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Article: Canada - Tales out of school.(continuing scandal of abuse of native children at church-run residential schools)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- October 28, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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VANCOUVER
FROM the 1880s until 1996, when the last school closed, about 100,000 native children attended 100 or so residential schools run by the main Christian churches all over Canada. The schools' purpose (originally, at least) was to transform these "savages" into "civilised", productive citizens. Children were taken from their families and confined in remote institutions where they were poorly fed and clothed, indifferently taught, forced to work long hours and whipped if they spoke their native languages.
Over the years, native groups repeatedly protested about continued harsh treatment, but were ignored. Then, in 1990, the grand chief of the ...