Canada's Dark Secret | Featured Documentaries
1,359,467
Published 2017-06-13
In 1996, the last residential school in Canada was closed down, bringing to light horrifying stories about the methods used to sever indigenous children from the influence of their families and to assimilate them into the dominant "Canadian" culture. Over more than a century, tens of thousands of families were torn apart as children were kidnapped or forcibly removed from their homes
Residential schools were part of an extensive education system set up by the Canadian government and administered by churches with the objective of indoctrinating Aboriginal children into the Euro-Canadian and Christian way of life.
Bud Whiteye, a survivor of the Mohawk Institute Residential School, was "picked up" and taken to the school along with four other children as they walked along a public road to visit his grandmother.
I'm ashamed to say I'm Canadian because of what my government has done.
Ron Short, former RCMP officer
"They didn't put us in a room and indoctrinate us all day long or anything like that," he explains. "It was in the routine of the place.
"You didn't speak anything but English. You went to the white man's school. You went to the white man's church. You wore white mens' clothes. All those were built in. It wasn't a classroom-type lecture. It was ingrained in the system."
In 2008, the Canadian government launched the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which finally enabled survivors to give their testimonies on life in the residential schools. Abuse - mental, physical and sexual - was rife and, although research and statistics vary, it is estimated that 6,000 children died in these schools. Some evidence puts the casualties at three times that number.
After its formation, the TRC travelled around Canada for six years, gathering testimony from thousands who bore witness to the tragedies of the residential schools. Numerous "Aboriginal healing" programmes were put in place to help those affected to move on with their lives.
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All Comments (21)
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＂When they first arrived, they had the Bible and we had the land. They said to us: close your eyes and pray. So we closed our eyes and prayed. When we opened our eyes, we had the Bible and they had the land. ＂。 ----- A tribal chieftain ".
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It's crazy that there is a Qatari owned media network that is raising more awareness about residential schools than the Canadian educational system
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I'm glad now that in recent days, this dirty little secret is all over the news. These were concentration camps for indigenous children. I first came across a documentary years ago about this, which I think was called, "We Were Children". I watched it several times. As a Canadian and a human being, I was totally disgusted and sickened ! I'm glad that everything that was hidden is now being revealed.
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The same thing happened in Australia to our indigenous people. It is scary how similar this is to our history in Australia. To this day the indigenous people of my country are disadvantaged and suffering.
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These schools have had a long lasting impact on us Natives. My grandmother was a residential school survivor... She became an alcoholic and lost her children to foster care for some time including my own mother. These schools instilled in my grandmother a very rigid strict militaristic type of bearing. This was because of how she was treated in the school. She in turn raised her children the same way the school raised her Fear, violent discipline. My mother was raised this way and in turn she raised me the same way. As a young man i joined the Army. I found it to be very easy for me. The yelling did not bother me. Their threats seemed empty and hollow to me. It wasnt until I was much older and my grandmother and mother had passed away that I realized that the residential school was the root cause of my family dysfunction and addiction. It was the reason the military was easy for me.... They stripped my people of their own ways of raising their children and families and replaced it with trauma, violence, and fear... It continues to haunt Native families to this day. The addiction and violent dysfunction that can be traced back to these schools and the violent assimilation of an entire generation of our children. This is why when someone says to me "well i didnt do any of this my ancestors did it not me and its not happening now so why does it matter?" I think... But it does matter... It has effected even me a child born in 1983. This history is not so far away for me. Its just sad all of it. I hope one day we can all truly love one another as human beings and prosper...
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I’m nêhiyaw ( plains Cree ), and I am strong, my Father who was forced to attend Duck lake residential school along with his brothers and sisters, they experienced horrific abuse of many kinds, most of them ran away along w my father, the sad stories and the effects still live within them today, but they are healing and still speak the Cree language, we are Plains Cree in Treaty 6 territory in Saskatchewan, I am also learning our culture and ways of life, and what it is to be a Plains Cree. I pray for everyone, all people of the world.
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If there are any living workers for any of the schools regardless how old they are should be held accountable. I believe the last one closed in 1996
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Pure racism on top of torture! How cruel to take little kids away from their families to abuse them and kill them! Demonic monsters!😡😡😡
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Every Canadian should be made to learn this. Every Canadian citizen needs to know what went on in our country.
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I am only 31 years old (update my age sence originally posting 2 years ago...) have lived in Canada my entire life, and not ONCE in school, was this discussed. I learned about it through my own life experiences and through conversations with others. Such an embarrassment. This should have NEVER happened.
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The way these survivors describe their flashbacks, and how it affects them psychologically, left me speechless. That's a detailed image of what living with trauma is like. It is very generous of them to be so vulnerable and share their experiences.
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I watched over 8 hours of documentaries, and survivor stories in light of the recent finding of 215 dead children (Just one of the many such horrors). Canada is not Canada without the indigenous, their richness of culture, spirituality, wisdom, close family bonds, and their stories. As Canadians it is a moral obligation to know our history, and to internalize these stories, and teach it to our children. It's been heart breaking watching these. May the indigenous people heal, prosper, and may this culture never die.
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I came here after the news that 215 dead children were discovered on those residential school. It so sad to see how this people suffered. "suffered just for being who you are"....
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The fact that they refuse to even look for the bodies shows you that the government and churches are not really repentant of this. They need to do much more than they are doing.
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My country indeed has a dark past over the treatment of our indigenous people, nothing will heal this deep scar. What will help, just give them back their rights and freedoms so we all can co-exist as a nation? This year I will not fly or acknowledge the Canadian Flag on Canada Day as a personal protest of our mistreatment of our indigenous People of Canada. I believe what happened in Kamloops is shameful.
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Every Engish settler colony (United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc.) has an eerily similar history when it comes to how they treated their natives.
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The nuns look scary AF. My mum was taught by nuns in Ireland she said they were the most spiteful evil people she ever encountered. I hope all of them got their karma
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They murdered a whole generation , my grandma hid me and told me , dont you tell any one your indian. Ididnt know what she ment my grandma was Shawnee , and im proud of it. !!
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I cry watching this and I just can't even begin to imagine how we can make it up to the indigenous peoples. This Canada Day, I am spending the day hearing their stories and reading their stories. It won't help them, I know, but at least they will be heard by one more person. As a nation, we need a day to mourn with them and honour them.
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No justice, no peace. Each body must be investigated. Every missing child, ever, matters. An injustice for anyone is an injustice to everyone because we are ALL connected.
