Aboriginal Residential Schools - Essay Example

ABORIGINAL RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS of the of the This article explains the effects of Aboriginal residential schools on Canadian society and its economy. The establishment and cessation of such schools spanned roughly a period of one century, but it had serious repercussions on the mainstream society as well as Aboriginal peoples. The government of Canada spends a lot to address the issues of unemployment and provide mental and physical health care, but the task is huge and would not be possible without taking more measures to eradicate poverty among the Aboriginal peoples, so that they can also become productive members of the Canadian society. Aboriginal Residential Schools in Canada Aboriginal residential schools in Canada were established in the 19th century in an attempt to assimilate Aboriginal population into the mainstream society. “Catholic missionaries who sought to provide care and education to the Aboriginals built the very first residential schools in New France and in what is now New Brunswick.” (Canada in the making) Catholic missionaries wanted to bring the children of Aboriginals into the folds of Christianity. No matter how great their cause was, and how simple the purpose of establishing such schools seemed to be, yet in reality these schools played a destructive role by breaking the Aboriginal cultural system and tearing children away from their families. It might have appeared to be a simple job for the missionaries to mould the children of Aboriginals according to their ways of religion, but in doing so they did not realize the repercussions of their actions that were to be experienced even centuries later, not only by the generations of Aboriginals but by mainstream Canadian society as well. Unfortunately, the goal of establishing Aboriginal residential schools could not be achieved due to the fallacies of such system, as it did not take into account their rich cultural heritage but imposed an alien culture on them. It also took away a sense of belonging from Aboriginal children, as they no longer could belong to their native societies and were not sufficiently educated or skilled to survive in the mainstream Canadian society. Thus, they were not well equipped to perform better in a competitive world and were pushed farther towards the borders of Canadian society on account of their shortcomings. Impact on Canadian Society: Aboriginals that attended residential schools were forced to adopt the alien culture and, consequently, their identities as Aboriginals were also marred. Torn from their ancestral heritage, such people later became misfits in Canadian society - as they were neither considered Aboriginals, nor did they become part of the mainstream society. Maggie Hodgson argues in her article ‘Rebuilding community after the Residential School Experience’ that “those of our people who have difficulty adjusting, who are in jail, who are alcoholics, who suffer from poor self esteem, are actually reflecting the effects of the Canadian government’s residential school policies.” (McKegney, 32) Canadian society had to bear the brunt of residential schools’ system by having to deal with individuals involved in high-to-low level crimes and alcoholics that were undoubtedly products of Aboriginal residential schools. It is one of the greatest challenges faced by Canadian society at large, to tackle the issue of such non-productive members of society, that also impose a dire threat to the law and order situation of the country. Thus, the basic purpose for establishing residential schools failed, as instead of being assimilated Aboriginal population was marginalized from the mainstream society. Moreover, they could no longer relate to their native occupations as they lived their childhood and adolescence away from their families. Under such circumstances, many of them chose to migrate to urban areas, but they did not have many choices over there. “Many Aboriginal families move to urban centres looking for education, employment and better housing, but they often do not fit into the non-Aboriginal society and have great difficulty surviving in the urban population.” (Green, Correctional Service Canada) The primary problems of Aboriginals are thus: education, employment and housing. The issue with Aboriginals is that they do not have the resources and/or the skills to handle their problems on their own. They cannot meet the criteria of the rapidly growing job market, which demands higher levels of education and/or skills. The huge cultural gap between the Aboriginals and the mainstream Canadian society also become hindrance for them. Thus, it is very difficult for them to become active and efficient members of the Canadian society. The second generation of such people, which attended the residential schools, inherited the problems of their parents and, subsequently, their personal problems penetrated all levels of society. Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN) issued a report in 2005 that “… Residential Schools is an Aboriginal detriment of health…” (The Aboriginal Healing Foundation Research Series, p.13) Aboriginals had to live in substandard living conditions in residential schools, which took its toll over their health. Studies later revealed how the children were abused mentally, physically and sexually. The trauma of living such kind of life away from their families gave birth to multiple problems in their personal and social lives. It is not possible for the Canadian society to ignore such members with long history of mental health disorders. It tries to play the positive role through organizations like CMHA (Canadian Mental Health Association) that conducts studies to find out about the mental health situation of the citizens of Canada. One such study reported: Many mental health problems of Aboriginals arise from a long history of colonization, residential school trauma, discrimination and oppression, and losses of land, language and livelihood. Many families were deeply affected by the governments residential school policy. Children were taken from their homes and sent to residential schools where some experienced violence and abuse, and many others lost their language and connection to their traditions, culture and community. (Canadian Mental Health Association) Among other factors, discrimination is a critical reason for the high rates of mental health problems among the Aboriginal population. The purpose of establishing Aboriginal residential schools was itself a discriminatory act against the Aboriginal population. Children were bound to develop psychological problems after being exposed to the oppressive conditions in the residential schools. With no help or treatment available, those children grew up and passed their psychological issues to the next generations. The violence and abuse experienced by Aboriginals in residential schools had deep effects on their psyche and behaviour. With no other way to channel their feelings out, they let it out in the form of destructive behaviour, which is detrimental to the mainstream society. Their greatest loss was loss of native heritage, cultural practices and ancient kinds of occupations, while failure to gel in with the mainstream society further deteriorated their condition. In residential schools, the