Canada’s Chief Medical Officer for Indian
Affairs reported in 1907 that conditions at
the schools were “dangerous to health.”
The government denied his request for
additional funds to improve medical care
at the schools.
It is estimated that at least 6,
children died while living at residential
schools. Many of these children were
buried in unmarked graves on school
property. In some cases, their parents
were never notified. Thousands of other
children were sent home after becoming
critically ill. Many of these children later
died at home.
Research conducted by food historian
Ian Mosby revealed that nutritional
experiments were conducted on some
students during the 1940s and 1950s.
The children involved in these studies
were purposely denied proper nutrition
and dental care. At one school, an
experimental drug was tested on children.
Some of these children experienced
permanent damage to their hearing
because of the drug.
After Canada’s last residential school
was closed in 1996, former students spoke
out about the horrors they experienced.
In 2008 Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen
Harper apologized to all former students
on behalf of the country. In addition to
receiving apologies, former students
received small financial settlements from
the government.
The United Church of Canada was
the first to apologize to the indigenous
people, and they did so in 1986. As part
of their apology, they said, “We tried to
make you be like us and in so doing we
helped to destroy the vision that made
you what you were.” The Anglican
Church issued their apology in 1993, and
the Presbyterian Church apologized the
following year. It wasn’t until 2009 that
Pope Benedict apologized on behalf of
the Catholic Church.
In 2015, Canada’s Truth and
Reconciliation Committee released the
results of their seven-year investigation of
the abuses that took place at residential
schools. According to the report, “The
Canadian government pursued this policy
of cultural genocide because it wished
to divest itself of its legal and financial
obligations to Aboriginal people and gain
control over their land and resources.”
Judge Murray Sinclair, the son and
grandson of residential school survivors,
chaired the commission. He said, “The
residential school experience is clearly
one of the darkest, most troubling
chapters in our collective history.” It is for
that reason that the story of residential
schools must be remembered.FAST FACTS- In 1920, the Department of Indian Affairs
stopped recording deaths at residential
schools. This is why the actual number of
student deaths is unknown. - Residential school attendance peaked in
1931, when 80 schools were operating. - The Truth and Reconciliation
Commission published a 20-page report
containing 94 calls to action focusing on
repairing the harm caused by residential
schools and moving forward with
reconciliation.