Publisher's Synopsis
"The editors of this volume, Rod Clifton and Mark DeWolf, both have personal experience in Canada's Indian Residential Schools, and both are clearly sympathetic to the needs of Indigenous peoples. The evidence they present here gives u both a balanced perspective of the life in the schools and an analysis of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report that is, ultimately, encouraging and hopeful."
-The Rt. Rev. Eric Bays, Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Qu'Appelle (retired), and author of Indian Residential Schools: Another Picture, 2009.
"While the TRC heard many experiences of unspeakable abuse, we have been heartened by testimonies which affirm the dedication and compassion of committed educators who sought to nurture the children in their care. These experiences must also be heard."
-Senator Murray Sinclair, Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Calgary Herald, August 5, 2010.
"Finally! Thanks to the balancing facts revealed in this book. Canadians will for the first time be able to balance their own consciences with respect to the truth - the good and the bad - that came from our long experiment with residential schools, much of which was regrettably omitted in the summary of the TRC report."
-William Gairdner, PhD, Author of The French Traveler: Adventure, Exploration, and Indian Life in the Eighteenth-Century Canada (2019).
"This is a well-researched rectification of a narrative created by an avalanche of cant and emotionalism. Canada's Indian Residential Schools were launched with some serious misconceptions, and supervision of staff conduct was certainly inadequate, often with tragic results, but there were also a great many well-motivated staff members, and for many students, some schools were a passport to a better life. This book is necessary to correct the allegations and claims that have generated a good deal of misunderstanding about the subject."
-Conrad Black has been a major publisher in the world of newspapers, a well-known columnist, and author of biographies of three American presidents.
Dedicated to the thousands of people -both Indigenous and non-Indigenous - who were good and honourable servants to the children in Canada's Indian residential school and hostels. This book is dedicated to all former IRS students, not only those for whom the residential school experience was demonstrably positive, but also to those who greatly suffered as a result of their experiences.
