Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Summary

Podcast Summary: Witness History – Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Host: Tim O’Callaghan
Guest: Chief Willie Littlechild, other survivors
Date: May 11, 2026
Duration: ~9 minutes

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Overview

This episode delves into Canada’s reckoning with its residential school system through the eyes of survivors and Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Chief Willie Littlechild. The episode explores the forced removal of over 150,000 indigenous children from their families, the abuses suffered, the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), and the nation’s ongoing journey toward healing and restitution.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Legacy of Residential Schools

• Systemic Separation: For over 100 years, Canada removed Indigenous children from their families, making attendance at residential schools compulsory in 1920.
  • Main Purpose: The stated goal, as per records cited by Willie Littlechild, was “to kill the Indian in the child.” ([02:48])
• Abuses Suffered:
  • Physical, mental, emotional, cultural, and sexual abuse were rampant.
  • Children had their names replaced by numbers, e.g., Willie Littlechild became “Number 65.”
  • Use of violence and humiliation to erase Indigenous identity, such as cutting off braids (a source of pride and spirituality).

Personal Testimonies & Trauma

• Willie Littlechild’s Story:

  • Taken from his grandparents at age 6; spent 14 years in residential schools. ([02:11])
  • Suffered physical abuse that led to lasting injury:

    “You were taken into a room and… hit with a hockey stick across my back… I have to use a walker to walk because my back is so bad.” ([03:35])

  • Stripping of identity:

    “My name was number 65. 65. Come here stupid. Or 65. Why did you do that, you idiot?” ([04:00])

  • “The first day of school, [braids] were cut off and that is a spiritual assault… your spirit is being taken away… brutally.” ([04:24])

• Survivor Testimonies:

  • A survivor described,

    “As soon as [my parents] left, I never knew about hell, but that’s where hell started for me.” ([05:10])

  • Physical punishments were given for using Indigenous language; sexual abuse recounted.
  • Enduring impact:

    “I didn’t learn a thing.” ([05:58])

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission

• Origins & Mandate:
  • Formed in 2008 as part of a multi-billion-dollar class-action lawsuit brought by survivors. ([06:01])
  • Commissioners (Willie Littlechild, Judge Murray Sinclair, Marie Wilson) traveled across Canada to gather testimonies.
• Emotional Burden:
  • Commissioners, especially Littlechild, experienced “compassion fatigue”:

    “I was hearing these negative, negative, negative abuse stories over and over… I wanted to honor the witnesses... but I was taking that trauma internally.” ([06:37])

• Findings:
  • Judge Sinclair named it “cultural genocide” ([07:11]).
  • Many survivors called it simply “genocide,” noting the physical disappearance of children and long-lasting social and psychological harm ([07:33]).
  • Many children died in the schools, yet their burial sites and stories remain unknown.

Calls to Action and Steps Toward Healing

• 94 Calls to Action:
  • Recommendations included a national TRC holiday and a reconciliation council. ([08:11])
  • As of the episode, 16 completed, many in progress.
• Progress and Hope:
  • Littlechild expresses cautious optimism:

    “We’re moving along in a good way together, working towards restoring respectful relationships, and forgiveness is happening... the health is improving.” ([08:26])

• Apologies:
  • Canadian government issued official apologies in 2008 (PM Stephen Harper) and in 2017 (PM Justin Trudeau).
  • Protestant churches and, in 2022, Pope Francis apologized on behalf of the Catholic Church.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On stripped identity:

  "My name was number 65... See, when you grow up with that kind of loss of identity, it assaults your self-esteem, your self-awareness, and your pride." – Willie Littlechild ([04:00])

• On the system’s intent:

  "The records show that the purpose of establishing the schools was to kill the Indian in the child." – Willie Littlechild ([02:48])

• On impact of hearing testimonies:

  "I was really getting tired. What I was going through was compassion fatigue..." – Willie Littlechild ([06:37])

• On the aftermath and hope:

  "I think we're on a good journey. A good story." – Willie Littlechild ([08:26])

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Important Timestamps

• [01:14] – Introduction to Canada’s residential schools as a “darkest chapter in history.”
• [02:11] – Willie Littlechild relates his personal childhood experience.
• [02:48] – Purpose of the residential schools: “kill the Indian in the child.”
• [03:35] – Details of physical, mental, emotional, cultural, and sexual abuse.
• [05:10] – Survivor testimony detailing abuse and alienation.
• [06:01] – Formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
• [06:37] – Emotional toll on commissioners.
• [07:11] – Final report: “cultural genocide.”
• [08:11] – Overview of Calls to Action; progress update.
• [08:52] – Apologies from Canadian leaders and churches.

