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Canada Probes Indian Schools

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The Associated Press

Published: June 2, 2008

TORONTO - A truth and reconciliation commission is examining a decadeslong government policy that required Canadian Indians to attend schools where students were forced to lose their cultural identity and were routinely subjected to abuse.

The commission's five-year mandate began Sunday and its work starts today.

Members will travel across Canada to hear stories from former students, teachers and others.

"It's the darkest, most tragic chapter in Canadian history, and virtually no one knows about this," Phil Fontaine, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said.

From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 aboriginal children were required to attend state-funded Christian schools in an attempt to rid them of their native cultures and languages and integrate them into Canadian society.

The federal government admitted 10 years ago that physical and sexual abuse in the schools was rampant. Many students recall being beaten for speaking their native languages and losing touch with their parents and customs.

The commission was created as part of a $5 billion class-action settlement in 2006 - the largest in Canadian history - between the government, churches and the 90,000 surviving students. About $60 million will fund the commission, which will be granted access to government and church records.

Under the settlement, students who attended residential schools are eligible to receive $10,000 for the first school year and $3,000 for every year after. Victims of physical and sexual abuse are eligible for more.

On June 11, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will deliver a public apology to Canada's aboriginals.

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