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Residential Schools: A Sad Chapter in Canadian History

Residential Schools: A Sad Chapter in Canadian History

After collecting testimonies, over a six-year period, of the abuse suffered by former students of First Nations residential schools, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada released its summary report on June 2, 2015.

The commission concludes that residential schools were a key tool of cultural genocide against Canada's First Nations, and that only a major recommitment by the government of Canada to allow them access to equal opportunities can pave the way towards true reconciliation.

Since the late 19th century, about 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were removed from their families and forcibly sent to residential schools. The last residential school, near Regina, closed its doors in 1996.

The commission traveled across the country not only to hear from former students of First Nations residential schools, but also to facilitate reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.

This collection provides a concise overview of this dark page in Canadian history.

  • 2015
  • 13-14
  • 24 Titles

Teacher Guide(s)

  • Canada's Residential School Apology

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  • Residential Schools: Truth and Healing

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Included in this collection

A Canadian artist's efforts to capture stories of survival

The National A Canadian artist's efforts to capture stories of survival

A Saskatoon artist is using her portraits to examine two groups that suffered through oppression; in a way, bringing them face to face.
  • 2019
  • 00:03:01
  • 13-14
  • Added on: 05/28/2019
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A residential schools reckoning, again

Party Lines A residential schools reckoning, again

Elamin and Rosie explore the state of Canada’s path to reconciliation with the help of CBC colleague Duncan McCue. Many people across the country have reacted with shock and horror at the preliminary discovery on the grounds of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., where the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation said they found the potential remains of possibly ...
  • 2021
  • 00:27:51
  • 15-17
  • Added on: 07/13/2021
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Aboriginal Children Used as Test Subjects

The National Aboriginal Children Used as Test Subjects Must-See

Newly surfaced documents shine a light on experiments that were conducted on hundreds of aboriginal individuals, most of them young children, during and following World War II. Residential schools were the testing grounds for government scientists to observe the effects of several products on the malnurished bodies of aboriginal children without their consent or even their knowing. 
  • 2013
  • 00:03:07
  • 15-17
  • Added on: 04/15/2014
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Alvin Dixon on Residential School and Nutritional Experiments

As It Happens Alvin Dixon on Residential School and Nutritional Experiments

Alvin Dixon remembered being so hungry as a child that he had to steal food. Mr. Dixon was a survivor of the residential school system and a victim of a government-run malnutrition experiment. He died on July 20 at the age of 77. In his first year at a B.C. residential school, Alvin Dixon said he remembered finding it strange ...
  • 2014
  • 00:03:26
  • 13-14
  • Added on: 08/08/2014
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Canada's Residential School Apology

News in Review - September 2008 Canada's Residential School Apology Must-See

In June 2008, the government of Canada apologized to Indigenous Canadians for the way they were treated in residential schools. Thousands of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were forced into government-financed schools where many suffered physical and sexual abuse. In this News in Review story, we’ll look at that sad chapter in Canadian history and at the moving ceremony ...
  • 2008
  • 00:18:33
  • 13-14
  • Added on: 09/15/2008

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Teacher Guide(s)

  • Canada's Residential School Apology

Catholic bishops offer no clarity on residential school apology

The National Catholic bishops offer no clarity on residential school apology

Catholic bishops weren't able to offer any clarity on a potential apology for the church's role in Canada's residential schools. During a news conference, the bishops appeared to try and distance the church from its ties to the schools. Despite the setback, Indigenous leaders say they won't stop seeking an apology from the Vatican.
  • 2018
  • 00:02:08
  • 13-14
  • Added on: 05/23/2018
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Dying For An Education: Little Charlie

CBC Radio One Dying For An Education: Little Charlie

He wasn't the first residential school runaway, and he wouldn't be the last. Chanie (Charlie) Wenjack died after fleeing the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School near Kenora, Ontario, trying to make it to his home on the Marten Falls First Nation 600 kilometres away. When his story was chronicled by Ian Adams in Maclean's magazine, ordinary Canadians got one of their first ...
  • 2012
  • 00:11:11
  • 13-14
  • Added on: 11/07/2016
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Finding Cleo, Episode 7: Lillian

Missing & Murdered Finding Cleo, Episode 7: Lillian

Connie's chance meeting with the father who Cleo never knew is followed by new revelations about the Semaganis children's biological mother, Lillian. A picture begins to emerge about why her children were taken, and when she joined the fight to stop the adoption of more Indigenous children into white homes.
  • 2018
  • 00:31:44
  • 15-17
  • Added on: 06/15/2018
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