Critical Summary 3: Chapter 8 “Language, Land, and the Residential Schools” In this Case Study, Williston explains that the residential school system deprives First Nations of their language and identity. This practice of shaming, is a political attempt to make the rejection of land rights easier through less opposition. As Williston says “to deprive them of the language is to deprive them of the sense of place that had defined them for thousands of years” (245). The way Frist Nations use language is inseparably linked to their knowledge of nature and the world. The identity of this people is often associated with a deep respect and knowledge for nature. For example, as outlined in the chapter the First Nations live their lives in a “circular
