Media portrayals of the Canadian Indian residential school system

The list of Media portrayals of the Canadian Indian residential school system includes examples of works created to highlight lived experiences the Canadian Indian residential school system, a network of schools established by the Canadian government and administered by church officials to assimilate Aboriginal students.[1]

Film

Year Title Director Notes
1978 Wandering Spirit Survival School Marvin Midwicki, Les Holdway and Christopher Wilson Produced by the National Film Board the short film examines a school, organized by parents, that introduced subjects of particular relevance to its pupils. The experience of the children in the school is contrasted with the experienced lived by their parents in residential schools.[2]
1985 The Mission School Syndrome Northern Native Broadcasting A documentary feature that investigates the effect of residential schools in the Yukon, focusing on former residents of the Lower Post Residential School, the Baptist Indian Mission School (Whitehorse), and the Chaoutla Indian Residential School (Carcross), as well as the Yukon Hall Residence in Whitehorse.
1989 Where the Spirit Lives Bruce Pittman A CBC dramatic portrayal of a young Aboriginal girl, Ashtoh-Komi, who is abducted and taken to a residential school in the 1930s.
1991 The Learning Path Loretta Todd A powerful, ground-breaking documentary which follows three Aboriginal women educators and includes the harrowing experiences that two of the women faced in residential schools. Using a unique blend of documentary footage, dramatic re-enactments, and archival film, Todd weaves together the life stories of three unsung heroines who are helping to restore Aboriginal control over education.[3]
1991 Violation of Trust Fifth Estate A compelling documentary about Canada's worst-kept secret, examining the lives of residential school survivors, along with stories of abuse.
1992 Sleeping Children Awake Rhonda Kara Hanah Inspired by Shirley Cheechoo's play Path with no Moccasins, Sleeping Children Awake is both a personal record of Canada's history, and a tribute to the enduring strength of Native cultures.
1993 Beyond the Shadows Gryphon Productions Ltd. A powerful documentary about the legacy of Native residential schools (missionary schools). The video touches on the historical background of these schools, but primarily depicts painful personal experiences; the causes of multi-generational grief and healing processes underway in communities today.
1998 Kuper Island: Return to the Healing Circle National Film Board Like thousands of other Aboriginal people across Canada and the United States, the former residents of Kuper Island are now beginning to break the silence and to speak out about the trauma of their residential school experience. For them, the time for healing has come.
2001 Childhood Lost Doug Cuthand Through interviews, archival photos, and re-enactments, this program illuminates the experiences of four individuals who were sent to residential schools when they were very young.
2005 A Day at Indian Residential Schools in Canada Indigenous Education Coalition This 26 minute documentary, hosted by youth, explores the life at three Indian residential schools. Survivors recollect their daily routines, time spent on chores, and their feelings of isolation. This film features archival images of life at the schools as well as interviews with survivors who had never before spoken on camera about their experiences.
2007 The Fallen Feather: Indian Industrial Residential Schools Canadian Confederation Randy N. Bezeau The fallen feather provides an in-depth critical analysis of the driving forces behind the creation of Canadian Indian residential schools.
2007 Unrepentant: Kevin Annett and Canada's Genocide Kevin Annett A documentary describing the crimes committed in church-run residential schools.
2008 Muffins for Granny Mongrel Media Nadia McLaren tells the story of her own grandmother by combining precious home movie fragments with the stories of seven elders dramatically affected by their experiences in residential school.
2008 Stolen Children CBC Learning In this package of documentaries from The National, CBC explores the impact of residential schools on former students and the larger community, presenting ideas for what more can be done to address this painful chapter in Canada's history.
2009 The Experimental Eskimos Barry Greenwald In the early 1960s the Canadian government conducted an experiment in social engineering. Three young Inuit boys were separated from their families in the Arctic and were sent to Ottawa, the nation's capital, to live with white families and to be educated in white schools.
2009 Unseen Tears Ron Douglas Native American families in Western New York and Canada continue to feel the impact of the Thomas Indian School and the Mohawk Institute in Ontario. Survivors speak of traumatic separation from their families, abuse, and a systematic assault on their language and culture. Western New York Native American communities are presently attempting to heal the wounds and break the cycle of inter-generational trauma resulting from the boarding school experience. Unseen Tears documents testimonies of boarding school survivors, their families, and social service providers.[4]
2009 Kakalakkuvik (Where the Children Dwell) Jobie Weetaluktuk Kakalakkuvik recounts the vivid memories of former students from Port Harrison (now Inukjuak, Quebec), the first group of Inuit to sue the federal government for compensation.
2009 Shi-Shi-Etko Kate Kroll Shi-Shi-Etko will soon be taken away from her home to begin her formal western education at a residential school. Her mother, father and grandmother want her to remember her roots and they wait for her return in the spring to continue passing down those ideals to her.
2012 We Were Children Tim Wolochatiuk Documentary film about the experiences of survivors Lyna Hart (Guy Hill Residential School) and Glen Anaquod (Lebret Indian Residential School).[5]
2013 Rhymes for Young Ghouls Jeff Barnaby A fictional film about teenager Aila, who runs a drug crew on her reserve, and is assaulted by an Indian Affairs agent who then detains her in a residential school, where other children are frequently abused.

