The residential schools system was part of a century ’s long policy of assimilation of Indigenous peoples that entailed the removal of children from their families for the purpose of education. Conditions in schools inflicted trauma on many Indigenous children through harsh discipline, the abnegation of culture and identity, and pervasive physical and sexual abuse. Survivors of the residential schools system initiated the largest class-action settlement in Canadian histoiy whereby a multi-billion dollar fund was established to help former students in their recovery and led to the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2008.