Indian Residential Schools as Seen Through House of Commons Debates, 1876-1951

• In Event: Roundtable Session 50
  In Roundtable Session: The Role of the State in International Education

Abstract

Legally mandated by the Canadian federal government through the Indian Act, the Indian Residential School (IRS) system forcibly removed at least 150,000 Indigenous children from their homes and communities. Many of these children experienced abuse at the hands of their “caregivers.” The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s conclusion that the Canadian government willfully engaged in cultural genocide while administering the IRS program suggests that the government purposefully endeavoured to cause harm to the children in their care. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to evaluate Hansard transcriptions of House of Commons debates, this paper investigates Members of Parliament’s responses to and knowledge of the IRS system from 1876-1920.

Author

• Danielle Lorenz, University of Alberta