Residential schools were government-sponsored religious schools that were established to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture. Beginning in the late 1800s, the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs (DIA) officially encouraged the growth of the residential school system as a valuable component in a wider policy of integrating Indigenous people into Euro-Canadian society. Residential schools were created by Christian churches and the Canadian government as an attempt to both educate and convert Indigenous youth and to assimilate them into Canadian society. However, the schools have disrupted lives and communities, causing lifelong problems. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) considered it to be a cultural genocide, a conclusion that echoed the words of historian John Milloy, who argued that the system's aim was to "kill the Indian in the child."

---

Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theeniqma/support