Clothing played a pivotal role in Canadian residential schools, where it served as a potent tool of assimilation. Clothing was forcibly replaced upon arrival and symbolized the imposition of Western values and the erasure of Indigenous identity. Uniforms, devoid of personal choice, reflected an agenda aimed at aligning children with Western notions of civilization. To... Continue Reading →

Our team delved into the theme of "Land and Water" through an analysis of We Are the People of This Land, a poem by Roland J. Nadjiwon (May 1979) who is an Algoma University alumnus. We explored the poem's different sections and linked them to the agricultural practices, the historical development of Algoma and the... Continue Reading →

Indian Residential Schools in Canada employed a systematic focus on agricultural practices as a cornerstone of their assimilation efforts. Until the 1940s, most of these schools operated on a half-day system, with students spending half their time in classrooms and the other half engaged in farm labor and manual tasks, predominantly assigned to boys. This... Continue Reading →

Feeling of Pride / Resistance Former students of the boarding schools often have positive recollections of the sports activities. Ex-students describe how sports formed a complex cultural practice that allowed Native Americans to express their identities in new ways and feel pride in their culture, all while allowing them to overcome an insensitive educational system.... Continue Reading →

Resistance both during and after the residential school takes on different forms for each individual person and is deeply tied to healing and reconciliation. The topic of resistance is hard to explore using primary sources because missionaries and priests omitted and denied any events that would reflect badly on them and the residential schools, therefore... Continue Reading →

The First Day Each story is different, and each testimony can depict different nuances. However, it is a common experience for many survivors that the first day was full of confusion and hostility. Schools would have been imposing, strange, and foreign for the children to come to, especially since many would have been forcibly removed... Continue Reading →