A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School System

John S. Milloy

Published by University of Manitoba Press 1999

A National Crime

The Canadian Government and the Residential School System

John S. Milloy

Volume 11 in the series Manitoba Studies in Native History

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780887553035

Overview
Contents

About this book

“I am going to tell you how we are treated. I am always hungry.” — Edward B., a student at Onion Lake School (1923) "[I]f I were appointed by the Dominion Government for the express purpose of spreading tuberculosis, there is nothing finer in existance that the average Indian residential school.” — N. Walker, Indian Affairs Superintendent (1948) For over 100 years, thousands of Aboriginal children passed through the Canadian residential school system. Begun in the 1870s, it was intended, in the words of government officials, to bring these children into the “circle of civilization,” the results, however, were far different. More often, the schools provided an inferior education in an atmosphere of neglect, disease, and often abuse. Using previously unreleased government documents, historian John S. Milloy provides a full picture of the history and reality of the residential school system. He begins by tracing the ideological roots of the system, and follows the paper trail of internal memoranda, reports from field inspectors, and letters of complaint. In the early decades, the system grew without planning or restraint. Despite numerous critical commissions and reports, it persisted into the 1970s, when it transformed itself into a social welfare system without improving conditions for its thousands of wards. A National Crime shows that the residential system was chronically underfunded and often mismanaged, and documents in detail and how this affected the health, education, and well-being of entire generations of Aboriginal children.

Author / Editor information

Milloy John S. :

John Milloy is a professor in the departments of Native Studies and History, and Master of Peter Robinson College, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario.

Reviews

“The most definitive account of how the Canadian government and churches conspired to turn a blind eye to the failings of the residential system for aboriginal children.”

“Milloy’s book should be mandatory reading for all citizens of the Americas."

“One of the 100 most important Canadian books ever written.”

Topics

Front Matter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction: Suffer the Little Children . . . Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
Vision: The Circle of Civilized Conditions
The Tuition of Thomas Moore Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
The Imperial Heritage, 1830 to 1879 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
The Founding Vision of Residential School Education, 1879 to 1920 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
Reality: The System at Work, 1879 to 1946
"A National Crime": Building and Managing the System, 1879 to 1946 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	51
"The Charge of Manslaughter": Disease and Death, 1879 to 1946 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	77
"We Are Going to Tell You How We Are Treated": Food and Clothing, 1879 to 1946 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	109
The Parenting Presumption: Neglect and Abuse Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
Teaching and Learning, 1879 to 1946 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	157
Integration and Guardianship, 1946 to 1986
Integration for Closure, 1946 to 1986 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
Persistence: The Struggle for Closure Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
Northern and Arctic Assimilation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
The Failure of Guardianship: Neglect and Abuse, 1946 to 1986 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	259
Epilogue: Beyond Closure, 1992 to 1998 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	295
Appendix Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	307
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	309
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	380
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	389

Language: English
Publisher: University of Manitoba Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 424
Keywords: residential school; Residential Schools; Canada; Canadian Goverment; Indigenous; First Nations; Indians; History; Reconciliation

eBook

Published: May 17, 1999
ISBN: 9780887553035