Indian Residential Schools

A Governmental Assault on Religious Freedom

Bibliographic Data

ID4796046
AuthorsJennifer Reid (0000-0003-0853-2661, University of Maine at Farmington), J S Reid (University of Maine at Farmington, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume44
Issue4
Pages441-456
Publication date2015-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0008-4298 • E-ISSN: 2042-0587
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0008429815605774
OpenAlexW2572939788
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited8

In 2008 Canada's Prime Minister apologized to survivors of Canada's Indian Residential Schools, which had operated for almost a century, and were intended to assimilate Aboriginal children into the dominant society. Some survivors appreciated the gesture. Others were critical, especially of the Prime Minister's description of the schools as a "mistake" rather than a crime, which they convincingly argue they were, with respect to the crime of genocide. I will suggest in this essay that this was not the only omission-that the school system also profoundly violated religious freedom. By exploring dominant Canadian narratives concerning religious freedom, I will highlight the way in which: (i) the system was intended to be a religious assault; (ii) the system contravened dominant understandings of freedom of religion; and (iii) dominant understandings of religion have marginalized Aboriginal religion, such that the profoundly religious character of the residential school assault has yet to be fully confronted

Character (mathematics · Criminology · Freedom of Religion · Genocide · Human rights · Mistake · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Prime minister · Religious freedom · Sociology · Gender Studies · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Law · Religious Education and Schools

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