Where are the Children?

The type of school that Aboriginal children attended depended on the time and place in which they lived. Prior to the "residential" school system, industrial schools existed both on and off-reserve, and were, for the most part, attended by children in residence. Few first-hand accounts from Survivors of this period exist, but evidence suggests that some Survivors had a positive school experience, and afterwards led successful lives in their trades. These schools emphasized religious instruction, and taught farming and skilled trades, so that their "graduates" could be productive in mainstream Canadian society to the extent possible, given the racism of the day. Students initially learned carpentry, blacksmithing, printing, animal husbandry, and other trades. However, instruction eventually degenerated to ensure that Native people, no longer competitive in these trades, would remain in the lowest socio-economic class of farmhands (instead of farmers), general labourers (instead of skilled tradespeople), and, for young women, domestic workers >. The Industrial School Era came with a high cost to Survivors: the surrender of cultural identity, and later, off-reserve, the loss of Indian status.

Decades later, a modified school system was established. These schools were situated off-reserve, where children lived for the school year, or in some cases all year-round. Yet this was not an improvement over the Industrial School model, and the early years of the Residential School Era were plagued by abuse and neglect.

Once again, underfunding was the source of many problems in the schools. The government had devised a per capita funding formula in 1892 to try and control operating costs: payments were based on the needs of each individual school. But the rapid development of new schools, combined with competition between church groups for funding, soon made it impossible for the formula to work properly. School administrators competed for more students, regardless of the poor condition of the school buildings. As the funding continued to dwindle, everyone within the schools suffered. It became difficult for the schools to hire qualified teachers. The appalling poverty of the schools also produced impossible working conditions. Staff worked long hours for meagre wages in unsanitary and overcrowded environments. Many of them took out their frustrations on the children.

Aboriginal students and staff assembled outside the Kamloops Indian Residential School, Kamloops, British Columbia, 1934 Archives Deschâtelets.

The children themselves were extremely vulnerable. Physically and psychologically compromised by the inadequate food, clothing, and shelter provided by the schools, students were susceptible to the constant outbreaks of influenza and tuberculosis. They were also subjected to corporal punishment that was sometimes so severe that they found themselves hospitalized. In addition, many children were sexually abused. Indeed, the lack of oversight combined with the low level of qualifications required to work at the schools, often attracting persons unsuited to work with children and, sadly, sexual predators.

Aboriginal children separated from parents, grandparents, and extended family - including siblings, who may have been at the same school - suffered from feelings of acute loneliness, spiritual emptiness, and a sense of abandonment by their families, a situation made worse as they struggled with the need to learn a new language, and the stress of living in an unsafe environment.

The effects of abuse were profound. Some children died from severe beatings. Out of despair, others took their own lives. Still others died without ever seeing their parents again. Such were the "good living conditions" that officials claimed existed at the schools.

Many Survivors report lying awake at night in the school dormitories, and listening to the younger children crying.