Reconsidering the Place of Day School in the History of Indian Education in Canada

• In Event: Roundtable Session 124
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring Methods for History of Education

Abstract

The literature on Indian day schools has been eclipsed by the vast scholarship on residential schooling. This study uses documentary and oral history approaches to examine three British Columbia day schools at Campbell River, Osoyoos, and Port Essington. It illustrates how pupils successfully negotiated through two educational spheres: formal schooling where they were “Anglicized” and traditional learning taught by elders. It demonstrates the important role played by community members. Furthermore, it concludes that the day school was less benign than previously thought, contributing to the loss of ancestral language and culture. Although similarities existed among students’ experiences, each also walked his/ her own particular path, dispelling the myth of Aboriginal peoples as “a mass,” or collective consisting of one, unified experience.

Author

• Helen S. Raptis, University of Victoria