Page 123 - E-magazine ENG19

In 1996 the last Residential School closed in Ontario,Canada,
ending a chapter for Indigenous people and tribes that saw
their native language nearly wiped out, as well as culture and

identity.

Residential Schools the Indigenous children were made to

attend prohibited the use of their native language Mohawk,
(Kanien'kéha), and instead the children were made to
communicate only in English. Residential schools were run by
Churches, educational systems and Federal and Provincial
Governments. The intention was to suppress and destroy the

Mohawk language, preventing Indigenous people from using
their natural language and passing it down to future
generations. The theory was to bring them into the

mainstream of Canadian Society and, to quote Jeff Wilson,
"No longer be Mohawk people, but Canadian people". The
goal was to erase Indigenous groups from the Canadian
landscape,so those who were left would blend into Canadian
mainstream.