we were children is a documentary made recently and discussed residential schools in canada. there is a very ugly part of canadian history and that is residential schools and the way they treated aboriginal people. when the white people came to canada, they took over the land and killed lots of aboriginal people. aboriginal, red indians, native americans or first nations, these are different labels for the true owner of north america. i thought americans were the evil ones but it turned out that canadian history is as dark and as cruel as the american history.
the native americans were called the savages .. they took over their land and they gave them a small piece of land in the middle of no where and those are the '' reserves ''. away from civilisation, away from major source of electricity and water, aboriginal lived a very hard life in those reserves.
these reserves are the ones in brown, most of them located in the cold part of canada were mothet nature is brutal and life is not easy at all. these reserves are so remote that you need a plane and prolly 3-6 hrs drive to go to these places .. and since they are remote and cold, they import most pf their prducts thus its extremely expensive
this is sold for 4-6 dollars in any canadian city while its sold of almost 13 dollars in these reserves cz its imported !! not only food is expensive, but jobs are not available there .. they live in slums and they got no services .. my program sends residents there for couple of days to offer medical services .. doctors need to fly into these places to help those people .. this is how the natives, the aboriginal people are treated in canada now days .. but their past is even darker and sadder .
their kids had to go to whats called '' residential schools '':
from wikipedia:
The Indian residential schools of Canada were a network of "residential" (boarding) schools for Aboriginal peoples of Canada (First Nations ["Indians"], Metis, and Inuit [formerly "Eskimos"]) funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs, and administered by Christian churches, most notably the Catholic Church in Canada and the Anglican Church of Canada. The system had origins in pre-Confederation times, but was primarily active following the passage of the Indian Act in 1876, until the mid-twentieth century. An amendment to the Indian Act in 1884 made attendance at a day, industrial or residential school compulsory for First Nations children and, in some parts of the country, residential schools were the only option.[1] The number of residential schools reached 80 in 1931 but decreased in the years that followed. The last federally operated residential school was closed in 1996. In total, about 150,000 First Nations children passed through the residential school system.[2] consensus emerged in the early twenty-first century that the latter schools did significant harm to Aboriginal children who attended them by removing them from their families, depriving them of their ancestral languages, exposing many of them to physical and sexual abuse at the hands of staff and other students, and later enfranchising them forcibly. This consensus was symbolized by the June 11, 2008 public apology offered, not only by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on behalf of the Government of Canada, but also by the leaders of all the other parties in the Canadian House of Commons
that documentary discussed 2 true stores of survival of residential schools. it showed how they were forced to go to these boarding schools at such young age, they were forced to speak english and forced to convert to christianity. these kids were taken away from their families and alot of them never saw their families until they graduated. the documentary showed how, although these schools were managed by priests and nuns, but alot of these kids were physically and SEXUALLY abused by them. it was such a heart breaking documentary to be watched.
most of the aboriginal nowdays are homeless, jobless and alot of them are on drugs. i met one aboriginal guy at the emergency room once and he said that he doesnt recall being breastfed but he recalls growing up snorting cocaine. alot of them are doing drugs as a way of self medicating . most of them were traumatised and they drink or do drugs to forget about their past. it is a very sad reality .
to have your land being taken away from you, to be punished for speaking your own language and to be forced to believe what others want you to believe and then to be thrown away to face this life with no support .. what kind of a life is that ...
i definitely recommend this documentary so you can see how cruel humans can be.
