While the content in this learning activity is aligned to the curriculum, some content may be sensitive to individual learners. Consider reaching out to a trusted adult to share your feelings and questions.

What are turning points?

Turning points are an important part of being able to identify, analyse, and assess different parts of history. Turning points can pinpoint if times are that of continuity (stability) or change.

Change is a process that varies in its patterns, meaning how rapidly or how deep the change is felt by society. Turning points are moments when the change shifts in direction or in pace.

Turning points exist everywhere, not just in the world or Canadian history, but in every single person’s life as well. Let’s think about your turning points.

• Think about any points in your life that you can identify as turning points. What are the times or moments you remember that altered the course of events in your life?
• Looking back, what are some of the distinct periods of your life? What makes them distinct? (e.g., an important event, a time of transition or change, etc.)
• Throughout these periods, what parts of your life stayed the same? (e.g., ideas, events etc.)? This helps you identify the continuity within times of change.

Press ‘Reflection’ to access guiding questions that might help you develop some thoughts.

Reflection

Continuity and change

As you learned in the Minds On section, a turning point is a historical event which is significant or is a time of progress or change. Throughout this activity, as you learn about the residential school system, you will be identifying and assessing events, people, and concepts as times of continuity or change and whether or not an event should be considered a turning point.

As you explore the information throughout this learning activity, you can evaluate various important events, concepts, or individuals by using the Continuity and Change chart provided. Every time there is a “CHECKPOINT,” you should be pausing for reflection and adding new information to your graphic organizer.

There are some helpful guiding questions to aid in your evaluation of the degree of change (located in the final column of the chart). Questions are:

• Stability and Change: What stayed the same and what changed as a result of the event?
• Pace and Depth of Change: Was the impact of the change widespread and deep or was it narrow and shallow? What were the key turning points in the event? What is the pace and the direction of change caused by key turning points?
• Historical Significance: What examples of progress or decline resulted from the event? Describe the progress or decline in social, political, legal, economic, environmental, cultural, and/or technological terms.

For rating the degree of change, use this scale:

Rating scale:

4 = complete change

3 = moderate change

2 = minimal change

1 = continuity (no change)

Task 1: The residential school system

The Indian Act and the residential school system

The start of assimilation through education began much earlier than the residential school system. From the 1600s to 1800s, church-run schools were in operation with the aim of assimilating Indigenous peoples into their religious beliefs and values.

Press ‘Assimilation’ to access its definition.

Assimilation

Through the British North America Act, the Canadian government implemented a system in which they took control over Indigenous peoples. With this shift, attitudes and treatment of Indigenous people began to change. The push to assimilate Indigenous peoples increased.

Press ‘The British North America Act’ to access what this document is.

The British North America Act

Before the Indian Act was enacted in 1876, it was preceded by other legislation (later combined to form the Indian Act), such as:

• the Act to Encourage the Gradual Civilization of Indian Tribes in this Province, and to Amend the Laws Relating to Indians (also known as the Gradual Civilization Act) in 1857
• the Gradual Enfranchisement Act, in 1869

These documents revealed the government’s plan to have First Nations peoples rescind their status and become “civilized,” as defined by the government, and part of the Canadian population.

Under the Indian Act, the federal government mandated the education of First Nations’ children and entered into a partnership with the churches to provide First Nations children education with a focus primarily on assimilation. Inuit and Métis peoples were not included in the Indian Act but were enrolled in the schools, nonetheless.

Explore the following video “What is a Residential School?”. While you are exploring, think about how certain events, people, or ideas are significant and create change in society. Record your ideas using a method of your choice.

Timelines are useful tools to track major events over a broad period of time. Timelines can also make it easier to visualize the events that were historically significant in a particular time period.

You will now explore the interactive timeline "Felt Throughout Generations’: A Timeline of Residential Schools in Canada." After you have finished reviewing the timeline, respond to the questions that follow.

• Which of the events from the residential schools timeline do you think are the most significant from your point of view? Select five important events to add to your Continuity and Change chart. You can continue to add to your chart as you deepen your knowledge and understanding throughout this learning activity.
• Consider how these policies might signal turning points in government policy as well as Indigenous life.

Residential school experiences

As you learned from the timeline, there were approximately 139 recognized residential schools in operation across Canada, which operated from the mid-1880s until 1996. One of the core purposes of these schools was to eliminate Indigenous culture and traditions. The schools wanted to make the Indigenous populations indistinguishable from others in mainstream society. The intention was to assimilate them into the dominant culture, thereby ensuring that there would no longer be a distinct Indigenous population in Canada. Assimilation, like colonization, is a violent act.

The residential school system aimed to specifically assimilate Indigenous children and did so through calculated and purposeful steps that ensured that Indigenous children would be far-removed from their rich cultures, traditions, and knowledge systems. The following is a list of some of the methods the federal government used to ensure assimilation:

• Children were removed from their homes and communities: Children were taken from their homes and communities and forced to attend schools that were sometimes hundreds of kilometers away from where they lived. It became illegal for Indigenous parents to keep their children at home if they were of schooling age. Some children were taken at even earlier ages, and some did not return to their communities until the age of 18, if at all. As a result, many lost connections to their home communities and did not grow up learning from their parents, grandparents, or community Elders. It was thought that children were easier to be taught these beliefs than adults, and that they would later pass on their newly-acquired culture to further generations, thereby ensuring the complete annihilation of Indigenous culture in Canada.
• The use of non-Indigenous languages: Children were given Christian names to replace their traditional names and were clothed in Western-style clothing. English or French had to be used in the school, and traditional languages were banned in classrooms and could not be spoken at school. In certain circumstances, severe punishments were inflicted on children who were caught practising an Indigenous tradition or speaking or writing in their traditional languages. Thus, when children did return home after years of schooling, they no longer spoke the languages of their parents or grandparents.
• Substandard education and abuse: Most students who attended these schools did not receive the education that the government and church had intended. Many did not learn or master any school-related skills; rather, they were forced to do manual labour. Many were taught by inexperienced staff and unlicensed educators, and many were sexually, physically, and/or emotionally abused.

