By the mid–1800s, Britain began allowing home rule for its colonies of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland, but the treatment of the native peoples did not allow the same freedom and self-determination.

Assignment

Part A

Choose one of the cases below to read the linked articles and skim the linked videos. Make notes in your Moleskin/ Field Notes on some of the details you find — pay particular attention to (a) who was placed into the institutions, (b) who put them there, (c) what were the reasons given for separating children from their families, and (d) when/ why did the practice or system end?

Part B

We’ll jigsaw and you’ll be responsible for telling others in your group about what you learned about indigenous peoples in the country you chose above.

Canada

The First Peoples in Canada, as the Native Americans are called there, were subject to Residential Schools. Skim Residential Schools (Gale, World History in Context), and Canadian Indian residential school system (Wikipedia), and watch:

Stolen Children

Australia

In Australia, there is the plight of the children of Aborigines who were taken from their parents and raised in institutional facilities or fostered into white families. Skim Aborigines (Gale, World History in Context), and Stolen Generations (Wikipedia). Watch:

Stolen Generations

New Zealand

As indicated in the textbook, “Britain did not claim ownership of New Zealand, as it did Australia,” and so the treatment of the Maori was different there. For example, the government of New Zealand provided money and trained teachers who build schools in Maori communities to provide an education for children there. Skim Native schools (Wikipedia), The native schools system (The Encyclopedia of New Zealand), and watch this newscast in which Canadian First Peoples are looking toward how the Maori were able to maintain their cultural heritage:

New Zealand newscast

Ireland

Skim the two linked articles and watch the video. Industrial Schools (Wikipedia) were established in Ireland as a means of preventing juvenile deliquency by removing children from troubled homes. A similar federal policy allowed for the exploitation of young women by orders of the Catholic Church in what are referred to as Magdalene Laundries (Wikipedia). In this, a survivor tells about her two years in one of the laundries:

YouTube video.