Research Essay

History of Discipline in Residential Schools

Education in Canada has taken a major role in shaping what our society is today. Indigenous education in Canada has been a controversial topic for several decades. It was thought that through residential schools they would be able to assimilate Indigenous children into European cultured society. This policy was enacted in order to, “reshape the identity and consciousness of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children”. Through assimilation and cultural genocide, residential schools were created. Not only did this affect the children at the time, but their families for several generations. This paper will be examining early to mid twentieth century history of residential schools, the different ways discipline was used and the effects that it had on the survivors.  

Residential schools primarily ran between 1860 and 1980. They were enacted in order to integrate Indigenous children into modern culture. Indigenous people were viewed by white colonials as uneducated, uncivilized savages that lacked discipline. Society believed that Indigenous children would better fit in modern culture after undergoing a complete reformation while attending a colonial school system. Due to this, “the destruction of Aboriginal families by putting young children in residential schools was encouraged from an early date by government legislators and enforced by representatives of churches and by federal government Indian agents.” Indigenous children were wiped of their identity and sent to residential schools to learn “white” European culture. As soon as, “the children were admitted to the schools, they became virtual prisoners.”  The Indian Act stated that it is mandatory that all children from the ages of seven to sixteen attend school. The type of children you would see in residential schools were often, “orphans, children of broken homes or destitute families, children from isolated villages which are too small for day schools and for students obtaining a secondary education.”  Society figured that children would have better educational and societal advantages having attended a residential school following their strict cultural guidelines.

Discipline in residential schools was widely used in a variety of ways to maintain order and structure. Discipline was strongly enforced in Europe during the time so therefore, it was a huge component when creating residential schools. Throughout the residential schools ,“religious instruction and discipline became the primary tool to “civilize” indigenous people and prepare them for life as mainstream European-Canadians.” Society viewed Indigenous people as lacking discipline. In order to rectify this assumed lack of discipline, the government thought that it would be easier for them to teach good behaviour and discipline to children than to adults. Consequently, residential schools were created to teach the children about living a standard, euro-centric structured life and contributing to the society.

Throughout the residential schools discipline was enforced in several different ways. The students daytime schedule for the first half of the day involved prayer and lessons. The second half of the day focused on chores. The tasks that the students would perform were different depending on the students gender. For example, “boys were trained in farming and basic crafts. Girls received instruction in domestic skills, very frequently sewing and mending their own clothes.” The students were also expected to complete several other tasks including, “milking cows, collecting eggs, cutting and splitting firewood, picking fruit, and doing kitchen work.” Throughout the entire day each task was addressed by a bell. A typical daily schedule for the children would begin early in the morning. A bell would alarm and that would indicate that the students should get dressed and join church service. Following the church service, the students would complete additional tasks and then go and do a few hours of classes before switching to do more chores.  Another way in which they would discipline the students was through controlling their diet. The children were forbidden to eat their traditional meals and were forced to eat bland foods. It was thought that, “the imposed diets at residential schools might thus be understood in relation to a larger, global, colonial project whereby food was used either to emotionally subordinate First Nations students or as a means by which the colonial project inserted itself in the bodies of subjects the project attempted to colonize.” Controlling what the children ate is another example of how residential schools stripped the Indigenous children of their culture. Lastly, and perhaps most drastically, discipline was enforced to the students through religion. Typically the children would begin their day with church service and breathed religion throughout their daily lives. It was said that, “religion was a code word for general moral instruction.” Religion then was the perfect tool for implementing the colonial moral standards onto the young minds of Indigenous children. The Indian Act states that, “Where the majority of the members of a band belongs to one religious denomination, the school established on the reserve that has been set apart for the use and benefit of that band shall be taught by a teacher of that denomination.” In other words, the religion instructed in the schools would then vary depending on the religion in the area of which the school resided. In conclusion, discipline in the form of chores, schedules, and religion was a huge component of residential schools and their attempts to assimilate all Indigenous children into European Canadian society.

A disciplined and scheduled lifestyle did not come naturally to the Indigenous children. Instances of children breaking the rules forced upon them were commonplace. To counteract this in the residential schools, various types of punishments were used in order to enforce discipline and rid bad behaviour. Physical punishment was typically used in these scenarios. However, often, “for many students the physical punishment experienced in the residential schools was physical abuse.” Whippings and humiliation were the result for students who did not follow the schools schedules and rules. Emotional and mental styled punishments were also used in attempts to make students comply. Children’s hair was cut short if they were caught attempting to run away. Sometimes, punishments included being locked inside a closet for hours or days without food. In Fact, “disobedience and escape were two of the most common forms of resistance to the harsh, foreign discipline.” Disobedience to some Indigenous children was then a form of protest towards the schools that was worth enduring punishment for. Additionally, children were disciplined if they were caught wetting the bed. To conclude it can be established that punishment was apart of everyday life and oftentimes the line between punishment and abuse were commonly crossed.

