Stolen Children | Residential School survivors speak out
Summary
TLDRThe video script recounts the traumatic experiences of Indigenous children in Canadian residential schools, where they faced physical and emotional abuse, cultural erasure, and separation from families. Survivors share stories of violence, language suppression, and the lasting intergenerational impact on their communities, including increased rates of suicide among their descendants. The script highlights the need for recognition, healing, and dialogue to address this dark chapter in history.
Takeaways
- 😢 The script reveals the traumatic experiences of children in residential schools, including physical abuse and emotional trauma.
- 👦 Physical punishment, often referred to as 'bench party,' was a common and feared practice, disproportionately affecting boys.
- 🛁 There was a lack of privacy and inappropriate supervision during personal hygiene practices, causing further distress.
- 👨👩👧👦 The forced separation from families and the prohibition of native languages and cultural practices led to a loss of identity.
- 🏡 The idea of 'civilizing' indigenous children was used to justify the harsh conditions and treatment in these schools.
- 👶 High mortality rates among children in residential schools were acknowledged but not considered a reason to change policy.
- 👥 The isolation from siblings and the inability to communicate with them added to the emotional strain.
- 📚 The education system was designed to wean children from their ancestral habits and assimilate them into 'civilized' society.
- 👨👩👧 The emotional and psychological impact of residential schools extended to the children of survivors, affecting family dynamics.
- 🏢 The lasting effects of residential schools include intergenerational trauma, cultural disconnect, and mental health issues.
- 🌐 There is a call for recognition, understanding, and support for the survivors and their descendants to heal and move forward.
Q & A
What was the term used to describe the physical punishment of children at the residential school?
-The term used to describe the physical punishment was 'bench party'.
Who primarily received the most beatings at the residential school?
-Boys received the most beatings at the residential school.
What was the purpose of the residential schools according to a federal cabinet minister in 1883?
-The purpose of the residential schools was to educate the children properly by separating them from their families in order to civilize them.
How did the residential school experience affect Alice Little Dear?
-Alice Little Dear was frightened by the physical punishment she witnessed, including the death of a little girl beside her, and the forced separation from her family.
What was the duration of Raymond Mason's attendance at the residential school?
-Raymond Mason attended the residential school for 12 years.
What was the policy regarding the death of Indian children in residential schools?
-The policy was that the death of Indian children at a much higher rate than in their villages did not justify a change in the department's approach to the 'Indian problem'.
What was the impact of residential schools on the children's language and culture?
-Residential schools aimed to wean children from their native language and culture, punishing them for speaking their own native tongue and attempting to assimilate them into 'civilized' life.
Why did some children try to run away from the residential schools?
-Children tried to run away from the residential schools due to the harsh treatment, physical punishment, and the desire to be with their families.
How did the residential school experience affect the mental health of the survivors and their families?
-The residential school experience led to mental stress, fear, and abuse within families, with some survivors passing on the trauma to their children.
What was the long-term goal of the residential school system according to Duncan Campbell Scott?
-The long-term goal was to assimilate the Indian people into Canadian society to the point where there would be no 'Indian question' or 'Indian department'.
What is the connection between residential school experiences and the suicide rates among their descendants?
-The children of residential school survivors commit suicide at rates significantly higher than the general population, due to the intergenerational trauma caused by the residential school experience.
Outlines
😢 Traumatic Experiences in Residential Schools
The paragraph recounts the traumatic experiences of individuals who attended residential schools. It describes the physical abuse, including beatings referred to as 'bench party,' and the emotional abuse of being separated from family and forced to assimilate. The narrative includes personal accounts of fear, humiliation, and the lasting impact of these experiences on the individuals' lives. It also touches on the government's role in perpetuating these institutions with a quote from a federal cabinet minister advocating for separation from families as a means of 'civilizing' indigenous children.
