Residential Schools

Content warning: Please note that the information found in this guide can be distressing and harmful to some. Take care when engaging with the material and if you need assistance, please call Hope for Wellness Helpline that is available 24/7 to all Indigenous People across Canada - on the phone or online.

Photo: CBC Article, (Originally from Library and Archives Canada / PA-042133)

For over a hundred years Indigenous children, often very young, were taken from their families and kept in government-funded, church-run residential schools, often far from their homes. The aim of these schools was to remove parental influence, spiritual, cultural and intellectual, from the children. Children often suffered abuse under terrible conditions. In recent years, work has begun to seek a process of reconciliation and healing for the trauma suffered by these children and their families, including the descendants of the residential school survivors.

This guide highlights current resources on residential schools in Canada available through University of Alberta Library.