The Children Speak: Forced Assimilation of Indigenous Children through Canadian Residential Schools

Indian residential schools operated across Canada for almost 150 years. Their purpose: the total assimilation of Indigenous children into settler society. The Chief Justice of the Canadian Supreme Court ruled this Indigenous social erasure is a form of genocide. Generations of Indigenous children lost their languages, spiritual practices, and knowledge systems. Without action, Canada and the international community is confronted with the permanent loss of these Indigenous cultures and societies. In 2007, the Supreme Court created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to investigate the history and legacy of Canada’s residential school system. The TRC’s six-year investigation created a unique body of evidence: approximately four million historical documents and almost 7,000 Survivor testimonies recording the systemic social indoctrination of Indigenous children.