😔 The Pain of Separation and Abuse
This paragraph delves into the emotional turmoil caused by the separation of siblings in residential schools and the physical punishment that was normalized. It highlights the strict rules against speaking to each other and the use of violence as a disciplinary measure. The narrative also includes a historical context with a quote from Edgerton Ryerson emphasizing the need to wean indigenous children from their ancestral ways. Personal stories of rare family visits, the pain of separation, and the internalized anger towards parents for sending them to such institutions are shared.
😞 The Lingering Effects of Cultural Erasure
The paragraph discusses the long-term effects of residential schools on indigenous culture and identity. It addresses the forced assimilation, the destruction of familial bonds, and the psychological stress caused by these institutions. Personal stories include accounts of boredom and confinement, the shock of discovering family members' pasts, and the intergenerational impact of abuse. The narrative also includes a quote from Sir John A. Macdonald highlighting the government's aim to assimilate indigenous people and eliminate the 'Indian question.'
😥 The Intergenerational Impact of Residential Schools
This paragraph focuses on the intergenerational trauma caused by residential schools. It discusses the survivors' struggle with their cultural identity, the fear and terror passed down through generations, and the high rates of suicide among the children of survivors. The narrative includes calls for open conversation about the abuse and its origins, as well as a desire to move forward without erasing the memory of the residential school experience. It emphasizes the need for collective healing and support for both survivors and those affected by the legacy of these institutions.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Residential School
💡Assimilation
💡Abuse
💡Cultural Identity
💡Separation
💡Beating
💡Language
💡Parenthood
💡Trauma
💡Intergenerational
💡Survivor
Highlights
Alice Little Dear recalls childhood trauma at residential school where physical punishment was common.
Raymond Mason describes the long-term impact of attending residential school for 12 years.
Madeline Dion Stout shares her experience of being separated from family at a young age.
A historical quote from 1883 emphasizes the separation of children from their families for 'civilizing' purposes.
The emotional pain of being taken away from family is vividly described.
The traumatic experience of witnessing a fellow student's death in residential school.
The policy's indifference to the high mortality rate of indigenous children in residential schools.
The strict prohibition on speaking native languages and the punishment for doing so.
The importance of family visits and the emotional turmoil caused by their rarity.
The lasting effects of residential school on the mental health of survivors and their families.
The intergenerational impact of residential schools, with children of survivors experiencing higher rates of abuse.
The damaging effects of the 'final solution' approach to the 'Indian problem'.
The struggle of residential school survivors to reconnect with their culture and language.
The emotional and psychological impact of residential schools on the children and their families.
The need for open dialogue and support among residential school survivors and their descendants.
The importance of acknowledging and addressing the legacy of residential schools.
Transcripts
um
i got frightened when i was a little
girl
when the when the principal
used to beat up
beat up the other children like boys
the boys got the most beating
they used to call it bench party
and it was usually done after supper
and that's where i got frightened
because i saw
blood i remember when we had to shower
um we uh
you know you want to have to show me how
to shower and clean and wash myself
how to wash my private and my you know
private parts of your body you don't
have to show a kid once or twice at the
most but
not every day you know and have
a supervisor come in there and and
basically
take advantage of you you know i just
remember
arriving there and
donning new clothes and of course
getting a haircut
and sitting in a classroom
and being with other girls and
witnessing my brother get punched by the
supervisor
my name is alice little dear
i'm 78 years old
i spent about eight years in residential
school
my name is raymond mason i'm 62 years
old
and i attended residential school for 12
years
i'm madeline dion stout i'm 62 years old
i'm from the kehuwan first nation in
alberta i attended
blue quills residential school for
36 consecutive months that week three
years
in order to educate the children
properly we must
separate them from their families some
people may say that this is hard
but if we want to civilize them we must
do that
a federal cabinet minister 1883
i remember them taking me away from my
mother and
my stepfather and
i can hear them telling my mom that
that was the best thing for me you know
