American Indian languages
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Boarding school policy days
Q: Hello ! I have 2 questions :
Why amerindian languages were deliberately destroyed
in North America ?
What is the US boarding-school-policy days ?
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A: The boarding-school policy was that Indian children
could be removed from their parents' homes, without
the parents' consent, and sent to (usually religious)
boarding school many miles away, without the parents'
consent. This happened in both the US and Canada. Of
course, since Indian languages were forbidden at the
schools and the children were beaten if they used
them, this contributed to language loss.
The languages were deliberately destroyed because the
government wished to assimilate the Indians and felt
that eliminating native languages and religions would
be the best way to do that. Many of the people
involved had good intentions. They really believed
that Indian people would be better off if they gave up
their heritage and adopted the English language,
Christianity, and white culture. Other people were just
racists and wanted to exploit the Indians for cheap labor.
Regardless of their intentions, these policies have had
devastating results by ripping apart the Indian family. The
children had mental and emotional problems, trouble
forming relationships later in life and the rate of
suicide and drug use among the Indian population went
up incredibly. Children should never be taken away
from their families this way. The Canadian government
has officially apologized for this terrible policy,
the US government not yet.
Hope that helps!
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