Running Head: AUTONOMY IN CANADIAN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS 1

Autonomy in Canadian Residential Schools

Michelle Bright
University of Lethbridge

Author Note
This paper was prepared for Educational Psychology, EDUC 3502, taught by Dr. Jeffrey

MacCormack in Fall 2019.

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Autonomy in Residential Schools in Canada

As a community Canadians are still witnessing and experiencing the impacts of the

atrocities that occurred within residential schools. At least 150, 000 First Nation, Métis, and Inuit

[FNMI] children were forced into these schools, where most faced abuse, intolerance, and

cruelty at the hands of those employed at the federally sanctioned schools. Residential schools

were tasked with wiping out the indigenous cultures of Canada and many turned a blind eye

while these children were facing horrendous conditions, especially those in power both

politically and within the churches that ran the institutions. As the victims of residential schools

begin to share their experiences, we as community must acknowledge the events that took place

and the effects it has had on a vital population within our nation.

We can begin to unravel and examine the abuse that occurred by considering the effects

through a psychological lens. Niemiec and Ryan (2009) identified autonomy as a fundamental

psychological need; which is the need to feel in control and in support of ones’ own behaviours

(p. 135). Autonomy was not only neglected, but also broken down and stripped from the students

attending residential schools in a variety of situations. The students were deprived of autonomy

over their own bodies, their ability to express themselves, and their capacity to form connections

with others. The Survivors Speak (2015) document allows the students of residential schools to

share their personal experiences and can be used to examine the many ways in which autonomy

was torn from the lives of so many children.

Autonomy of Body

Many of us live with autonomy over our own bodies; the ability to control what happens

to our bodies and to advocate for our physical well-being. Innocent citizens may not be forcibly

moved or removed from a location within their nations, forms of abuse are unacceptable, and
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access to health care and basic needs are provided. Although autonomy of body is afforded to the

vast majority of Canadian citizens, it was denied to all the students in residential schools in some

form throughout their schooling experience.

Before even entering the schools, many were forcibly removed from their homes and

communities. Parents had to send their children to school under threat of ending up imprisoned,

and as most communities didn’t have their own schools, many children were sent hundreds of

kilometers away. The children were isolated and in environments whose sole purpose was to

eradicate their cultures. Many former students recall the fear and turmoil of their forced

departures. Larry Beardy recalled his first trip, “I want to call that train of tears, and a lot of

anger, a lot of frustration” (Truth and Reconciliation Commission [TRC], 2015, p. 26). “We got

taken away by a big truck”, Alma Scott remembered the moment clearly, her “dad’s shoulders

were hunched, … it looked like his spirit was broken” (TRC, 2015, p. 24). Howard Stacy Jones

was taken from the elementary school he was attending without his families’ knowledge, clearly

this wasn’t about education but rather forced assimilation and breaking familial and cultural ties

(TRC, 2015, p. 23).

Within hours of arriving at the schools’, students were already faced with abusive

treatment. In a process of delousing, students were stripped down, often aggressively washed,

and kerosene was poured in their hair; many times they were surrounded by other students,

humiliated and violated of any respect for their own bodies. The abuse did not stop here for most

of the students attending residential schools, especially as form of ‘punishment’. Strappings, and

being hit, either by hand or with objects, were common in most schools, but the abuse by no

means ended there. Fred Brass “saw [his] brother with his face held to a hot steaming pipe and

… getting burned on the arm by the supervisor” (TRC, 2015, p. 140). Edmund Metatawabin
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recalls an electric chair being used for both entertainment and punishment by the staff at his

school (TRC, 2015, p. 143). Augie Merasty (2017) shares in his memoir of a time when he was

pushed down the stairs leaving behind “a big gash in the back of [his] head”, he was never

brought to the hospital even as lice inhabited his head and remained alone in his dormitory for a

month (p. 38). The abuse is unfathomable, and the stories seem never ending from those who

attended residential schools. Though the abuse was not only physical, many students also were

victims of sexual violence at the hands of adults, and even other students, in the schools. There

was no way to stop it, no one to go to, and many were not brought to hospitals just as Augie was

not, so there was no way to protect themselves from the harm they were continually placed in.

The students had no control over their bodies’ well being, and this was seen in more

nuanced forms of abuse and neglect. Many students were not provided with proper or nutritious

food, and some kids would even get sick from it while the staff ate in luxury (TRC, 2015, p. 71-

77). The food led many children to become mal-nourished and starving, with no ways to improve

their diet except through stealing which often led to punishment. The clothes given to the

students were rarely appropriate for the weather conditions, so when it was cold many suffered

without the right protection or ability to go inside (TRC, 2015, p. 45). It was made abundantly

clear every day while at school that the students had no choice in the matters of their safety and

well-being, their bodies were no longer their own they were at the mercy of the school.

