Presentation
The Residential School System and Its Impact on Indigenous Languages and Cultures
Exploring Language, Identity, and Power
Cozzolino Giovanni PioDi Domenico Alessia Niro Desiré
During the 19th and 20th centuries, a formal system for the residential schooling of Indigenous children was established and expanded throughout Canada.
The United Church issue formal apologies for their participation in the Residential School System
Indian regional inspectors recommend abolition of Residential Schools
Mohawk Indian Residential School opens in Brantford, Ontario
Residential School Conditions Called a National Crime
1986-1994
1907
1958
1831
1996
1969
1920
1876
Residential School attendance made mandatory for children aged 7-15
Government takes over full administration from the churches
The Royal Commission’s Final Report calls for a public inquiry into the residential schools’ impact on Indigenous peoples. The last school closes.
Indian Act Grants Government Authority over Indigenous Peoples
Indian Residential Schools Map
This map illustrates the vast, strategic network of over 130 institutions. Schools were intentionally built far from home communities to maximize isolation and prevent escapes. Each school became a site where linguistic assimilation replaced Indigenous heritage.
The geographic spread of residential schools highlights how assimilation was not an isolated policy but a nationwide project of cultural suppression
Language was not only a communication tool but a weapon of control and a site of resistance.
Between 1880 and 1983, the system of Residential Schools in Canada — through forced assimilation, the erasure of Indigenous cultures, the separation of children from their families, and the prohibition of Indigenous languages — deeply disrupted the transmission of language and cultural identity. This systematic silencing not only stripped generations of their sense of belonging but also produced enduring intergenerational trauma, revealing the profound connection between language, identity, and power.
Generations of Indigenous children lost their languages, spiritual practices, and knowledge systems.
Language, Identity and Power
Language is more than words — it carries culture, memory, and identity.
This experience seriously affected Indigenous pride and self-respect, leading to a widespread loss of the capacity to cope with daily life, a legacy still visible in the severe social conditions faced by Indigenous communities today.
The systematic and concerted effort to destroy language and culture confirms that the schools were a primary mechanism of colonial power used to enforce assimilation and weaken the political and social integrity of Indigenous nations.
Language Assimilation was coupled with a comprehensive cultural erasure. Children's traditional names were replaced with Euro-Christian names. Their hair, which holds cultural significance in many Indigenous nations, was cut. They were forced to adopt European clothing and were indoctrinated into Christianity, while their own spiritual practices were denigrated as paganism. This, as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission later defined it, was a deliberate act of cultural genocide.
Leona Wolf: A residential school survivor
Leona Wolf, who comes from the Muskowekwan reserve, was five years old when she says she was taken from her home in 1960.
“Sometimes, I wish it would be gone for all what happened here".
The Residential School System left deep scars. Its aim was assimilation; its legacy is trauma. Yet Indigenous peoples today strive to reclaim their languages, identities, and healing. In reflection, the residential school system serves as a powerful, devastating case study. It proves that linguistic suppression is never a peripheral act. It is a central, strategic tool of dispossession.
References
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Canada’s Residential Schools: The History, Part 1, Origins to 1939: The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume I. McGill-Queen’s University Press. Retrieved from https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2015/trc/IR4-9-1-1-2015-eng.pdf Halcrow, K. (2021). The impact of residential schools on language. U-Channel. Retrieved from https://u-channel.ca/the-impact-of-residential-schools-on-the-language/ National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. (n.d.). Residential school history. Retrieved from https://nctr.ca/education/teaching-resources/residential-school-history/ CBS News. (2022, June 5). Canada's unmarked graves: How residential schools carried out “cultural genocide” against Indigenous children. 60 Minutes. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/canada-residential-schools-unmarked-graves-indigenous-children-60-minutes-2022-06-05/ Parks Canada. (2025, September 29). The residential school system National Historic Event. Retrieved from https://parks.canada.ca/culture/designation/evenement-event/sys-pensionnats-residential-school-sys
The Residential School System and Its Impact on Indigenous Languages and Cultures
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Transcript
Presentation
The Residential School System and Its Impact on Indigenous Languages and Cultures
Exploring Language, Identity, and Power
Cozzolino Giovanni PioDi Domenico Alessia Niro Desiré
During the 19th and 20th centuries, a formal system for the residential schooling of Indigenous children was established and expanded throughout Canada.
