The Sammy kids, and others

What Indian Residential School records show

One of the most outrageous myths about Canada’s Indian Residential Schools is that their students were nearly always snatched from the loving arms of their parents and forced to attend these malevolent institutions against their will.

The compelling piece on the other side of the paywall written by James C. MacRae, a former attorney general of Manitoba and an ex-Canadian citizenship judge, presents historical proof supporting the contrary assertion that many children were sent to the boarding schools to escape adversity and abuse on their home reserves, a practice that accelerated over time.

During their last decades, the schools performed a vital foster care function for thousands of children with nowhere else to go. As one astute commentator wrote in reply to the piece’s original publication:

I suspect there are many testimonials attesting to the positive attributes of the IRS system that lie hidden in the shadow of the fallacious narrative of Canadian genocide. It is well written articles like this that shine light on the inconvenient truths propagated by those looking for a scapegoats to their unfortunate life choices. No intellectually mature adult will deny that reserve living is a crucible of toxicity, breeding crime, substance abuse and domestic violence. Creating a fictitious victimhood story that such undesirable circumstances are the result of an intentional genocide, not only stretches the boundary of credulity, but ignores the obvious for the obscure. It is voluntary apartheid, not genocide that has created this situation which only assimilation and integration into main stream society will cure. It is really more than time to move on.