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A barn deep in the Chippewas of Thames First Nations reserve may be one of the only remaining structures in Canada from the country's residential school program at the turn of the century. The students at Mt. Elgin Industrial School worked day and night in the barn - leaving their names and notes behind to tell their tale. (Photos by Derek Ruttan)
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Working Like Hell
The poor little fellows who attended the Mount Elgin farm school wrote messages of desperation on the walls of the barn where they were forced to work. The Canadian residential schools are a national shame.
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I'm sure the schools were ghastly, the ones in the US were also, but keep in mind farm kids of that era all worked like hell.
ReplyDeleteThe residential schools were a crime perpetrated on generations of our aboriginal people. The children who were raised in them became adults who didn't know how to parent their own children. It's heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteYes Alice, I'm aware of the history of the Indian schools in Canada and the US. As NAG said, a national shame. However, I'm also aware that rural/farm kids of that era all worked long hours at physically demanding labor. So the focus should not be on how hard they worked, but the cruel separation from their family, and abuse/neglect by the administrators.
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