Reference no: EM133139131

Since the beginning of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2009, several films have been made about the Indian residential schools (IRS) that were run by various Christian denominations and the Canadian Government between the 1880s and 1970s. One of these films is We Were Children.

We Were Children tells the story of Lyna Hart and Glen Anaquod through interviews interspersed with dramatization of their experiences at the schools. It depicts the complex relationships between indigenous communities and the churches, between parents, church leaders, and children. The film also highlights the essential purpose of the IRS system-to assimilate indigenous children into settler society through conversion to western European Christianity-and narrates the traumatic impact this had on both the children as well as the larger indigenous community (i.e., intergenerational trauma).

This documentary is a difficult watch and there is a lot to unpack. Reflect on We Were Children using one of the following prompts or explore something of your own from the position of the support worker?

Think about Lyna Hart and Glen Anaquod. What would you say to young Lyna and Glen, what would you say to adult Lyna and Glen?

"Savage" Number 99, Number 118. What happens when we retitle a person with less than a name? What happens to the person that renames and what happens to the renamed?