Many Indigenous individuals who went to residential schools have suffered with many long term effects. For most, “these experiences had many detrimental effects for the students who attended the schools. They continue to torment not only the former residential school students themselves but also their families and communities.” The physical, emotional and mental abuse these students endured have scarred them for the rest of their lives. Studies have shown that residential school survivors are directly linked to, “poorer general and self-rated health, increased rates of chronic and infectious diseases. Effects on mental and emotional well-being included mental distress, depression, addictive behaviours and substance mis-use, stress, and suicidal behaviours.” As more children returned from residential schools they had fewer and fewer resources to use in order to help heal the wounds that the traumatic experiences of residential schools caused.

Social control and social concern play a large role when creating residential schools. According to some, it seemed as if it was social concern that influenced the government to create residential schools. About, “Seventy-five years ago many people were probably sincere in their belief that the Indian children needed a special type of education and that setting up schools for Indians only was in their best interest.” 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 perpetuating their western European traditions onto the children. Children were easier to influence than Indigenous adults and the government hoped that they would grow up to be model citizens and be able to participate in modern society. Many people today will argue otherwise.

In conclusion, the strict discipline enforced at residential schools had little benefit to the students. Rigorous schedules and foreign routine were imposed on the children. Even their diet could not deviate from the standards of the residential schools. Their entire lives became scheduled and dictated in attempts to groom them as a model, eurocentric citizens and remove any previous cultural ties they had.  Education in Canada and the treatment of Indigenous peoples has been a controversial topic of discussion for quite some time. The idea was that through residential schools and precise discipline the government would be able to integrate Indigenous children into European cultured society.. It has been shown that not only did this affect the children at the time, but their families for several generations. The various disciplinary measures and punishment they were forced to endure in the not so distant past, will likely continue to show its impact on the Indigenous peoples for many years to come.

Notes

1.  Marlene Brant Castellano, Linda Archibald, Mike DeGagne, and Marlene Brant Castellano From truth to reconciliation: Transforming the legacy of residential schools (Ottawa: Aboriginal Healing Foundation, 2008), 1-2.
2.  Jean Lefrance and Don Collins, “Residential schools and Aboriginal parenting: Voice of parents” (2006), 104.
3. Ibid., 105.
4. Alfred Vye Parminter, 1943 “The Development of Integrated Schooling for British Columbia Indian Children”, 49.
5. The Indian Act, (Ottawa, Queen’s Printer, 1958) , 39.
6. Ibid., 63.
7.  Dan Eshet, Stolen lives: The Indigenous peoples of Canada and the Indian residential schools. Facing History and Ourselves (2005), 139.
8.  Ibid., 42.
9. Ibid., 139.
10. Ibid.
11.  Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Miller, J.r., “Residential Schools in Canada”. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16.  Sarah De Leeuw, “Intimate colonialisms: the material and experienced places of British Columbia’s residential schools” (The Canadian Geographer/Le Géographe canadien 51, no. 3, 2007), 348.
17. Dan Eshet, Stolen lives: The Indigenous peoples of Canada and the Indian residential schools. Facing History and Ourselves, 141.
18. Jean Barman, Growing up British, 69-70
19. The Indian Act, (Ottawa, Queen’s Printer, 1958) , 39.
20.  Dan Eshet, Stolen lives: The Indigenous peoples of Canada and the Indian residential schools. Facing History and Ourselves, 143.
21. Ibid.
22.  Ibid.
23.  Ibid.
24.  Ibid., 145.
25.  Ibid., 54.
26.  Piotr Wilk,, Alana Maltby, and Martin Cooke. Residential Schools and the Effects on Indigenous Health and Well-being in Canada—a Scoping Review. Public Health Reviews, 2017
27. Truth and Reconciliation Commission, (2012)
28. Alfred Vye Parminter, 1943 “The Development of Integrated Schooling for British Columbia Indian Children”, 75.

Bibliography

Castellano, Marlene Brant, Linda Archibald, Mike DeGagne, and Marlene Brant Castellano. From truth to reconciliation: Transforming the legacy of residential schools. Ottawa: Aboriginal Healing Foundation, 2008.

De Leeuw, Sarah. “Intimate colonialisms: the material and experienced places of British Columbia’s residential schools.” The Canadian Geographer/Le Géographe canadien 51, no. 3 (2007): 339-359.

Eshet, Dan. Stolen lives: The Indigenous peoples of Canada and the Indian residential schools. Facing History and Ourselves, 2015.

Jean Barman, Growing up British, 69-70.

LeFrance, Jean, and Don Collins. “Residential schools and Aboriginal parenting: Voice of parents.” (2003).

Miller, J.r., “Residential Schools in Canada”. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published October 10, 2012; last modified September 21, 2018. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools

Parminter, Alfred Vye. 1943. “The Development of Integrated Schooling for British Columbia Indian Children.” Retrospective Theses and Dissertations, 1919-2007. T, University of British Columbia.

The Indian Act, Ottawa, Queen’s Printer, 1958.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission, (2012).

Wilk, Piotr, Alana Maltby, and Martin Cooke. Residential Schools and the Effects on Indigenous Health and Well-being in Canada—a Scoping Review. Public Health Reviews, 2017.