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Residential Schools: The Stolen Years
Back of book:
"What has been broken can be healed,
what has been stolen can be reclaimed.
The stories in this book are the voices of our community. Each story given, as a gift, is an act of resistance.
An act of healing."
From the preface: "Depicts an era in Canadian history when Indigenous children were taken from their parents and placed in institutions under the care of the federal government and various religious denominations. This era is of profound importance because the treatment children received has had, and continues to have, a devastating impact upon individuals, families, communities and nations. "
"What has been broken can be healed,
what has been stolen can be reclaimed.
The stories in this book are the voices of our community. Each story given, as a gift, is an act of resistance.
An act of healing."
From the preface: "Depicts an era in Canadian history when Indigenous children were taken from their parents and placed in institutions under the care of the federal government and various religious denominations. This era is of profound importance because the treatment children received has had, and continues to have, a devastating impact upon individuals, families, communities and nations. "
142 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1995
38 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 21, 2016
Heartbreaking.
The amount of cultural genocide that was done is staggering. It has affected Indigenous people's way of life in horrible ways that still continues to bleed down to future generations.
The amount of cultural genocide that was done is staggering. It has affected Indigenous people's way of life in horrible ways that still continues to bleed down to future generations.
February 8, 2026
Residential Schools: The Stolen Years is a confronting and deeply moving account of the residential school system and the generations of Indigenous children whose lives were irreversibly altered by it. Through personal testimonies, the book exposes how the church was used to justify cruelty, control, and cultural erasure, leaving survivors with what many describe as a stolen childhood and a lasting sense of disconnection from family and identity.
The survivors’ stories powerfully trace how this early trauma carried into adulthood, often shaping experiences of substance use, fractured relationships, and ongoing cycles of harm. These struggles are not presented as individual failures, but as direct consequences of systemic abuse and colonisation. Importantly, the book also centres healing. This shows how survivors sought recovery through both Indigenous cultural reconnection and non-Indigenous supports, emphasising that healing is complex, ongoing, and deeply personal.
Overall, The Stolen Years makes clear that the impacts of colonisation and imperialism are not confined to the past. By grounding history in lived experience, the book demonstrates how exploitation, poverty, and institutional power continue to affect Indigenous communities across generations. It would have been good to see the book provide an explanation or understanding of why these schools existed and why those that had power choose to use religion as a cover for neglect and abuse and what might have compelled those people to do such behaviours. This inclusion would’ve caused me to give this book 5 stars.
The survivors’ stories powerfully trace how this early trauma carried into adulthood, often shaping experiences of substance use, fractured relationships, and ongoing cycles of harm. These struggles are not presented as individual failures, but as direct consequences of systemic abuse and colonisation. Importantly, the book also centres healing. This shows how survivors sought recovery through both Indigenous cultural reconnection and non-Indigenous supports, emphasising that healing is complex, ongoing, and deeply personal.
Overall, The Stolen Years makes clear that the impacts of colonisation and imperialism are not confined to the past. By grounding history in lived experience, the book demonstrates how exploitation, poverty, and institutional power continue to affect Indigenous communities across generations. It would have been good to see the book provide an explanation or understanding of why these schools existed and why those that had power choose to use religion as a cover for neglect and abuse and what might have compelled those people to do such behaviours. This inclusion would’ve caused me to give this book 5 stars.
June 13, 2021
On the path to learn more this year, this is my third book about indigenous life. This is a book compiled of short stories written by survivors of residential Schools. This is something that needs to be shared and needs to be talked about. Many generations of lives have been severely affected by these so called "schools". I always live by the reasoning that I can educate myself by reading.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews