Artefact 2 and 3 : Haircuts

Citation : Library / Indian Affairs Annual Reports, 1864 to 1990 . (1895). Collection search - Dominion of Canada Annual Report of the Department of Indian Affairs for the year ended 30th June 1895. Library and Archives Canada. https://beta-recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=indaffannrep&IdNumber=10110&q_type_1=q&q_1=Residential+School+hair+cutting&ecopy=1895a291

Collection search - [group photo of students posing outside St. Paul’s residential school]. Library and Archives Canada. (1928). http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=5109506&lang=eng

Label : 

The report above states, “all the boys have their hair cut short, which made them look neat and smart.” Every kid in a residential school was given a haircut. This was done to make them look more neat and smart, like the non-Indigenous people. An important part of the Indigenous culture is having long hair. They believe that hair holds strength and power (Lindstrom, 2023). It’s a living scrapbook that holds dreams, memories, joys, and triumphs (Lindstrom, 2023). Residential schools forced kids to cut their hair and stopped them from practicing their cultural traditions. They claimed that long hair was a sign of wildness and savageness (Lindstrom, 2023). Their aim was to make Indigenous people believe that their culture was flawed and wild.

The second image shows a group of students standing outside the St. Paul’s residential school. All these students have short hair. The girls' hair are a little bit longer than the boys but they are still kept short. 

Bibliography : 

Lindstrom, C. (2023). My powerful hair. Abrams. https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=cZN_EAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT43&dq=Indigenous+long+hair&ots=rf-itYK_xF&sig=p7dWoPPag8SYW_eve-pP7wntvaU#v=onepage&q=Indigenous%20long%20hair&f=false