Uncovering history through testimony. A traumatic account of aboriginal peoples in Canadian residential schools

The residential school system in Canada was created over a century ago and it ended up affecting not only those who survived its cruelty, but also the following generations of Aboriginal peoples. This study focuses on selected anglophone reminiscences, Highway’s Kiss of the Fur Queen (1998), Johnston’s Indian School Days (1988), and two francophone novels, Jean’s Le Vent en Parle Encore (2013), and Perron’s Billydéki (2019), as well as on ten YouTube testimonies by the survivors and the documentary Sleeping Children Awake (1992). These works were chosen since they all reflect the testimonies by the survivors, the plights they underwent at residential schools in Canada, and the diverse strategies through which the survivors shared their experience in order to connect with others which facilitates the healing process. Through the survivors’ testimonies, the readers and the audience come to know that Aboriginal students attempted to defend themselves through various techniques, one of which is humor. This book analyzes the selected narratives in light of Judith Herman’s concept of trauma, and Shoshana Felman and Dori Laub’s concepts of witnessing, and testimony. The survivors, who experienced the atrocious incidents at the schools, stand as the first-hand witnesses of the incidents and they give their testimonies. The audience, stand as the second-hand witness being informed of the silenced moments.