Like many of us, my elementary school in New Brunswick had a number of aboriginal children in attendance. At the time, my feelings toward my aboriginal classmates were dictated by the actions of the aboriginal students towards myself and others in the class/school, and we were mostly afraid. The aboriginal students didn’t want to be there (I realised later) and it showed.

I have often thought back to those days and I have an interest in finding out more information about school and education systems that were put in place (or attempted) for the aboriginal children in my area. Thus, I am looking at researching into the history of residential schools in Canada.

1. The CBC has an article that is a pretty good starting point for information on the residential school history. This page is from 2008 but contains an archive of links for further information.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/a-history-of-residential-schools-in-canada-1.702280

2. Wikipedia, though certainly not always a reliable source, contains a list of residential schools in Canada.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_residential_schools_in_Canada

3. UBC has an indigenous foundation with a wealth of information on residential schools and includes a good list of recommended resources, from books to websites and different organisations.

http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/government-policy/the-residential-school-system.html

4. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) has the following mandate “The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada has a mandate to learn the truth about what happened in the residential schools and to inform all Canadians about what happened in the schools.”

The organisation’s site has a wealth of resources and artefacts that will prove useful in a better understanding of what happened in these schools and the Canadian government’s role in their development and forced attendance.

http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=4

5. Just recently media reported findings that over 3,000 aboriginals died in dormitories in residential schools in Canada. The majority of deaths were due to the spread of disease. From the Spanish Flu to the spread of TB, the dorms were apparently a perfect breeding ground for disease.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/at-least-3-000-died-in-residential-schools-research-shows-1.1310894