Published texts

Year Title Author ISBN Notes
1988 Resistance and Renewal: Surviving the Indian Residential School Celia Haig-Brown ISBN 0889781893 One of the first books published to deal with the phenomenon of residential schools in Canada, Resistance and Renewal is a disturbing collection of Native perspectives on the Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS) in the British Columbia interior. Interviews with thirteen Natives, all former residents of KIRS, form the nucleus of the book, a frank depiction of school life, and a telling account of the system's oppressive environment which sought to stifle Native culture.
1992 My Name Is Seepeetza Shirley Sterling ISBN 0888991657 First published in 1992 in Canada, where it won the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Book Prize, this autobiographical novel is written in the form of Seepeetza's diary in her Grade 6 year in the 1950s.
1998 Kiss of the Fur Queen Tomson Highway ISBN 0385258801 Jeremiah and Gabriel grow into acclaimed artists attempting to work within white, European traditions while retaining the influence of Native culture. The novel follows the boys from the idyllic innocence of their Cree childhood through a forced relocation to an abusive residential school to their lives as young artists attempting to discover how far their natural talents can take them.
2001 No Time to Say Goodbye: Children's Stories of Kuper Island Residential School Sylvia Olsen ISBN 1550391216 A fictional account of five children sent to aboriginal boarding school, based on the recollections of a number of Tsartlip First Nations people. These unforgettable children are taken by government agents from Tsartlip Day School to live at Kuper Island Residential School.
2005 Finding My Talk: How Fourteen Canadian Native Women Reclaimed Their Lives After Residential School Agnes Grant ISBN 1894856570 Fourteen aboriginal women who attended residential schools, or were affected by them, reflect on their experiences. They describe their years in residential schools across Canada and how they overcame tremendous obstacles to become strong and independent members of aboriginal cultures and valuable members of Canadian society..
2005 Shi-shi-etko Nicola I. Campbell ISBN 0888996594 Shi-shi-etko counts down her last four days before going away. She tries to memorize everything about her home–tall grass swaying to the rhythm of the breeze, determined mosquitoes, working bumblebees.
2006 Behind Closed Doors: Stories from the Kamloops Indian Residential School Jack Agnes (Editor) ISBN 1894778413 Behind Closed Doors features written testimonials from 32 individuals who attended the Kamloops Indian Residential School. The school was one of many infamous residential schools that operated from 1893 to 1979. The storytellers remember and share with us their stolen time at the school; many stories are told through courageous tears.
2007 Moving Beyond: Understanding the Impacts of the Residential Schools Brent Stonefish ISBN 1896832814 The residential school system in Canada continues to have a significant impact on Aboriginal people. We continue to struggle with the trauma of this unwanted legacy. In this book, we take a look at the history but focus on the inter-generational impacts that exist today from the residential school system. These lasting impacts affect learning, education, and family relations. “Moving Beyond” highlights positive approaches and paths to healing and promotes the development of healthy individuals, families and communities.
2008 Shin-Chi's Canoe Nicola I. Campbell ISBN 0888998570 This moving sequel to the award-winning Shi-shi-etko tells the story of two children's experience at residential school. Shi-shi-etko is about to return for her second year, but this time her six-year-old brother, Shin-chi, is going, too.
2009 Porcupines and China Dolls Robert Alexie ISBN 1894778723 Enough alcohol silences the demons for a night; a gun and a single bullet silences demons forever. When a friend commits suicide and a former priest appears on television, the community is shattered. James and Jake confront their childhood abuse and break the silence to begin a journey of healing and rediscovery.
2010 Blue Saltwater Dan Green ISBN 1451581246 Haida teen, Blue Saltwater, exposes the evil underbelly of the St. Ignatius Residential School before making a daring escape to return to his island home of Haida Gwaii.
2010 Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools: A Memoir Theodore Fontaine ISBN 192661366X Sense the oppression and marginalization of culture through an author's 'Healing Journey'.
2010 Fatty Legs: A True Story Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton ISBN 1554512468 Taunted and humiliated by Raven, the unkind nun in charge of the young girls, Margaret is willing to endure almost anything as long as she can learn to read. The unpleasant chores do not daunt her, but the teasing of other students and the unfair punishments do. When she is the only girl forced to wear ugly red stockings, however, Margaret has had enough, and fights back.
2010 From Lishamie Albert Canadien ISBN 1894778650 Albert Canadien fondly recounts his boyhood years in Lishamie, a traditional Dene camp north of the Mackenzie River, and reflects on the devastating and long-lasting impact residential schooling had on him, his family and his people.
2011 A Stranger at Home: A True Story Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton ISBN 1554513618 Travelling to be reunited with her family in the Arctic, 10-year-old Margaret Pokiak can hardly contain her excitement. It has been two years since her parents delivered her to the school run by the dark-cloaked nuns and brothers.
2011 Unsettling the Settler Within: Indian Residential Schools, Truth Telling, and Reconciliation in Canada Paulette Regan ISBN 077481778X Unsettling the Settler Within argues that non-Aboriginal Canadians must undergo their own process of decolonization in order to truly participate in the transformative possibilities of reconciliation. Settlers must relinquish the persistent myth of themselves as peacemakers and acknowledge the destructive legacy of a society that has stubbornly ignored and devalued Indigenous experience. A compassionate call to action, this powerful book offers a new and hopeful path toward healing the wounds of the past.
2012 Indian Horse Richard Wagamese ISBN 9781553654025 A young Ojibway boy named Saul Indian Horse is taken to St. Jerome's Indian Residential School in White River, Ontario. The novel focuses on Saul's experiences at the school and the escape he finds through playing hockey.
2012 They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School Bev Sellars ISBN 0889227411 In this frank and poignant memoir of her years at St. Joseph's Mission, Sellars breaks her silence about the residential school's lasting effects on her and her family-from substance abuse to suicide attempts-and eloquently articulates her own path to healing.
2014 Back to the Red Road Florence Kaefer and Edward Gamblin ISBN 1927575370 In 1954, when Florence Kaefer was just nineteen, she accepted a job as a teacher at Norway House. Unaware of the difficult conditions the students were enduring, Florence and her fellow teachers nurtured a school full of lonely and homesick young children. Many years later Florence unexpectedly reconnected with one of her Norway House students, Edward Gamblin. Motivated to apologize on behalf of the school and her colleagues, Florence contacted Edward.
2014 Indian School Road: Legacies of the Shubenacadie Residential School Chris Benjamin ISBN 1771082135 In Indian School Road, journalist Chris Benjamin tackles the controversial and tragic history of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School, its predecessors, and its lasting effects, giving voice to multiple perspectives for the first time.
2014 On the Goose: A Labrador Metis Woman Remembers Josie Penny ISBN 1459719123 Josie Penny's life as part of a loving Métis family in an isolated corner of Labrador changed dramatically when she was taken away to a residential school. Abused by the students, Josie became increasingly angry and isolated from her family and community as she grew into her teens. At seventeen she left for Goose Bay to make her fortune and start her own life.
2014 Up Ghost River: A Chief's Journey Through the Turbulent Waters of Native History Edmund Metatawabin and Alexandra Shimo ISBN 0307399877 In the 1950s, 7-year-old Edmund Metatawabin was separated from his family and placed in one of Canada’s worst residential schools. Fuelled by alcohol, the trauma from his past caught up with him, and his family and work lives imploded. Now Metatawabin’s mission is to help the next generation of residential school survivors.
2015 The Education of Augie Merasty: A Residential School Memoir Joseph Auguste (Augie) Merasty with David Carpenter ISBN 0889773688 Merasty attended St. Therese Residential School in the community of Sturgeon Landing, Manitoba, from 1935 to 1944. As Merasty recounts, these schools did more than attempt to mold children in the ways of white society. They were taught to be ashamed of their native heritage and, as he experienced, often suffered physical and sexual abuse. Even as he looks back on this painful part of his childhood, Merasty’s generous and authentic voice shines through.

