Abstract:

At its sixth session, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues recommended that an expert undertake a comparative study on the subject of boarding schools. This report provides a preliminary analysis of boarding school policies directed at indigenous peoples globally. Because of the diversity of indigenous peoples and the nation-states in which they are situated, it is impossible to address all the myriad boarding school policies both historically and contemporary. Boarding schools have had varying impacts for indigenous peoples. Consequently, the demands made by indigenous peoples around boarding school education also differ widely. At the same time, however, there are some common themes that emerge among diverse boarding school practices.