E V E R Y C H I L D M A T T E R S
Today is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day in Canada, a statutory holiday. This day is to recognize the legacy of the Canadian Indian residential school system and the impact (cultural genocide) it has had on the Indigenous communities for over a century.
All PHOTO & VIDEO CREDITS: Lets Talk Science | Wikipedia
WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY (September 30th) IN CANADA?
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald asked Nicholas Flood Davin to report on residential schools in the United States. Davin reported that residential schools could separate aboriginal children from their parents and culture and cause them "to be merged and lost" and argued for the government to open these schools.
Beginning in 1883, the government started funding Indian residential schools primarily run by the Roman Catholic Church and Anglican Church, including the United Church of Canada, Methodist Church and Presbyterian Church.
DEATHS
The conditions were horrific at these schools due to underfunding, and the infectious disease of tuberculosis was rampant. Approximately 150,000 students were placed in residential schools nationally; the deaths of roughly 3,200 children in these residential schools were detailed by The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. It is believed the actual number of deaths could be as high as 6,000 as the Commission only included the deaths of children they had records for. Most of the deaths took place in the 1950s. The most common cause of death was tuberculosis; the students also died from other causes, including other diseases, fire, accidents, drowning, and hypothermia, some of which occurred while running away from school. Many deaths resulted from neglect as students were denied primary medical care until just before they died, and in some cases, school staff did not bother searching for missing children until the next day. The mortality rate at the residential schools (30%) was much higher than the mortality rates of Canadian children as a whole.
LANGUAGE AND CULTURAL RESTRICTIONS
The residential schools aimed to eliminate the Indigenous language and culture and replace it with English, French, and Christian beliefs.
Comentários