Stage

Year Title Writer Direction Notes
2008, 2012 "Where the Blood Mixes" Kevin Loring Glynis Leyshon "Winner of the 2009 Governor General’s Award, Where the Blood Mixes is a beautiful play about family, loss, redemption and healing. Floyd and Mooch, raised in residential schools, must confront their past when Floyd’s daughter Christine returns to Kumsheen after 20 years, to discover her past and her family"[6]
2014 "Going Home Star - Truth and Reconciliation" Joseph Boyden Commissioned by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, with the support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, "Going Home Star - Truth and Reconciliation explores the world of Annie, a young, urban First Nations woman adrift in a contemporary life of youthful excess. But when she meets Gordon, a longhaired trickster disguised as a homeless man, she’s propelled into a world she’s always sensed but never seen. Not only do they travel the streets of this place but also the roads of their ancestors, learning to accept the other’s burdens as the two walk through the past and toward the future. Together, both Annie and Gordon learn that without truth, there is no reconciliation."[7]
2016 "Reckoning" Tara Beagan Tara Beagan, Andy Moro Reckoning is a triptych of stories about survivors and responses to the residential school system: "The first section, involving both text and movement, focuses on an adjudicator hearing the testimony of former school residents and the anxiety he feels as he deals with their statements. The second ... is a naturalistic two-hander involving two native people who meet online through a support group of IRS survivors and children of survivors. The third, a monologue, is part live video document and part attempt to right wrongs."[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future - Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada" (PDF). The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. 31 May 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "Wandering Spirit Survival School". National Film Board. 1978. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  3. ↑ "The Learning Path". National Film Board of Canada. 1991. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  4. ↑ "Unseen Tears". IMDb. 2009.
  5. ↑ Sison, Marites N. (26 September 2012). "Film tells stories of residential school survivors". Anglican Journal. ISSN 0847-978X. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  6. ↑ "Theatre Aquarius - Where the Blood Mixes". Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  7. ↑ "Going Home Star - Truth and Reconciliation". Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  8. ↑ "A Reckoning is coming". 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2016-07-07.
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