Native American Catholic Boarding Schools

"Yes, it's a technical word, genocide. I didn't use it because it didn't come to mind. But yes, I described it. Yes, it's a genocide."- Pope Francis (2022) 

Pope Francis called the Native American Boarding schools in Canada a "Genocide" after the bodies of thousands of indigenous children were found at the schools. In recent years, survivors are telling their stories of abuse and trauma in the boarding schools, we learned about how they were stripped of their culture and forcefully taken from their families. The boarding schools were government funded but left to various religious institutions such as the Catholic church to operate the schools. 

"A picture is worth a thousand words" is a quote that inspired me to compile pictures of the residential schools to help gain a better understanding of these unspeakable horrors. Some of the most powerful pictures are the before and after.