Timeline of Residential Schools

Purpose of Residential Schools

Read the apology at the top of the page under this heading

Residential Schools

This is Canada's official apology for Residential Schools

1. What is an apology?

2. Who is Prime Minister Harper?

3. What did he say were the 2 main purposes of Residential schools?

4. What did he say caused the government to act in such a bad way?

Read under this heading

What was the Indian residential school system?

5.Who ran the schools for the government?

6. When we studied treaties, we read in the treaties that having a school on the reserve was a treaty right. Residential schools though were commonly built far away from reserves. Why would the government have the schools built far from reserves?

7. A definition of culture is here.  If you were separated from your parents and family, forced to speak Aruak and to follow their customs and traditions, and follow their religion, from a young age, but then returned to your parents and family as an older teenager, would this be a problem? Explain. 

Residential Schools

Residential Schools

To be fair, schools are not always the most pleasant places, and common school practices from 20, 50, and 100 years ago would shock us today. Residential schools though, seemed to be particularly cruel. Even worse than the school practices, was the intent of the schools and the devastation it caused to the Indigenous communities of Canada. We will be talking about cultural genocide as we study this issue.

Answer the following questions. 

Link here

1.What year did the last school close?

2. For many, was attendance voluntary? 

3. Why would diseases, like T.B., be rampant and deadly in the schools? Think of a few reasons.

4. Give several causes of deaths of students

5. Why were many of the dead children not given a marked grave or their death documented?

6. How might have things be different if parents had the right to visit the schools and decide if their children could attend the schools?

When done, explore the pictures/text at this link here

The Halifax Explosion

100 years ago today, this happened, in what was Canada's 4th largest City.

More details about the telegraph operator is here

1. Why didn't Vincent Coleman save himself?Class answers-He chose to stay and type a message to the train so it wouldn't come into Halifax with its 700 passengers
 After Vincent Coleman died, he left a wife and four children. Details here to the problems they had supporting themselves with the death of Vincent Coleman.

2. Were the Coleman's treated fairly? Why or why not. Class answers-They were not.  Vincent Coleman gave his life to protect others. Society should have returned the gesture and protected his family. 

More details here about the Halifax Explosion


Open this link in Chrome http://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/halifaxexplosion/ 

3. Why wasn't the ship clearly marked that it was carrying explosives?

4. If this were to happen today, would it take as long for the outside world to find out what happened? Why or why not

5. The explosion vaporized some people, and for some it crushed internal organs. Others died during the explosion, but not from the explosion itself, but from . . .

6. What is a tsunami and why would this follow the explosion?

7. he day following the explosion, many in Canada still didn't know it happened. Unfortunately, the day after the explosion Halifax was hit with a Winter storm. How would the Tsunami and the following winter storm hinder rescue efforts and worsen survival rates?