary measures were used?
- Did the children become more disciplined as they got older?
- Did discipline vary between boys and girls?
- History of punishment in residential schools
- What were the children punished for?
- What kind of punishments were used?
- Did punishment vary between girls and boys?
- What were the children punished for?
- How does both discipline and punishment relate to one another?
- Short-term effects of discipline and punishment?
- Long-term effects of discipline and punishment?
Background Information
- Discipline was widely used in Europe during the time that residential schools were created
- The government thought that Indigenous people lacked the discipline in order to participate in society
- Residential schools were a way for Indigenous children to learn discipline in ways that they wouldn’t have traditionally
- Punishment was a way to enforce discipline and ingrain a new way of living into the minds of the Indigenous children
- Ways that they would enforce discipline
- Through punishment (abuse)
- physical, emotional, verbal, and sexual
- Many of the days were spent with half of the day in the classroom with the other half of the day focussing on practical skills.
- Boys would learn tactical skills
- Girls would learn domestic skills
- Students were assigned chores
- Students followed a precise schedule daily
- Example Schedule:
Daily Schedule at Mount Elgin School, 1951 5 am Bell rings, students rise, wash, and dress 5:30 a.m. Breakfast, then prayers 6-9 a.m. Boys work on farm and girls in house 9-12 p.m. School 12-1 p.m. Lunch and recreation 1-3:30 p.m. School 3:30-6 p.m. Work on farm 6 p.m. Dinner and Prayers Evening In winter boys in evening school, girls learn needlework 9 p.m. Bedtime Hope Maclean, “Ojibwa Participation in Methodist Residential Schools,” The Canadian Journal of Native Studies 25 (2005), 115.
- Example Schedule:
- Through punishment (abuse)
Extra Readings
Graham, Elizabeth. The Mush Hole : Life at Two Indian Residential Schools. Waterloo, Ont. :Heffle Pub., 1997.
Social Control or Social Concern?
I would argue that this topic relates to both social control and social concern. It was social concern that influenced the government to create residential schools. The government was concerned that Indigenous peoples lacked the skills and discipline to contribute to society and economy. Social control comes into play by forcing the Indigenous children into residential schools and enforcing their western European traditions onto the children. Children were easier to influence and the government hoped that they would grow up and be able to participate in our society. Many will argue otherwise.
Research Video
Sources
Canada’s Residential Schools. Vol. 1. Mcgill-Queens Univeristy Press, 2015.
Graham, Elizabeth. The Mush Hole : Life at Two Indian Residential Schools. Waterloo, Ont. :Heffle Pub., 1997.
Eshet, Dan. Stolen Lives: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Indian Residential Schools. Facing History & Ourselves, 2015.
Hope Maclean, “Ojibwa Participation in Methodist Residential Schools,” The Canadian Journal of Native Studies 25 (2005), 115.
Jung, C. (2009). Canada and the legacy of the Indian residential schools: Transitional justice for Indigenous peoples in a non-transitional society.
Peterson, Lester Ray. 1959. “Indian Education in British Columbia.” Retrospective Theses and Dissertations, 1919-2007. T, University of British Columbia