Residential Schools

Lesson plan (grades 10-12) which uses primary resources from Peel's Prairie Provinces to examine the question of Aboriginal education in Canada in the 1800s.

You can use this interactive map to see if there was a residential school in your community. Once you identify the school in your community, read the survivors' stories. The residential school system separated 150,000 Indigenous children from their families; the last one closed in 1996.

Watch and experience these “digital stories”, videos created by 6 First Nations women whose mothers are Residential School Survivors. This project set out to understand better how the residential school legacy passes on between generations.

Garnet Angeconeb shares stories of his life, from a childhood on the trap line, through residential school and reconciliation. The stories are told in about 30 brief videos, plus one 21-minute biography.

This BC-based organization provides services to Indian Residential School Survivors.

Chief Robert Joseph shares his experience as a residential school survivor and the importance of truth and reconciliation in Canada.

This exhibit (created in 2006) includes more than 100 archival photos and documents, as well as stories submitted by survivors and observations by non-native people who had worked in the north, such as Hudson's Bay Store managers and government workers.

These videos show Residential School survivors telling their stories, their personal accounts of Residential Schools and their legacy.

In this 18 minute video, the survivors of residential schools describe their experiences at school and the lasting impact of those experiences in their lives.

This document contains a collection of memories of pain, loneliness and accomplishment. Residential School survivors describe their lives prior to attending residential school, and their experiences studying, working, and living in the schools.

Literature recommendations for Kindergarten to Grade 12 (and beyond) from the Indigenous Education Council, English Language Arts Council and the Indigenous Education PD Facilitators of the Alberta Teachers’ Association.

This site, with 48-minute documentary, shares the stories of three residential school survivors. The documentary combines archival images with elements from the Wawahte audio book. There is also a gallery of archival photos.

Inspired by a woven blanket, we have created a large scale art installation, made out of hundreds of items reclaimed from Residential Schools, churches, government buildings and traditional and cultural structures including Friendship Centres, band offices, treatment centres and universities, from across Canada. The Witness Blanket stands as a national monument to recognise the atrocities of the Indian Residential School era, honour the children, and symbolise ongoing reconciliation.