In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves was discovered on the grounds of an Indian Residential School run by the Catholic Church in Canada. After years of silence, the forced separation, assimilation, and abuse many children experienced at these segregated boarding schools across Canada and the United States were brought to light, sparking an outcry against a system designed to destroy Indigenous communities. This film follows a survivor of one of these schools and his son as they uncover their past and start a journey of healing.
The showing will be held on Friday, Nov. 14 from 2 p.m.–5 p.m. in Hillyer 125. All are welcome, see the flyer below for more details. A panel discussion will follow the showing with:
Cassandra Toscano, a West Hartford healthcare executive focusing on vulnerable populations. She is a descendant of the Kootenay tribe. Her grandmother is a survivor of the Indian Boarding School trauma and her family faces intergenerational trauma from this.
Stephen Pevar, who began his legal career in 1971 as a Legal Aid attorney on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where he lived and worked until 1974. He then worked for 45 years on the National Staff of the American Civil Liberties Union, retiring in 2022. During that time, Pevar litigated more than 175 civil rights cases, focusing on Indigenous rights, freedom of speech, and the rights of prisoners. In addition, Pevar taught Federal Indian Law for 16 years at the University of Denver School of Law, for 5 years at NYU Law School, and currently teaches Advanced Federal Indian Law at Yale Law School.