sense of belonging or working as a community was never nurtured in the Aboriginal children, therefore, they could never get a chance to learn how to contribute positively in a society according to their limitations and capacities. Aboriginal children studying in residential schools were lost individuals that neither belonged to their native families, nor to the alien culture which was imposed on them. With bitter and harsh memories of residential schools, children that attended such schools were never taught the values of society and the responsibilities of its members. It is for this sad reason that Canadian society has very few Aboriginal members that contribute positively towards its goals. Effects on Canadian Economy: The financial woes of the Aboriginals also cast a shadow on Canadian economy that has to spend a lot of money in order to redress and address their issues. Moreover, the burden of taking care of their physical and mental health disorders has also increased on the Canadian economy. The Aboriginal communities, like Inuit, are faced with economic challenges and they are not able to contribute to the national economy either due to unemployment or lack of required education/skills. A recent study found that among Inuit in Nunavut, who were not working, the most common reason given for not being employed was that they felt that there were no jobs available that matched their skills (Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP, 2003). A weak infrastructure in northern communities has been cited as another obstacle to employment... In addition, high levels of formal education are often required for well paying government jobs (Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP, 2003). Many Inuit, however, have levels of formal education that fall below those required for these positions (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada 2006b). (Inuit Social Trends Series, 1981-2001) An example of the Inuit Aboriginal community has been cited here to indicate the reason of their unemployment. The vicious cycle of unskilled labor and joblessness continues in a never ending way. This is not to say that the Inuit do not have any sort of skills, but the fact is that they are skilled in such occupations that have no job prospects on the contemporary Canadian job market. Aboriginals reside mostly in the northern part of Canada which has relatively weaker infrastructure than other provinces. Thus, not enough jobs have been created in the areas that could suit the skills or the education of Aboriginal communities. According to this report, it is obvious that there are highly-paid government jobs available in such areas, however, the Inuit community is unable to avail such opportunities due to lack of formal education. In some cases, even if a member of the Inuit community is formally educated he is not qualified for that particular job. Consequently, the burden of unemployed individuals has to borne by the Canadian government. Many factors may lead to a weakened infrastructure in the northern parts of Canada, which is beyond the scope of this study; nonetheless, Canadian economy has to sustain the pressure of spending a reasonable amount of its annual budget on the welfare of such communities. ...average per capita government program expenditures per Aboriginal person are $14,159. By comparison, all governments spent about $7,777 on per capita program costs for non-Aboriginals in 99/00. At first blush then, it appears that Aboriginals “cost” the government more programming dollars than non-Aboriginals. (Fiscal Realities, Economists) Even if the Aboriginals cost the government more than the non-Aboriginals, the financial situation for the Aboriginals doesn’t seem to be promising. The following statistics reveal the glaring discrepancy between the rates of unemployment between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities in Canada during 2005 and 2006. Unemployment explained in part this discrepancy, the employment rate of Aboriginal peoples being almost ten percentage points below that of the non-Aboriginal population (53.7% compared to 62.7% in 2005). But a host of factors also combined to make Aboriginal people more vulnerable to poverty. Basic education, for instance, was not as likely to be achieved, 43.7% of Aboriginal Canadians having less than a Secondary education, compared to 23.1% for the non-Aboriginal population. Living and health conditions also remained well below those of the majority. If one defines a dwelling where there is more than one person per room as crowded, for example, 11.4% of Aboriginal identity persons lived in such housing conditions in 2005, compared to 2.9% for the non-Aboriginal population (Statistics Canada, 2006a). (Noel, 2009) According to the findings of this study, the poverty of aboriginals is not only linked with unemployment. Lack of secondary education coupled with poor health and living conditions also worsen their economic situation. The difference between the majority non-Aboriginal population and minority Aboriginal peoples speaks volumes about the imbalance in Canadian society. Thus, in order to create a balanced and just Canadian society, the issues of Aboriginals should be fully addressed. It is imperative to raise their living standards by encouraging them to pursue higher education so that they can meet the demands of the job market. Alternatively, specific jobs for Aboriginals should be created so as to streamline their workforce in the mainstream labour market. It is indeed a daunting task to redress the disarray that has been made out of residential schools, but the Canadian government is grave about making definite changes. The government is also serious about resolving the problem of unemployment as this places undue burden on the national economy. If the Aboriginal population could contribute somehow towards the national economy, the Canadian economy and society both would benefit a great deal from such measures. References Aboriginal Residential Schools. (n.d.) Canada in the making. Retrieved from http://www.canadiana.ca/citm/specifique/ababresschools_e.pdf Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.ontario.cmha.ca/about_mental_health.asp?cID=23053 Fiscal Realities. (n.d). The true cost of First Nation government. Economists. Retrieved from http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100014014 Green, N. (2011, November 25). Aboriginal community development in corrections. Correctional Service Canada. Retrived from http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/prgrm/abinit/know/5-eng.shtml Inuit social trends series - employment, industry and occupations of Inuit in Canada. (n.d.) 1981-2001. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved from http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071213105233/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/pr/ra/eio/eio1_e.html McKegney, S. (2007). Magic weapons: Aboriginal writers remaking community after residential school. Manitoba: University of Manitoba Press. Noel, A. (2009, August 20). Aboriginal peoples and poverty in Canada: can provincial governments make a difference? Retrieved from http://www.cccg.umontreal.ca/rc19/PDF/Noel-A_Rc192009.pdf The Aboriginal Healing Foundation Research Series (2009). Retrieved from http://www.ahf.ca/downloads/hivaids-report.pdf Read More