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In the 19th century, the Canadian government believed it was responsible for educating and caring for aboriginal people in Canada. It thought their best chance for success was to learn English and adopt Christianity and Canadian customs. Ideally, those in the schools would adopt these new lifestyles and pass them on to their children. Ensuring that native traditions would diminish in a few generations.
The Canadian government developed a policy called "aggressive assimilation" to be taught at church-run, government-funded industrial schools, later called residential schools. The government felt that the children were easier to mold and the concept of a boarding school was the best way to prepare them for life in mainstream society.
Residential schools were federally run, under the Department of Indian Affairs. Attendance was mandatory for children in the communities that didn't have day schools. While agents were employed by the government to ensure all native children attended school.
Read more about the history of residential schools in Canada from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation here.
A clip from the Canadian Encyclopedia detailing the history of Residential Schools throughout Canada.
Early in the history of American Indian boarding schools, the US government argued that Indians were savages, and by "killing the Indian, [and] saving the man" they would be able to change their behaviors to live continuously with their white counterparts. Throughout these boarding schools, or Residential Schools, established in the late 19th and mid 20th century.
Their goal was to assimilate Native American children and youth into the American culture. These schools were established by Christian missionaries, much like those in Canada, and were paid through the government to provide education to the Native American children from the reservations.
The children were forced to change their hair, names, and ideologies apart from their cultural backgrounds. They were forcibly separated from their families and required to abandon their Native American Identities. The experience was harsh and often deadly, and those that came out of these schools were often traumatized from their experiences.
To read more, click here.