Canada’s residential school story launched on Google Earth Voyager

The story of residential schools for First Nations, Métis and Inuit children represents a dark aspect of Canadian history. These schools existed during the lifetime of some of our ancestors, and sadly, even during our lifetime.

Residential schools were first established in 1831 and ran for 165 years until 1996. The system had one goal: to forcibly assimilate Canada’s Indigenous peoples into the non-Indigenous population.

These government-sponsored, church-run schools aimed to assimilate Indigenous children by taking them away from their families and forcibly eradicating their cultural identity. Residential schools have left a horrible legacy that survivors, communities and families are still struggling to overcome and heal from to this day.

Google Earth Voyageur
Canadian Geographic Education (Can Geo Education), the first Canadian organization to produce Google Earth Voyager content, has worked closely with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation of the University of Manitoba to create an educational tool that will help students learn about this dark chapter in Canadian history.

The first residential school, The Mohawk Institute, opened in 1831 in Brantford, Upper Canada, now Ontario. An estimated 150,000 First Nation, Inuit and Métis children were forced to attend residential schools. Image: Google Earth Voyager residential school story.

“This is a harrowing tale but required learning on our journey towards reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous Peoples,” says Ellen Curtis, director of Can Geo Education. “Our Google Earth Voyager residential school story provides a much needed primer for elementary and secondary school students.”

The Google Earth Voyager residential school story shows students where each school is located on a map of Canada, and often provides an overhead view of the school itself. The story explains why the schools were built, what attending a residential school was like for Indigenous children, the effects of the system on students, and how residential school survivors are working to move forward.

The testimonials of residential school survivors, providing detailed accounts of their abuse inside this educational system, will no doubt have indelible impact on readers. It is hoped these honest accounts of childhood loss and abuse will help students break down any learned prejudices and build understanding that will aid in the reconciliation process.

Note: Google Earth Voyageur only works on the Google Chrome browser.