and
that not to worry i i would be looked
after
our parents didn't want to
worry us unduly and tell us
and warn us that we are going to be
separated for a long long time
with barely a visit i see him come
around
indian agent in a boat put the principal
then collect some
children from the reserve then he would
come back again
come and take some more so the next day
i woke up with hundreds of total
strangers
my size my age and
and not knowing you know what are they
doing with all of us here why are so
there's so many of us here you know and
that's where
a lot of my whole life really started to
change
because uh i got
strapped i got you know beating up for
speaking my own native tongue
i even had my tongue pulled out and
pinched you know
my strongest memory there is uh
when when the little girl died beside me
she would have been she must have been
about six
um i was scared
why the parents were not there i what i
was scared
about and i knew they would have
they wouldn't feel comfortable for not
being there when their daughter's dying
and do you know why they weren't there
they were never notified
indian children in the residential
schools
die at a much higher rate than in their
villages
but this does not justify a change in
the policy of this department
which is geared towards a final solution
of our indian problem
duncan campbell scott deputy
superintendent
of indian affairs
at that time they never told us that our
sisters were
across a hallway and
i didn't know that for the longest time
then i spotted my sister
nora and i was so glad and so hysteric
and
i went running to her and i leeched onto
her
you know and just hugged her and i was
just shaking i cannot terrify them
and i was wondering why she was pushing
me away i didn't realize
that we weren't supposed to know that we
both lived in the same place same
and we weren't allowed to speak to each
other we weren't allowed to
talk to each other and i can remember
the uh
grabbing a hold of me by the hand you
know and i was jumping off the floor
like that and he stripped me
and he started whacking me with a a long
webbed uh strap
he was setting an example at you know if
you do this is what's going to happen to
you
like you and all the other boys are
watching
and the girls are still going through
and home
their education must consist not merely
training of the mind but of a weaning
from the habits
and feelings of their ancestors and the
acquirements of the language
art and customs of civilized life
edgerton ryerson 1847 report
for indian affairs
visits from my parents were very rare
but i do recall one visit
when my mother and father came
and i remember specifically my mother's
red tam that splash of color
i remember her getting out of the wagon
and i was crying already
watching them because i was missing them
already
they hadn't even walked through the door
yet of the residential school but i was
missing them already
and when they were actually leaving i
cried until my nose bled
and and you you learned pretty quick
after getting those kind of
beatings not strapping is it's literally
beatings you know and uh
ever since that day i tried to run away
and i made friends with a guy by the
name of donald atkinson from
rosa river first nation and
we planned you know to take off
and when we got caught we paid for daily
you know
not only the rsa p gave us silicon but
the boys are
the bigger boys that was helping them
chase us down
were you angry at your parents that they
made you go to school
sometimes sometimes i would think about
them i get mad
for all giving me here sending me over
there
where the all the bad treatment is
i know
tell me how you felt when you saw your
children go to that school
well i felt sad
my first two boys went
and then a couple years after the next
two boys went
and so on as they got older
yeah i told them to be strong
i had always told them to be strong to
be able to take it like
like the other children
so you sent 11 kids to residential
how many of them do you think were
strong through that
uh none of them none of them
what about your children how do you
think it affected them
well like i said uh a little bit
crazier than they went then before they
went to school
their mind was a little bit more intact
staying at home with us they knew how to
hunt ducks and they knew how to fish
and they knew how to snare rabbits
and pick blueberries today you don't see
that
and you think that's the school yeah
everything destroyed
in our world
we didn't bother white people
which people voted me
indian culture is a contradiction in
terms
they are uncivilized the aim of
education is to destroy the indian
nicholas flood david report 1879
there are three reasons why i think
residential schools are a blood on the
canadian landscape one is that we became
strangers in our home and native land
two is that nurturing relationships
between parents and children were
severed residential schools were a
frontal attack on parenthood
three is that it added to the mental
stress
our mental stress in a very real way
my name is michael loft i'm from