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Tone & Language

The episode is sober, direct, and respectful, honoring survivors' voices while conveying the gravity of the abuses suffered. The firsthand accounts, particularly from Willie Littlechild, preserve the dignity and pain of those affected, while the host provides historical context in accessible, neutral language.

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This summary captures the breadth and emotional weight of the episode, illustrating both the devastating history of residential schools in Canada and the ongoing journey towards truth, reconciliation, and healing.

Transcript

[Tim O'Callaghan]

Hello, and welcome to Witness History from the BBC World Service with me, Tim o'. Callaghan. If this is already one of your favourite podcasts, then feel free to skip ahead a bit to get to today's episode. But if you're new here, welcome along. We're the daily podcast that takes you back to moments from history with the people who were there to see it. So if that sounds like something that should be part of your daily routine, then make sure you subscribe and turn on your push notifications for wherever you get your BBC podcasts so you never miss an episode. But for today, we're going back to a time when Canada came to terms with a dark, hidden part of its history and a warning. There are descriptions of abuse and violence in this program.

[BBC Narrator]

There's been something of a day of reckoning for the people of Canada recently. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has found finally given its verdict on how the country treated its Aboriginal children.

[Tim O'Callaghan]

This is the story of how more than 150,000 indigenous children were taken from their homes and sent to residential schools, a practice that took place in Canada for over a hundred years, with the last school closing in 1997.

[Willie Littlechild]

This was the most unknown, saddest, darkest chapter in Canadian history, because no one knew what was going on all these years behind the residential schools. Until the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was

[Tim O'Callaghan]

established in 2008, the Truth about what happened to the children who were taken from their families began to be heard.

[Willie Littlechild]

My Cree name is Mahikan Mohattil, and my chief's name is Usaugi Hill, Cree name meaning Walking wolf. And my chief's name is Golden Eagle. But also my Name was number 65 when I was in residential school. And of course, my English name is Willie Littlechild.

[Tim O'Callaghan]

Willie was one of the three commissioners on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a lawyer and former member of Parliament. This was a deeply personal experience for him.

[Willie Littlechild]

I was born on the Ermineskin Cree Nation and was raised by my grandparents until I was taken to residential school when I was six years old. So for 14 years, I was being raised by a building. And I say that because of the connotations behind that, in a sense of being stripped away from your parents. So the bond of having a family was severed right at the outset. When you're a little boy.

[Tim O'Callaghan]

Attendance at the schools for Indigenous children became compulsory in 1920, and they were taken from their families for a sole purpose.

[Willie Littlechild]

The records show that the purpose of establishing the schools was to kill the Indian in the child. So how do you do that? Well, you punish them when they speak their language, you take them away from their parents and you prohibit anything that's related to you as an individual member of a nation. And with that stated purpose, the government then decided to hire faith groups, Catholic Church, the Protestant churches by contract to run these schools.

[Tim O'Callaghan]

And that process of attempting to kill the Indian in the child resulted in horrific abuse for the students of residential schools.

[Willie Littlechild]

I had physical abuse when I did something wrong or was accused of doing something wrong. One of the things that happened to me was that you were taken into a room and you were put into a position like you're going to do push ups. But I was being hit with a hockey stick across my back, my lower back. And to this day I have to use a walker to walk because my back is so bad. You're assaulted mentally, your identity taken away. For example, my name was number 65. 65. Come here stupid. Or 65. Why did you do that, you idiot? 65. When are you going to grow up? See, when you grow up with that kind of loss of identity, it assaults your self esteem, your self awareness and your pride. If you had long hair like braids, the first day of school they were cut off and that is a spiritual assault because your spirit is being taken away, in a sense brutally, by cutting your hair right off the bat when traditionally you wear, with pride and for a purpose, long hair with braids. So the physical, the mental, emotional, the cultural and worst of all the sexual abuse. And I don't want to go into detail there, but I went through that part of her growing up as well.

[Tim O'Callaghan]

Willie's testimony was mirrored by the thousands of survivors who came forward and spoke to the commission.

