Colpitts, GeorgeWilde, Nathan Grant2023-08-232023-08-232023-08Wilde, N. G. (2023). Deconstructing colonial conceptions: the St. Paul industrial boarding school report of 1896 (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.https://hdl.handle.net/1880/116885In 1896, acting principal Edward F. Hockley of St. Paul industrial boarding school, submitted his annual report to the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA). In it he informed the Department regarding the day-to-day operations of the school. This thesis bases its analysis on Hockley’s 1896 report. Along with the centrality of Hockley’s report as a primary source for this study, the thesis is structured by analysis of a normalized perception of education, arising from the standardized curricular document used to govern industrial and later residential schools, titled the “Programme of Studies for Indian Schools.” The Programme, and the reports that insisted on its adherence (like that from Hockley), reveals a colonial ideology that was highly hierarchized and normalized. As this thesis demonstrates, Hockley’s report provides a clear window into historical Western conceptions of education, which shaped his perceptions as written. These conceptions were historically contingent, ideologically driven, and largely centred on Western (colonial) views of childhood. To reveal this, the thesis draws three themes from Hockley’s report which, in turn, shape its three chapters: discipline, religion, and play. By studying Hockley’s discussion of these matters, as reflected by his report on St. Paul, wider historical influences are demonstrated, which shaped, informed, proliferated and importantly, authenticated his perceptions of play, discipline, and religion, both for himself and for his superiors as being “normal.” In so doing, the thesis takes inspiration from the works of Michel Foucault and draws on Edward Said’s contrapuntal method of analysis.enUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.DisciplineReligionPlayFoucaultSaidContrapuntal readingDepartment of Indian AffairsAnnual reportProgramme of Studies for Indian SchoolsIndigenousColonialismResidential schools1896SummerhillNormalizing powerGenealogySurveillanceTen CommandmentsIdeological perceptionsDecolonization in CanadaSt. Paul industrial boarding schoolEdward F. HockleyReconciliationContext of perceptionChildhoodEducationEducation--History ofHistory--CanadianNative American Studiesmaster thesis