Today in Talking Circle Pam taught us about residential schools. A residential school is when you are taken away from your parents. Only Indigenous students were taken away from their families and their homes. When these children were at these schools they were not allowed to speak in their language. The children had to have their hair cut off of their heads. Hair in the Indigenous culture is very important, Pam explained that this culture grows their hair long like the sweet grass of Mother Earth. They only cut their hair when someone passes away. The children were only allowed to go home in the summer.
Pam read us two books to help explain what Residential schools are. The first one was Shi-shi-etko by Nicola I. Campbell and the second book was Shin-chi's Canoe by Nicola I. Campbell. While Pam was reading us the books, we wrote things that were important to us on leaves, cut them out and glued them to our trees.
We still have many questions about Residential schools:
Chloie wonders why they made the schools.
Aaron wonders why they cut off their hair.
Joel wonders if the teachers were nice.
Michael wonders why the teachers teased the students by eating good food while they ate horrible food.
Abbey wonders why the laws were like that.
Diego wonders why they were taken away for 10 months.
Yuna wonders why they cannot be close to their siblings.
Ethan wonders why they sleep at school.
Amanda wonders why the girls and boys are separated, why the girls go in one door and the boys go in another.
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