[Residential School Survivor]

During a seven year period watching my parents disappear. As soon as they left. I never knew about hell, but that's where hell started for me. I was picked up by my ears and carried into the back office, stripped naked and beaten unconscious because I spoke the language of the devil. There was always one priest that he used to say, my child, my child. He'd put his arms around you and then he'd be touching you and made sure that he had you cornered. I was hit with a ruler continuously. I was told that I was stupid, dumb, lazy, ugly, that I was a savage. I didn't learn a thing.

[Willie Littlechild]

I didn't learn anything in that school.

[Tim O'Callaghan]

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission started as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement, a multi billion dollar class action lawsuit which was brought against the Canadian government by survivors of residential schools in the early 2000s. Willie, along with the chair of the Commission, Judge Murray Sinclair and former journalist Marie Wilson traveled thousands of miles across Canada, the world's second largest country, to hear the testimonies. But having to relive this trauma and hearing the pain of others began to take its toll on Willie and the other commissioners.

[Willie Littlechild]

It was a couple of years into the hearings. I was really getting tired. What I was going through was compassion fatigue because I was hearing these negative, negative, negative abuse stories over and over and over again, and I was not releasing them, I was keeping them to myself. I wanted to honor the witnesses by keeping their story safe, but at the same time, I was taking that trauma internally. So we started getting counseling as commissioners. Right after the day's hearings in June

[Tim O'Callaghan]

2015, the commission was ready to give its final report and the findings were stark, as reported by the BBC. Judge Sinclair, who described the residential school era as one of the darkest, most troubling chapters in Canadian history, issued his damning verdict. Cultural genocide.

[Willie Littlechild]

Many of them told us this was genocide. What happened to us as children was genocide. Just look at the scenario, look at what happened to us. Look at how many people were harmed to the point of committing suicide or having other different consequences of harm. Even persons, little people that disappeared. There's many children who died in residential schools, but no one knew about that. Where were they buried? Who were these children? What Was their names?

[Tim O'Callaghan]

94 calls to action were issued, including the establishment of a reconciliation council and a national holiday for truth and reconciliation. Eleven years on, 16 of those calls have been completed and many others are in progress.

[Willie Littlechild]

So when I look at sort of a panoramic view across the country, I think we're moving along in a good way together, working towards restoring respectful relationships and forgiveness is happening. Consequently, the health is improving in that way from people that were harmed and harmed others. I think we're on a good journey. A good story.

[Tim O'Callaghan]

A historic apology was given to survivors of residential schools in 2008 by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, which was repeated by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2017. Protestant church organizations in Canada apologised for their roles, while Pope Francis apologized on behalf of the Catholic Church. In 2022, the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Justice Murray sinclair, died in 2024. Chief Wilton Littlechild was speaking to me. Tim O' Callaghan for Witness History. Thank you for listening. If you found this interesting, then we have some other episodes in our archives about the history of Indigenous people. There's the story of Australia's first Aboriginal MP, Neil Bonner, who was elected to parliament in 1979. You could also learn about when Native American protesters occupied the island of Alcatraz off the coast of San Francisco in 1971 to raise awareness of indigenous rights. You can find those episodes in the Witness History feed wherever you get your

[BBC Narrator]

BBC podcasts from the Pioneers.

[Willie Littlechild]

We weren't going to ask mission. We're just going to do it.

[BBC Narrator]

And the celebrations you feel you win. I feel it.

[Residential School Survivor]

I was first. I was first.

[Tim O'Callaghan]

We were so proud of ourselves and

[Willie Littlechild]

Cameron was proud of us too. I still cannot believe

[Tim O'Callaghan]

was such an amazing feeling.

[Willie Littlechild]

It was incredible.

[BBC Narrator]

To the humiliations.

[Willie Littlechild]

I did cry most of the half.

[Residential School Survivor]

Oh man, I'm failing. I'm failing in this sport that I love.

[BBC Narrator]

Sporting Witness takes you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there.

[Willie Littlechild]

It's not just about the sport.

[Residential School Survivor]

It's about all the other things that

[Willie Littlechild]

people with disabilities learn from each other.

[BBC Narrator]

For nine minutes you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable moments from all over the world.

[Tim O'Callaghan]

There's a magic during those moments that carries your soul.

[Willie Littlechild]

We were truly blessed to be a part of history.

[BBC Narrator]

Sporting Witness. Subscribe wherever you get your BBC podcasts.