Indigenous peoples -- Canada -- Residential schools, Indigenous peoples -- Education -- Canada, Indigenous peoples -- Canada -- Government relations, Indigenous peoples -- Canada -- Social conditions, Indigenous peoples -- Canada -- History, Residential Schools 

"Between 1867 and 2000, the Canadian government sent over 150,000 Aboriginal children to residential schools across the country. Government officials and missionaries agreed that in order to "civilize and Christianize" Aboriginal children, it was necessary to separate them from their parents and their home communities.

For children, life in these schools was lonely and alien. Discipline was harsh, and daily life was highly regimented. Aboriginal languages and cultures were denigrated and suppressed. Education and technical training too often gave way to the drudgery of doing the chores necessary to make the schools self-sustaining. Child neglect was institutionalized, and the lack of supervision created situations where students were prey to sexual and physical abusers.

Legal action by the schools' former students led to the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2008. The product of over six years of research, the Commission's final report outlines the history and legacy of the schools, and charts a pathway towards reconciliation.

Canada's Residential Schools: The History, Part 1, Origins to 1939 places Canada's residential school system in the historical context of European campaigns to colonize and convert Indigenous people throughout the world. In post-Confederation Canada, the government adopted what amounted to a policy of cultural genocide: suppressing languages and spiritual practices, disrupting traditional economies, and imposing new forms of government. Residential schooling quickly became a central element in this policy.

The destructive intent of the schools was compounded by chronic underfunding and ongoing conflict between the federal government and the church missionary societies that had been given responsibility for their day-to-day operation. A failure of leadership and resources meant that the schools failed to control the tuberculosis crisis that prevailed for much of this period. Alarmed by high death rates, Aboriginal parents often refused to send their children to the schools, leading the government to adopt coercive attendance regulations. While parents became subject to ever more punitive rules, the government did little to regulate discipline, diet, fire safety, or sanitation at the schools. By the period's end the government was presiding over nation-wide firetraps that had no clear educational goals and were economically dependent on the unpaid labour of underfed and often sickly children."--Back cover. 

xiv, 1015 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm. 

Contents:
Section 1. The historical context for Canada's residential schools
Colonialism in the age of empire
The churches and their mission of conversion
Residential schooling in French Canada : 1608-1763
Treaty-making and betrayal : the roots of Canada's Aboriginal policy
Pre-Confederation residential schools
Mission schools in the Canadian West : 1820-1880
Confederation, colonization, and residence
National and international models for Canada's residential schools
Section 2. The Canadian residential school system, 1867 to 1939
Laying the groundwork for the residential school system
Student accounts of residential school life : 1867-1939
Establishing and operating the system : 1867-1939
The struggle over environment : 1867-1939
The educational record of residential schools : 1867-1939
The student as labourer : 1867-1939
Recreation and sports : 1867-1939
The deadly toll of infectious diseases : 1867-1939
Building and maintaining the schools : 1867-1939
Fire, a deadly hazard : 1867-1939
Food and diet at residential schools : 1867-1939
School clothing : 1867-1939
Discipline : 1867-1939
Covering up sexual abuse : 1867-1939
Student victimization of students : 1867-1939
Truancy : 1867-1939
Separating children from parents : 1867-1939
Suppressing Aboriginal languages : 1867-1939
Separating children from their traditions : 1867-1939
Separating the sexes, arranging marriages, establishing colonies : 1867-1939
The Lytton school : 1902-1939
Parents respond and resist : 1867-1939
The staff experience : 1867-1939.

Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.