1950
Indigenous people are allowed to raise money to hire lawyers to fight for their land in court.
1960
60 residential schools now exist across Canada with 10,000 children in them.
Aboriginal people are finally given the right to vote. By contrast, Canadian women received the right to vote in 1918.
1977
Kamloops Indian Residential School is closed.
1979
12 residential schools remain open in Canada.
1986
The United Church apologizes for its deliberate attempt to destroy Indigenous spirituality and culture.
1991
Phil Fontaine, former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, speaks out publicly about the abuse he suffered in residential schools.
1993
The Anglican Church apologizes for its role “in the tragedy”.
1996
The last residential school closes.
1998
The Anglican Church apologizes for its part in the physical, emotional and mental abuse at residential schools.
2006
The Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement is finally reached after the largest class action suit in Canadian history. It is a significant victory for the courageous survivors who endured years of personal turmoil and struggle to be heard in the courts.
2008
Commission is established and then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper offers an apology on behalf of the government of Canada. 2015
The final report for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is released at a moving ceremony in Ottawa.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission estimates that at least 6,000 children died in residential schools across Canada.
“I think as commissioners we have concluded that cultural genocide is probably the best description of what went on here [in Canada].”
“It is precisely because education was the primary tool of oppression of Indigenous people, and mis-education of all Canadians that we have concluded that education holds the key to reconciliation.” —The Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair
As a result of the court case, the Truth and Reconciliation
Gladys We Never Knew
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