Autonomy of Expression

It is vital to be able to express ones’ self, whether it be their emotions, ideas, or culture,

through a variety of means. Without the ability to express ones’ internal thoughts and feelings, it

is easy to begin feeling trapped. This may lead people into depression, isolation, anxiety, and an

inability to process emotions in a safe and effective way. Most students attending residential
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schools were prevented from expressing any part of themselves in any way. The environment

was rigid and controlling, meant to assimilate and detach the students’ identities from them, thus

the ability to express themselves was almost impossible.

Immediately students’ hair was cut off upon arriving at residential schools. This had an

extra impact as many of the children had spiritual attachments to their hair, as well as reminders

of their families which they had just been separated from. Helen Harry’s mother had long hair

and would never cut her children’s hair, but when Helen arrived to school cutting her hair was

not an option, she recalls the girls at school “were mad and crying that they had to get their hair

cut” (TRC, 2015, p. 40). Victoria Boucher-Grant had a similar experience, remembering “just

crying and crying because it was almost like being violated, … your braids got cut, … I don’t

know how many years that [I] spent growing this long hair” (TRC, 2015, p. 41). Out of their own

control, students’ hair, and any meaning or significance it had to them, was taken away without a

second thought.

Upon arrival their clothes were also taken, and often never seen again. Many students

would be dressed in their best clothes to arrive at school, clothes made or bought by family

members, but they were all taken away in exchange for identical ‘European’ styled clothes. Ilene

Nepoose shares a moment where she saw her dress from home being worn by another student

who the nuns had given it to, “that really bothered me because it was my own, [my] mother made

that dress for me and I was very proud of it and … I wasn’t allowed to wear that again” (TRC,

2015, p. 43). “[F]or so many students, the moment of arrival was a moment of tremendous loss”;

expressions of their community, culture, families, and personal identities were taken out of their

life within hours of arriving (TRC, 2015, p. 43).

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Humans use language to express their own identity but also build their cultural identity.

As the purpose of the schools was to eradicate FNMI cultures, FNMI languages were prohibited

throughout residential schools and speaking them regularly resulted in harsh punishments.

Martin Nicholas spoke of his isolation because he could not communicate without his language,

“I would be punished if I spoke my language, yet, that’s the only language I knew”, so he was

forced to remain silent (TRC, 2015, p. 49). Students would be strapped or hit in the mouth with

rulers for speaking their native languages, resulting in many abandoning their own language for

English or French. “They took my language. They took it right out of my mouth. I never spoke it

again” (Rose Dorothy Charlie, TRC, 2015, p. 54). Losing ones’ language meant losing a part of

their culture and identity pre-residential school. Students were no longer given a means to

express their thoughts, ideas, opinions or identity without the language to express them in.

The expression of their cultures and personal identities through traditions, songs, dances,

events and rituals was also denied. Any beliefs that their communities may have held were

replaced with Christianity and cultural expressions of any form were not tolerated. Arthur Ron

McKay (TRC, 2015) shared how this denial of expression impacted his culture and identity:

That’s how I lost all my … beliefs, traditional things that I knew from my grandfather,

the songs that he tried to show me because I knew some songs before I left for school and

I forgot all about those songs, traditional songs, Sun Dance songs, even when I was

younger, … I knew how to do all the little things that the medicines, he used to pick. By

this time then I was going back on the last years, I forgot all about those. (p. 89)

With almost all forms of expression denied from the them, the students of residential schools

were left in limbo, struggling to find an identity, connect to their communities, and deal with the

treatment they were facing.

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Autonomy of Connections

It is difficult to build and sustain connections when expressing ones’ self is unattainable,

but as social animals, connections are necessary to humans’ well-being. Beyond the effects of

eliminated autonomy of expression on forming relationships, the students were also stripped of

their autonomy to connect with the people vital to their lives. Students were not able to control if

or when they could see their families or community members, and they were denied the ability to

form long lasting connections with those that should have been their support system.

Not only were children ripped from their parents and communities to attend residential

schools, but they were also separated from siblings once they arrived at school. Former students

remember the staff forcefully ripping their siblings from their grasp, a heart wrenching moment

that foreshadowed what would become customary throughout their education. Students recall

seeing their siblings across schools and aching to talk to them, but knowing they were not

allowed to interact, or finding out that their sibling had been injured or sick and they had not

been informed (TRC, 2015, p. 94). When the children were sad no one was there to comfort

them, their support system was taken away and they were left to their own devices, lacking in

companionship and support. Without any explanation everything and everyone was ripped out of

their lives, Archie Hyacinthe recollects those first moments of loss: “I think that’s when the

trauma started for me, being separated from my sister, from my parents, and from our, our home.