gunawari i'm 55 years old
okay and my dad attended residential
school for 11
continuous years in spanish ontario
he says and once he told me a story
where they were so bored they were in
the i think the cafeteria and they were
just
they would just walk in a circle you
know because they couldn't just go run
around
you know willy-nilly all over the
residential school just because
school was out they had to be controlled
i guess had to be contained and
so they would walk in circles you know
in the in
the cafeteria round and round and round
and round
to deal with their boredom
my name is lorena fontaine i'm 38 years
old and both my
parents and grandparents went to
residential school
i was at a conference that my mom was
speaking at she was giving the keynote
address
and she started talking about her
residential school experience
during her her speech and
she start and that's how i found out
well i was of course
i was shocked and appalled
and i just felt so terrible for her i
felt frozen
when i was listening to her and it
wasn't until after she
finished speaking that i started
thinking about our family life i started
thinking about
the abuse that was very
prevalent when i was a child and i
started putting
connections together he never knew when
he was going to get hit in residential
school that's the thing
so it was he lives like in fear of
getting hit you break a rule you get
whacked you know
um so it was it was unpredictable
you know you couldn't uh you could try
to learn the rules especially as you
could but i mean you're a kid you know
you'd mess up and lack you know
so there was that imp unpredictability
that he brought
home too and the same thing with us we
we didn't know what was going to happen
you know
next so scary
it was raised by parents who never had a
childhood and they didn't have any
parents as role models
so we were vulnerable children and
a lot of us were abused ourselves as
young children
and i also realized at that point that
one of the people who abused me and my
family had been a residential school
survivor
a family member and i
understood why now why i was
why i was abused
the great aim of our legislation has
been to do away with the
tribal system and to assimilate the
indian people
in all respects sir john a macdonald
may 2nd 1887.
he he got out you know like everybody
gets out
at uh at 16. and um
he he eventually made his way
to uh aguizasne to his home
and he told me that he
he couldn't connect with them he
couldn't connect because he couldn't
speak the language
he didn't understand the culture
so he couldn't take it you know he was
frustrated he was going nowhere
so he turned him he went back to the
residential school for one
one more year because it seemed like
that was home now that was home
and that's where he could you know they
spoke his language and
so so that's where he went i grew up not
knowing my language and in fact i kind
of felt a bit ashamed about
our language and our identity because
it seemed like they were meaning my
parents and my aunts and uncles
were ashamed too in some way because
they didn't want to talk about it and
they didn't want to
share with us about who we were
there was a lot of fear i think the fear
the fear
that they put in him the terror that
they put in him i mean he
he he managed to bring that with him and
it went into our family you know
and i learned terror and fear and all
that as well
as a child i put fear in my sons too
that's all i knew
you know when they were doing something
that was
right i would put fear in them you know
our objective is to continue until there
is not
a single indian in canada that has not
been absorbed into the body politic
and there is no indian question and no
indian department
duncan campbell scott deputy
superintendent of indian affairs
january 1st 1920.
generally the survivors of residential
school do not commit suicide any more
than the general population
okay it's the children of the
residential school survivors who commit
suicide in
incredibly high numbers you know six to
seven times you know the
provincial average okay
it might just take one person to start
talking about it or perhaps
a family to start talking about the fact
that
there is abuse and the reason why
there's that abuse is because of
the residential school experience that
you know we're not abusive people by
trait we're not
uh we weren't born that way
and to be able to i think
i think families need to be able to
realize that they're not alone
that none of us are alone anymore that
we have each other
and that it's okay to start talking
about it we don't have the monopoly on
pain
and hurt but we
have and have carried a disproportionate
share of it over time
and i
i would really
like us to move forward
not to erase our memory of who we are
because residential school is certainly
a part of who we are
i'd like us all to
be a part of a team that really makes a
lasting difference
for not only residential school
survivors but
the other little children who are having
difficulties today
you
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