Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
And some posters are missing the fact that the alternative to residential schools was illiteracy and no hope of ever having a job. The first generation of Natives from remote communities who did get an education, who became teachers and lawyers and leaders of their community, went to residential schools. Because there were no other options.
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And why were those schools not built on their reservations? Where their children could either be bused to school or walk or bike to school? Where their children could go home to Mommy and Daddy at night?
And why were they forced to give up their native language? Children returned home in the summer, unable to communicate with their parents.
And why did they have to cut their hair to "white" standards?
Because it was cultural genocide. They were viewed as savages.
And while we are at it, why were most of the reservations given to the various First Nations waste land, unable to make a living on? set up for failure? and they were not given much of a choice in most cases.
My father's farm bordered the north side of the Piapot Reserve north of Regina. Outside of some gravel pits and some land for grazing, there is no other source of income.