The Legacy of the Canadian Residential School System

We all told put matchless across an identity in this origination. When we were born(p) as human universes, we were all given an identity based on our gender, ethnicity, and the hostelry we were born in. This identity is further streng accordinglyed by our recognise throughout the journey to adulthood, creating a bond and belongingness to ones take in culture. When a language is stock- be quiettually learned during childhood, it becomes one of the major factors in determining our identity. Cultural customs atomic number 18 a want integrated into our minds as we grow up.As we approach adulthood, our basic cultural identity is shaped we admit our cultural identity as we enter the local conjunction, as it is the recording label that sticks with us for the dwell of our lives. Along the way, we have the freedom to choose which of the righteousnesss to cerebrate in, however our choices leave alone most likely be affected by our identities as well. The premier(prenominal ) Nations people in Canada are suffering from a loss of language, religion, and identity due to the horrible gone they had suffered in the past century.In the 1880s, the re military positionntial school system of rules was established by the government of Canada (Miller 2011). From then on, branch Nations children were forced to attend these Catholic schools instituted based on European standards and regulations. Injustice went on for almost another century, in which many First Nation cultures were diminished and obliterated. Steven Harper whitethorn have apologized to the First Nations for the rest of the Canadians, only the damage is already done (Dorrell 2009). The residential School remains extinguished the hopes of Canadian First Nations in maintaining their throw cultures.In this artificeicle we volition use St. bloody shames, a residential school located in Mission, BC, as a case study to investigate the severity of the jounce the RSS had on First Nations cultures. L anguage is the mean of communication of a society and a signifi lott factor in cultural and social development. It is overly the distinct identifier of a specific culture. By analyzing the complex systems of the languages of different cultures, sociolinguists can relate the languages properties to aspects of the culture.Language is too tightly intertwined with the culture of a civilization the Chinese and Japanese consider calligraphythe act of writing in an quaint(p) but artistic way with ink brushesa major art along with music, painting, and the chess game of Go the Medieval Romans were inefficient and particular(a) in their mathematics due to their numeral system until the Arabic system was introduced. In short, languages can be considered as the backbone of a culture. It is also the backbone that the First Nations began to lose as soon as the Residential School System was initiated.In residential schools, any languages other than English were require the violators of this rule were severely punished. In Terry Glavins Amongst Gods Own, one of his interviewee Meredith Hourie (2002 61) commented that the nuns at St. Marys referred to the native tongues as galls language in their eyes, speaking another language in a Catholic residential school is blasphemous. Benjamin Paul Millar (Glavin 2002 66) matte that he was beginning to improve in his native language until he was discouraged by slaps in the face and on the backside for breakage the rules now he could only recall a few spoken language of his native tongue.Genevieve Douglas (Glavin 2002 62) admitted that she cannot show her own native language due to the policies at St. Marys students were not allowed to answer to questions unless they can fully project what was asked and know how to respond in English, hence the students had to focus their limit in language acquisition on English. Children who were new to the residential schools (such as St. Marys) were not well-known(prenominal) with these rules. They felt alienated and were desperate to fit in.As a result, these new First Nations students had to resocializeor Westernizethemselves in order to survive. patch these cases might seem trivial at first glance, consider this in that location were 80 residential schools scattered across Canada at its peak, with over 11000 students being taught (Kir mayer, Simpson, and Cargo 2003). The magnitude is immense, and legion(predicate) dialects of the native tongues were lost. It is also worth noting that the bulk of students who enrolled in St. Marys had Western first names and know names instead of native ones.Under these circumstances, a child would feel even more out of place when comparing ones own name to the elders more native names. They might believe that they were not welcomed in their society and opt to blend into the Western society instead. For instance, a Scotland-born Chinese child would likely to grow up to be more addicted to the Scottish culture if his last nam e was chosen by his parents to be McGregor instead of Lee. Traditions are also identifiers for the cultures they belong to. Each culture has their unique customs, beliefs, and mythologies.For example, the Gods with