"Kill the Indian in the Child": The Ideology and Legacy of Canada's Residential School System
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.3729Keywords:
Social ScienceAbstract
This paper examines the devastating impact of Canada's Indian Residential School system on
Indigenous peoples, communities, and cultures. The phrase "Kill the Indian in the Child"
encapsulates the explicit state-sanctioned policy of forced assimilation and cultural destruction
systematically implemented by the Canadian government and collaborating churches from the
nineteenth century until 1996. Drawing upon survivor testimonies and the findings of the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission, this paper argues that the residential school system's legacy
persists today through intergenerational trauma, the disruption of familial and cultural structures,
and ongoing socio-economic disparities within Indigenous communities. Understanding this
history remains essential for the long and necessary process of reconciliation, a journey in
which all Canadians are called to participate.
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