Select Page

What a Creep: Canada’s Residential Schools

Season 14, Episode 1

The systematic cultural genocide of indigenous people of North America 

From 1831 – 1998 North America put seven generations of indigenous people (primarily children) into residential schools to take the culture of First Nation and turn it into a Christian/European society. The Catholic Church was often involved, but the Canadian Government ran some. Over 150,000 children were forcibly taken from their families and sent to overcrowded schools that cut their hair off, changed their names, made them convert to Christianity, exposed them to violence. They were forbidden from speaking in their native language, and died were not reported to authorities. (It’s estimated about 25% died from everything from illness to malnutrition.)

Last year in May 2021, more than 1300 unmarked graves were found at four different former residential schools, which caused the nation to finally come to terms with a national stain that has never really been rectified.

This episode has trigger warnings: child abuse, sexual assault, racism, and cultural genocide. Take care of yourselves while listening.

Sources:

Canadian Residential School WIKI

The Guardian Newspaper (Map of Schools)

NPR

New York Times

Indigenous Foundations

The Economist

Scientific American

Al Jazeera

Carlisle Indian School Project

The Sleeping Giant Awakens by David B MacDonald

Intimate Integration: The History of the Sixties Scoop by Allyson D. Stevenson

Canada’s Dark Secret Documentary

Gord  Downie’s The Secret Path

The Fifth Estate: The Truth About St. Anne’s

Home From School (PBS Documentary)

VOX

CBC Stolen Children

Be sure to follow us on social media. But don’t follow us too closely … don’t be a creep about it!

Check out this episode!