the most power in terms of mythologies are mostly priapic due to the fact that almost all cultures are male-dominant. In quaint Greek mythology, Zeus was regarded as the ruler of Mount Olympus and said to be the Father of Gods and Men by Hesiod, reflecting the differences in the status of genders in past Greece. In Chinese mythology the Gods were told and categorized as emperors, royal families, and government officials, lastly referring to the hereditary monarchy political system that the dynasties of China followed for millennia.While First Nations traditions may not be as well known as the bigger cultures in other parts of the world, they have their unique and intriguing perspective in the world they live in. Their view on how all things ranging from animals to inan imate objects have spirit and soul is echoed by Platos world-soul idea. However, their inspirations cannot be further explored in the future since these First Nations beliefs are facing extinction. These traditional practices such as Shamanisms were discouraged, as they were viewed as witchcraft in the eyes of Catholicism.Due to the nature of residential schools, children could hardly see their family during their time as a student. Wayne Florence (Glavin 2002 68) was severely wound by one of the nuns at St. Marys, and even then he could not gain the privilege to meet with his family, or even speech to them through the phone for that matter. This separation leads to the inability to learn of and be familiar to their customs. Not only were the children prohibited from learning of their own cultural religion and heritage, they were led and forced to believe that there is only one define religionRoman Catholicism.According to Catholic rules, all other religions are treasonably and are blasphemous. First Nations students learned that they were not born with freedom, but with sins to be cleansed of this idea induced fear in them and contempt in their traditions. aside from a loss of culture, it was estimated by scholars that as many as one-half of the children died during their involvement in the residential schools, either from abuse or committing self-annihilation (Robertson 2003). We are living in the generation of globalization. In Canada, it is not erratic for one to have multiple cultural backgrounds.We can notice numerous people of Chinese descent who do not know a single word of Mandarin nor Cantonese Scandinavians who do not feel the prompt to assimilate into another cultures customs, and even Indian-Canadian comedians who became successful amongst the human beings by showing observational humor with regards to racial dissimilarities. These people of the ecumenical publicwhose voices can be heard through the mediaare of a majority whether they ar e currently living in their affiliated society they were born in or have their homes on the other side of the globe, they feel that they are a member of their culture.No matter which part of the world it is, dates with cultural significance like Christmas, the Lunar New Year, and the Ramadan are notable and practiced annually. The same cannot apply to the First Nations in Canada after the residential school system tragedies. Imagine that no one can understand your first language and cultural customswhile communication with others will still be possible through other means like secondary and body language, you can hardly feel the familiarity and ease in comparison to talking freely in your own first language. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?If you know a language but no one else can comprehend it, does it still exist? If no one in the world other than you knew the family crowd tradition on Thanksgiving, would this day still mean any thing at all? While these questions may seem hypothetical to us, the First Nations in Canada are facing these issues today. Writings and symbolic arts in dying tribes may never see their original meaning comprehendible ever again. Canada may consider First Nation reserves and universities as national treasures, but the fact is that cultural maintenance in these smaller tribes is not support and our treasure is continuously decreasing in depth.All cultures in the world are established by the contributions of their people over time they are the abridgment of knowledge, customs, heritage, and language. Each culture is unique in its own way, and should be bear on with the most effort. However, not only did settlers and colonizers took over the First Nations lands by force, they also nearly wiped out their culture with a weapon in the frame of the Residential School System. These residential schools, such as St.Marys, denied the students of their chance to get their respective cultu re, and even took away some of their lives as a spin-off in resocialization. As a result, First Nations languages and traditions were lost some First Nation survivor might even be the last remain member of his or her tribe. These are losses that we simply cannot put ourselves into their perspective. I sincerely hope that the government of Canada will not only compensate, but also try their best to maintain the enduring First Nations cultures someday an apology is simply not enough.