Surviving & Conquering
What can we learn from their experiences?
Residential Schools
The goal of the school was to both educate and convert Aboriginal youth to integrate them into Canadian Society. An estimated 150,000 First Nation, Inuit, and Métis children attended Residential Schools.
Residential Schools were established on the 1870's and ended on 1996.
The Life of Wilson
Wilson has 2 brothers named Thomas and Joey. He was taken away at a young age to go to Kuper Island Residential School. Wilson is a mama's boy, he really remembers his mom at harsh times and he really values his parents and family.When he was in Kuper Island Residential School, teachers treated him poorly except one teacher named Brother Eubieus who had loved and cared for him when he was in school. He was also experiencing bullying issues and some kids even offered him protection for his food. He was humiliated in front of his peers naked in a colds shower after getting his consequences for peeing his bed. Soon Wilson got very sick and was sent back to his home after Father Maynard was not risking his school's reputation for being blamed for starving a student.
What experiences did Wilson, his family, and other First Nation kids experienced?
Wilson and anyone who went to a Residential school experienced harsh punishments such as, Wilson was forced to take a cold shower naked in front of his peers. Another common punishment in Residential Schools was whipping, tying them on to a pole and beaten in front of everyone. First Nations were also served disgusting food and were forbidden from speaking in their native language and were being forced to integrate to then into Canadian Society and to forget about the culture they grew from. Kids are also taken away from their families for long periods of times until they graduate from school.
Residential School Survivor Stories
Stories of past students of Residential Schools who experienced abuse and have caused impacts such as post traumatic stress syndrome and have made it difficult for Survivors to engage in family, social, and professional circumstances.
These people were one of many past students from Residential Schools who had harsh experiences in there childhood who were taken away from their families and were forced to abandon their languare, culture, and way of life.