The United Church issue formal apologies for their participation in the Residential School System
Indian regional inspectors recommend abolition of Residential Schools
Mohawk Indian Residential School opens in Brantford, Ontario
Residential School Conditions Called a National Crime
1986-1994
1907
1958
1831
1996
1969
1920
1876
Residential School attendance made mandatory for children aged 7-15
Government takes over full administration from the churches
The Royal Commission’s Final Report calls for a public inquiry into the residential schools’ impact on Indigenous peoples. The last school closes.
Indian Act Grants Government Authority over Indigenous Peoples
Indian Residential Schools Map
This map illustrates the vast, strategic network of over 130 institutions. Schools were intentionally built far from home communities to maximize isolation and prevent escapes. Each school became a site where linguistic assimilation replaced Indigenous heritage.
The geographic spread of residential schools highlights how assimilation was not an isolated policy but a nationwide project of cultural suppression
Language was not only a communication tool but a weapon of control and a site of resistance.
Between 1880 and 1983, the system of Residential Schools in Canada — through forced assimilation, the erasure of Indigenous cultures, the separation of children from their families, and the prohibition of Indigenous languages — deeply disrupted the transmission of language and cultural identity. This systematic silencing not only stripped generations of their sense of belonging but also produced enduring intergenerational trauma, revealing the profound connection between language, identity, and power.
Generations of Indigenous children lost their languages, spiritual practices, and knowledge systems.
Language, Identity and Power
Language is more than words — it carries culture, memory, and identity.
This experience seriously affected Indigenous pride and self-respect, leading to a widespread loss of the capacity to cope with daily life, a legacy still visible in the severe social conditions faced by Indigenous communities today.
The systematic and concerted effort to destroy language and culture confirms that the schools were a primary mechanism of colonial power used to enforce assimilation and weaken the political and social integrity of Indigenous nations.
Language Assimilation was coupled with a comprehensive cultural erasure. Children's traditional names were replaced with Euro-Christian names. Their hair, which holds cultural significance in many Indigenous nations, was cut. They were forced to adopt European clothing and were indoctrinated into Christianity, while their own spiritual practices were denigrated as paganism. This, as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission later defined it, was a deliberate act of cultural genocide.
Leona Wolf: A residential school survivor
Leona Wolf, who comes from the Muskowekwan reserve, was five years old when she says she was taken from her home in 1960.
“Sometimes, I wish it would be gone for all what happened here".
The Residential School System left deep scars. Its aim was assimilation; its legacy is trauma. Yet Indigenous peoples today strive to reclaim their languages, identities, and healing. In reflection, the residential school system serves as a powerful, devastating case study. It proves that linguistic suppression is never a peripheral act. It is a central, strategic tool of dispossession.
References
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Canada’s Residential Schools: The History, Part 1, Origins to 1939: The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume I. McGill-Queen’s University Press. Retrieved from https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2015/trc/IR4-9-1-1-2015-eng.pdf Halcrow, K. (2021). The impact of residential schools on language. U-Channel. Retrieved from https://u-channel.ca/the-impact-of-residential-schools-on-the-language/ National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. (n.d.). Residential school history. Retrieved from https://nctr.ca/education/teaching-resources/residential-school-history/ CBS News. (2022, June 5). Canada's unmarked graves: How residential schools carried out “cultural genocide” against Indigenous children. 60 Minutes. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/canada-residential-schools-unmarked-graves-indigenous-children-60-minutes-2022-06-05/ Parks Canada. (2025, September 29). The residential school system National Historic Event. Retrieved from https://parks.canada.ca/culture/designation/evenement-event/sys-pensionnats-residential-school-sys