What has been done or can be done to compensate the aborigines of The Stolen

Generations or First Nations in Canada for Residential Schools?

The residential schools were part of the Canadian Indian residential school system. They were created in the end of 19th century with a clear goal of forcibly assimilating children of indigenous people into the dominant Canadian culture. As a result of this system, more than 150,000 (about 30 percent) of First Nations children were separated from their families and placed into such schools. Thousands of families were left traumatized. Remarkable, but the last residential school was closed only in 1996.

As with many atrocities conducted by the government against their own people, establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions is one of the effective ways to compensate the families of the sufferers. For example, it was successfully done in South Africa to reconcile the country after Apartheid.

In Canada, Truth and Reconciliation Commission was operating between 2008 and 2015 specifically with the goal of funding and documenting the historical truth about Residential Schools and their place in the Canadian history. It also provided the safe environment in which victims could share their stories.

Operation of TRCs is often combined with financial compensations, as it is also has been done in Canada. Meanwhile, in addition to psychological healing, institutional changes are necessary to deal with negative outcome of colonialism on the whole.