We were no longer free” (TRC, 2015, p. 36).

Some families were divided into different schools taught in different languages. This led

to families such as Paul Dixon’s to struggle communicating with one another; while he had

learned English in school his brother had learned French so they could not communicate without

their Aboriginal language, which the schools had attempted to strategically eradicate (TRC,
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2015, p. 55). Some students even lost their native language and way of being so when they

returned home, they felt like strangers in their own communities. Residential schools’ denial

over expression, and separation of families, led many students to lose autonomy of their

connections not only in school, but also long after they were no longer forced to attend.

While at residential school, children were constantly bombarded with derogatory

comments about their communities. They were called savages, dirty, and drunks among other

things. For many, it became difficult to differentiate between everything they heard and what

they knew was the reality of their communities and families. Some even began to hate their

families just for the colour of their skin, language they spoke, and culture they lived by.

Residential schools diffused self-hatred into the children that attended, teaching them to hate

themselves and those of their communities. “By belittling Aboriginal culture, the schools drove a

wedge between children and their parents” (TRC, 2015, p. 105). Family connections were

intentionally fragmented, and students were given no ability to reconcile their relationships,

Madeleine Dion Stout reflected:

There was a sense of separation and the sense of, of not connecting to your own, you

know, the people who would mean the most to you, your family members, and your

community members, a complete separation. And if it wasn’t that we were taught by my

mother to always love one another no matter how big the transgressions we committed

against each other, … that’s what we carry today, not what the residential school taught

us, but there’s still a deep conflict there, that separation, but be together, …that I still

carry. (TRC, 2015, p. 91)

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Discussion

The terrors that took place in residential schools throughout our country continue to

impact our community to this day. Many that were forced into these schools are still alive and

now sharing their horrific experiences, as in The Survivors Speak (2015) document. The children,

grandchildren, and descendants of those who went to residential school have been raised in the

impacts of abuse and turmoil their family members had to endure. It has led to a people wrought

with trauma, and the effects remain prevalent in our schools and communities. The damage

cannot be reversed, but those affected can be supported and as an education community we can

try and return the autonomy that was stolen from the FMNI community.

Patrick, Stockbridge, Vornbrock Roosa, and Edelson (2019) studied self-silencing in

schools, the phenomena of people repressing or altering parts of themselves to the desire of

social setting and relationships. They found that students would sacrifice autonomy in order to

facilitate positive relationships with their teachers, especially those who felt their teacher had

control and power over them (Patrick, et. al., 2019, p. 956). And those students who repeatedly

experience controlling school environments with a “lack opportunities for empowerment and self

expression” may self-silence more habitually (Patrick, et. al., 2019, p. 961). This is especially

detrimental as “self-silencing [was] correlated with important school outcomes, including

engagement, emotions, school belongingness, and strategies for coping with failure” (Patrick, et.

al., 2019, p. 961). Many of those who attended residential schools were forced into this sacrifice

of autonomy and controlling school environments, so it is likely that most, if not all, have picked

up self-silencing and have even passed similar sentiments and perceptions onto their children.

Fostering autonomy and student-teacher relations to reduce self-silencing could help improve

students’ success in education and could be a particular focus in supporting FNMI students.
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Education communities can build spaces for students to feel autonomous in their

learning. Autonomy can be supported and encouraged by creating an environment where

students don’t feel stressed by evaluations or forced to do uninspiring activities, and are given

the space to share their thoughts and make individual decisions (Niemiec & Ryan, 2009, p. 136).

By noting what inspires students and what helps them to learn and using those notes to guide

teaching strategies, educators are also allowing for students to self-motivate their learning

(Kusurkar, et. al., 2011). Educators can give supportive guidance with learning activities and

with emotional regulation to help support and foster autonomy in the students; allowing for them

to learn that they are in control of themselves, but not alone (Kusurkar, et. al., 2011). Supporting

autonomy helps every student in a class but especially those who have been taught that

autonomy is not provided in school such as the FNMI community.

Conclusion

“For many students, abuse, fear, and violence dominated their school experience” (TRC,

2015, p. 153). Schools are meant to be a supportive place of learning and growth that was denied

of so many FNMI children in their experiences at residential schools. They lost all autonomy

over their lives, and were forced to endure daily abuse and neglect without the support of their

families and communities. These lifetimes of trauma have spread into generations of the FNMI

community and continue to show lasting effects. But now education can play a role in handing

back the autonomy that was seized, allowing for current FNMI children to have access to

autonomy and begin repairing their communities and gaining the opportunities that their families

were deprived of.

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Applying self-determination theory to educational practice. Theory and Research in
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Patrick, B. C., Stockbridge, S., Vornbrock Roosa, H., & Edelson, J. S. (2019). Self-Silencing in
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