Residential schools

Literature-specific definitions

ʔbédayine by Kaitlyn Purcell

The book’s opening prose poem, “Fort Smith,” describes the neglected state of the small town and the Indigenous Peoples who live there: “no / running water and no paint on their houses and children / pushed into residential schools” (p. 11). 1 1 Purcell, Kaitlyn. ʔbédayine. Metatron, 2019.  Naomi Angel describes the Indian Residential School (IRS) system in the following way:  

Run by the government of Canada and the Presbyterian, Anglican, United, and Catholic churches, the system was in place for more than a century (1876–1996). It separated Indigenous children from their families and placed them in 139 recognized Indian residential schools across the country … The IRS system is now recognized as one of the major factors in the attempted destruction of Indigenous cultures, languages, and communities in Canada. 2 2 Angel, Naomi. Fragments of Truth: Residential Schools and the Challenge of Reconciliation in Canada. Edited by Jamie Berthe and Dylan RobinsonDuke University Press, 2022.  (p. 12)

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