Some missing residential school students disappeared into arranged marriages, report says
The practice of arranging marriages for Indigenous children who disappeared from residential schools is a dark chapter in Canadian history that is only now coming to light. According to the final report from the special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked graves associated with Indian Residential Schools, some children who went missing from these schools ended up in arranged marriages organized by school principals and the government.
Leah Redcrow, whose grandparents were married at Sacred Heart Indian Residential School (later called Blue Quills) in Alberta in 1928, believes that her grandparents may have been one of many couples whose marriages were arranged by authorities. This practice was not limited to one school or one time period. In fact, researchers studying the issue believe that a large-scale study is needed to determine how many people were affected and when this practice finally ended.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission collected testimony from survivors who reported facing arranged marriages as late as the 1950s. Redcrow, who is the executive director of the Acimowin Opaspiw Society, representing Blue Quills survivors, believes that arranged marriages were common at Sacred Heart/Blue Quills school and had a lasting impact on the Saddle Lake Cree Nation.
The government of Canada used marriage as a tool to further assimilate Indigenous youth and exert control over the personal lives of Indigenous people. The special interlocutor’s final report examines how children were moved through various institutions, making it difficult for families to find out what happened to their kids. Arranged marriages were a part of this larger pattern of control, as names were often changed after marriage.
The File Hills Colony in Saskatchewan was a particularly egregious example of this practice. Indian agent William Morris Graham created an agrarian utopia by taking land from the local Cree community and giving it to others. Missionary and school principal Catherine Motherwell arranged marriages for her students, selecting partners from nearby institutions and encouraging relationships that would further assimilate the students. By orchestrating marriages between students, schools, and the government discouraged students from returning to their communities.
The impact of these arranged marriages on Indigenous communities was profound. Many families did not want their children to know they were in arranged marriages, and the marriages could be disruptive to culture and community connections. The hypersexualization of Indigenous girls and women made officials fear that unmarried or unemployed female graduates would engage in relationships that did not adhere to settler society’s standards.
More research is needed to understand the full extent of arranged marriages in residential schools and their impact on Indigenous communities. The government and schools’ involvement in human trafficking, forced labor, and sexual exploitation must be further investigated. It is essential to shine a light on this dark chapter of Canadian history and ensure that the voices of survivors are heard and respected.
