Residential schools were created as part of a government and church policy to assimilate Indigenous children into mainstream Canadian society. Their purpose was to "civilize," integrate, and Christianize Indigenous children by removing them from their homes and cultural environments, thereby erasing their Indigenous identities, languages, and traditions. The schools aimed to replace Indigenous cultural values with Euro-Canadian ones, which was seen as a way to solve what was called the "Indian problem." This policy was explicitly about forced assimilation, cultural eradication, and creating Indigenous people who abandoned their ancestral ways and fully adopted European Christian ways of living. The system forcibly separated children from their families and communities, often subjecting them to harsh punishments and abuse, with the broader goal described as "killing the Indian in the child." This system was initiated in the 19th century and continued into the late 20th century, officially backed by laws like the Indian Act, which made attendance compulsory for Indigenous children.
