We Were Children
In the mid-twentieth century, the Canadian government enforced a policy requiring First Nations children to attend state-funded residential schools operated by various Christian denominations. This system, which persisted for over 130 years, forcibly separated indigenous children from their families and communities, subjecting them to systematic efforts to erase their cultural identity and language. The narrative follows the harrowing experiences of two survivors, whose personal testimonies reveal the profound trauma, isolation, and loss of innocence endured by those caught within this institutionalized cycle of assimilation.