We Were Children

Provided Abstract:

“In this feature film, the profound impact of the Canadian government’s residential school system is conveyed through the eyes of 2 children who were forced to face hardships beyond their years. As young children, Lyna and Glen were taken from their homes and placed in church-run boarding schools, where they suffered years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, the effects of which persist in their adult lives. We Were Children gives voice to a national tragedy and demonstrates the incredible resilience of the human spirit.”

One of the survivor stories shared in the documentary is from Glen Anaquod. Anaquod was sent to the Lebret Residential School in southern Saskatchewan. Anaquod explains how lonely it was at the school, how he missed home, and how children were stripped of their names and given numbers. Anaquod remembers the Priests who sexually abused his peers, and himself. Glen’s perpetrators were caught and eventually sent to other residential schools, they were not fired. We Were Children takes time to explore the aftermath on the health and well-being of Residential School survivors, their children, and communities.