Though not all the experiences of children who attended residential schools were negative, many children lived in substandard conditions in the schools and often endured years of abuse. These children often wished they had been raised by their families in their communities and had the opportunity to also learn from family life.

The experiences of survivors of residential schools varied due to many factors, including the following:

• the school
• the age of the child who attended
• the religious organization that ran the school
• the school’s budget
• the staff who worked at the school
• the proximity of the school to the student’s home
• whether it was a day or residential school

Though the lives of each individual student differed, many survivors have recalled similar daily routines and schedules, with time allotted for chores, mass (church service), and academic learning.

The following is a description of daily life at Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS) based on interviews from survivors.

Press 'A Typical Day at Residential School' to access how students at the Kamloops Indian Residential School would spend their day at school.

A Typical Day at Residential School

The half-day system

The schedule you just reviewed reflects what is called a half-day system. The half-day system was designed so that students spent half the day in class and the rest of the day maintaining the school through domestic chores and trades.

Church-run residential schools mainly operated on a half-day system until 1951, when it was abandoned as a result of changes made to the Indian Act. However, this did not mean that all schools followed the amendments, and some continued to run this system long after 1951.

While no two residential schools were exactly the same, it’s important to understand the following elements of the half-day system:

• The curriculum was divided into moral (religious), academic, and industrial training (chores or skilled trades). Student tasks were divided according to gender. The tasks of girls consisted of domestic work and included cooking, cleaning, and sewing. Boys focused on manual labour, farming, learning metal or blacksmith work, and doing general physical labour in and around the school.
• Half-day systems were not always adhered to, and it happened that students were sometimes forced to work all day so the schools didn’t have to pay for labour and could keep costs at a minimum, as federal funding for the schools was declining.
• In comparison with non-Indigenous students, Indigenous students had, on average, five hours less of instructional time per day. As a result, most residential school students in the half-day system did not go beyond a primary level of education. In some schools, an age-grade system was implemented that kept students enrolled until they were 16 years of age and in Grade 8. Thus, each student was held back two grades before being allowed to graduate and enter secondary school. As a result, these systems adversely affected many of the students’ self-esteem as well as their ability to learn.

Press ‘Checkpoint’ to access guidelines that will allow you to add to the Continuity and Change chart.

Checkpoint

Listening to survivors

For many years, survivors of the residential school system were not believed. Over 150,000 Indigenous children attended residential schools. Each survivor’s experience was different. Some survivors recall an enjoyable school experience, but the majority do not. Whatever way a survivor describes their experience is valid, as it is a personal testimony that reflects how they felt about their time at the school.

You will listen to and research First Nations, Métis, and Inuit survivor experiences in residential schools. Using your Continuity and Change chart, you will analyse the impacts that the residential school system had on Indigenous individuals, families, and communities and its significance to them today. As you listen and learn, add your learning to your Continuity and Change chart.

It is important to note that not every Inuk, First Nation, or Métis individual attended a residential school. Enrolment was based on the community in which they lived, the agents in charge of students attending, when the schools in their area opened, as well as additional reasons specific to each situation.

Press the different experiences to understand the experiences of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit individuals in residential schools.

What can Canadians do to support truth and reconciliation?

It is important to remember that Indigenous peoples continue to work to raise awareness and be active citizens to create political change in their own communities as well as on a national scale.

Explore part of the video “Canada’s Residential School Legacy” to learn more about what Canadians and the government of Canada can do to support Truth and Reconciliation.

After you have finished the video, complete the following tasks as part of what you can do to support survivors and Truth and Reconciliation at an individual level.

Task 1: Express gratitude

As you have learned, survivors of residential and day schools were silenced, and their stories were not heard or talked about publicly for decades and sometimes not even during their lifetimes. It has only been in recent years that steps have been taken to acknowledge these experiences.

Think of a way that you could express your gratitude for the survivors who shared their stories. Select one of the following ways to express your gratitude:

• write a poem or song
• create a poster in print or digitally  
• write a newspaper article
• create of piece of art, accompanied by a written explanation
• complete a short essay in print or digitally
• create a blog post or podcast episode

Task 2: Educate

One of the main goals of Truth and Reconciliation was to educate and elevate the voices of survivors and their experiences. Review your Change and Continuity chart.

Next, select three of the events that you designated as turning points that you feel you could educate others about, including the history of this event, person, or concept and its significance today.

Create a set of social media posts that could educate others in an accessible way. Include hashtags and images to make your posts engaging for an audience. Use the following checklist to guide each post.

Task 3: Reflect

Reflection

As you read the following descriptions, select the one that best describes your current understanding of the learning in this activity. Press the corresponding button once you have made your choice.

Now, expand on your ideas by recording your thoughts using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.

When you review your notes on this learning activity later, reflect on whether you would select a different description based on your further review of the material in this learning activity.