Residential Schools

Discussion Questions

  1. Why did Bryce open his 1907 report with a summary of the history of the residential school system and its origins?
  2. According to Bryce, how did the per capita payment system for residential schools influence the health conditions in the schools?
  3. Why did Bryce argue that “Principals and teachers and even physicians were at times inclined to question or minimize the dangers of infection from scrofulous or consumptive pupils,”?
  4. What difficulties did Bryce encounter in studying the conditions of the residential schools in Manitoba and the Northwest?
  5. Based on your reading of this 1907 report and his 1922 book, was Dr. Bryce an opponent of the residential school system for Indigenous children?
  6. Why does Bryce reference the Revolutionary War and the Great War in the title of his 1922 book?
  7. Was Dr. Bryce a whistleblower?
  8. How effective was Bryce’s 1922 book? What do you make of his decision to use excerpts from previously unpublished reports and correspondence?
  9. Why did Bryce place such emphasis on statistics in his arguments?
Print Friendly, PDF & Email