We Were Children (2012)
• March 3rd, 2012 • 1h 28min
Documentary
Overview
For over 130 years till 1996, more than 100,000 of Canada's First Nations children were legally required to attend government-funded schools run by various Christian faiths. There were 80 of these 'residential schools' across the country. Most children were sent to faraway schools that separated them from their families and traditional land. These children endured brutality, physical hardship, mental degradation, and the complete erasure of their culture. The schools were part of a wider program of assimilation designed to integrate the native population into 'Canadian society.' These schools were established with the express purpose 'To kill the Indian in the child.' Told through their own voices, 'We Were Children' is the shocking true story of two such children: Glen Anaquod and Lyna Hart.
Make sure to check your pop-up blocker!!
Trailer
Similar Movies
This Was the Time
Released on: 1970-01-01
Documentary
When Masset, a Haida village in Haida Gwaii (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands), held a ...
Warrior Women
Released on: 2018-05-26
Documentary
Through the figure of Lakota activist and community organizer Madonna Thunder Hawk, this inspiring f...
Totem: Return and Renewal
Released on: 2007-01-01
Documentary
In this follow-up to his 2003 film, Totem: the Return of the G'psgolox Pole, filmmaker Gil Cardinal ...
Round Up
Released on: 2010-01-01
Documentary
This short film traces Pete Standing Alone's personal journey from cultural alienation to pride and ...
Tokyo Ainu
Released on: 2013-05-15
Documentary
TOKYO Ainu features the Ainu, an indigenous people of Japan, living in Greater Tokyo (Tokyo and its ...
Attiuk
Released on: 1963-07-19
Documentary
The people of Unamenshipu (La Romaine), an Innu community in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, are see...
Off to School
Released on: 1958-01-01
Documentary
This short film from 1958 compiles 3 short reportages on different ways kids are schooled in remote ...
When Two Worlds Collide
Released on: 2016-01-22
Documentary
In this tense and immersive tour de force, audiences are taken directly into the line of fire betwee...
Surviving Eugenics
Released on: 2015-09-01
Documentary
Surviving Eugenics is a documentary about the history and ongoing significance of eugenics. Anchored...
Wandering Spirit Survival School
Released on: 1978-01-01
Documentary
Wandering Spirit School, organized by concerned parents, broke with tradition by introducing subject...
As I Am
Released on: 2010-01-01
Documentary
This short experimental documentary challenges stereotypes about Indigenous people in the workplace....
Ghostland: The View of the Ju'Hoansi
Released on: 2017-11-02
Documentary
Remember the culture clash in THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY? This time it's real. One of the most ancient c...
Potlatch...a strict law bids us dance
Released on: 1975-01-01
Documentary
Presents the history of the conflict between the Canadian government and the Kwakiutl Indians of the...
Home from School: The Children of Carlisle
Released on: 2021-11-23
Documentary, History
“Kill the Indian to save the man” was the catchphrase of The Carlisle Indian Industrial School, a bo...
The Lost Colony of Roanoke: New Evidence
Released on: 2022-05-08
History, Documentary
In 1587, more than 100 English colonists settle on Roanoke Island and soon vanish, baffling historia...
Light to Starboard
Released on: 1972-01-01
Documentary
This film presents the historical development of lighthouses in Canada, and shows the conversion fro...
Surviving Columbus
Released on: 1992-11-16
Documentary, TV Movie
This Peabody Award-winning documentary from New Mexico PBS looks at the European arrival in the Amer...
Deep Roots
Released on: 2020-12-11
Documentary, Adventure
Lonnie Kauk’s personal journey to honor his indigenous Yosemite roots, and to connect with his legen...