The Art of Resisting Colonial Education

Abstract

This thesis explores the efforts of discipline and resistance in the Indian Residential School (IRS) system in Canada. The IRS has origins in eighteenth and nineteenth century colonial policies of assimilation. While its goals aimed to transform Aboriginal children into Euro-Canadian adults the system has largely been proven ineffective and highly damaging to First Nation communities. This research discusses the complex connection between colonial curriculum and student resistance within the IRS. The discussion emphasizes students‟ abilities to creatively subvert disciplinary tactics and the methods of resistance used in the IRS context - with a focus on art and cultural persistence. It highlights a complicated relationship of disciplinary tactics and student resistance within the context of the IRS focusing on the relationship between curriculum and student product.