Our Story, Our History

There were at least five federally-run Indian Residential Schools, dozens of Indian Day Schools, and several
Industrial Schools over the past two centuries throughout Anishinabek Nation territory. Thousands of Anishinaabeg children were forced into these federally-mandated schools. Despite their best efforts to assimilate us, we are still here. We know who we are and where we come from. We are holding onto our Anishinaabemowin and traditional languages and passing them along to our children.

We understand the crimes committed against our people and why it was done. We will not accept the erasure of
our culture. We must build a new relationship with Canada that is built on a Nation-to-Nation model. Canada must
understand that we are here, and we are here as strong Anishinaabeg, and we will remain here. We must honour the
ultimate sacrifices that our most vulnerable children made. We will never forget what they endured, and their
suffering will not be in vain.

Our resilience in the face of so much hardship means that the Indian Residential Schools system ultimately
failed in its intent. We wear orange on September 30 to honour our past, history, culture, people, and all of
those children who never returned home from these schools.

Click on the video below to listen to a message from the Anishinabek Nation Executive on the history of Indian
Residential Schools in the Anishinabek Nation Territory.