NATIONAL DAY FOR TRUTH & RECONCILIATION

Canada's Church-run, government-funded residential school system was created for the purpose of separating Indigenous children from their parents, communities, and culture and to aggressively assimilate them into the dominant European society. The residential school system officially operated from the 1880s into the closing decades of the 20th century, with the last school closing as recently as 1996. Children as young as seven and until they reached the age of 16 attended these schools. Attendance was compulsory, and agents were employed by the government to ensure the children attended. Children were often forcibly removed from their communities, and their families were threatened with fines or jail time if they failed to send their children. Many children didn't have any contact with their families for ten months at a time and, in some cases, years.

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At the peak of the program in the 1930s, there were 80 residential schools in operation. Over the entire time period in which they existed, the schools numbered over 130. It is estimated that 150,000 children went through the system. Of this number, 80,000 of these survivors are still alive today. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, a group that led the investigation into residential schools, confirmed 3,200 child deaths. However, because of poor record keeping and destroyed files, the exact number will never be known. A reasonable estimate puts that number closer to 6,000.

 

The children died from disease and malnutrition at these schools. Some residential schools had a 60 percent mortality rate. Some students were subjected to science experiments. Children were subjected to abuse at the hands of the staff and administrators, often physically, always emotionally, and sometimes sexually. The experiences of the children at these schools were hidden for many decades until Indigenous people found the strength, courage and support to bring them to light. Stories of the student's time at these schools are heartrending. Ripped from their loving families at age seven and taken to an industrial-sized institution, the first order of business was to separate them from any siblings or friends, strip the children of their clothes and belongings, literally, and de-louse them whether they needed it or not. They then had their hair cut off, which in Indigenous culture was especially traumatic as long hair holds spiritual significance. They were given uniforms, and their native clothing were thrown in the garbage. That was just Day 1.

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For the children, life at these schools was unfamiliar, lonely and often terrifying. They were not permitted to speak their language. They had to learn English or French only. So until they learned it, they could not communicate with anyone. The schools were usually underfunded. Therefore, many children were forced into labour to maintain the facilities. The full extent of the abuse suffered by the children is only now coming to light. What is known is that throughout the years, all students lived in substandard conditions, suffered many types of abuses, and were completely disassociated from their families and culture, thereby experiencing cultural genocide. 

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Despite the fact that this dark chapter in Canada's history is now exposed, it does not bring the legacy of residential schools to an end. The impacts of forced disassociation from culture, disruption of families and communities, humiliation and improper health and living conditions at these schools has been the cause of inter-generational trauma and won't be fixed with a settlement or an apology. Children who were abused went on to abuse others. Many developed addictions as a means of coping. Many who were treated like prisoners in the schools ended up in prisons in their adult life. The children of survivors, their partners, their grandchildren, extended families and communities were and are all impacted. It will take generations to properly heal from the legacy of residential schools.