What role did Residential Schools play in the colonisation of Canada?

In 1883, John Macdonald, a Glaswegian and first Prime Minister of Canada, authorised the establishment of boarding schools to ‘civilise’ the indigenous population. This lesson looks at that decision and its long-term consequences.

What can we learn about colonial attitudes from the story of William Duncan and Metlakathla?

William Duncan was an English missionary who founded a Christian community for Indigenous Canadians. This lesson looks at a letter written by Scot Arthur Edward McCallum in 1886 to the Aborigine Protection Society explaining his fears for the future of that community in the face of colonial expansion.

How did Robert McDougall’s perspective as a Gaelic speaker influence his view on Indigenous Canadians?

Robert McDougall moved to Canada in 1836 and returned to Scotland in 1839. On his return he wrote ‘The Emigrant’s Guide to North America’ in Gaelic. The book was intended to reassure Gaelic-speaking Highlanders that there were many similarities between the lived of Indigenous Canadians and Highland Scots.

Impact of Scots on the Mi’kmaq First Nation

This lesson looks at an 1830 letter sent between two Scots living in Canada. The letter makes clear the impact that colonisation was having on Indigenous Canadians and the ambivalent reaction that some Scots had to this process.