Description
Victims of Benevolence: The Dark Legacy of the Williams Lake Residential School is an unsettling study of two tragic events at an Indian residential school in British Columbia which serve as a microcosm of the profound impact the residential school system had on First Nation communities in Canada throughout the century. The book's focal points are the death of a runaway boy and the suicide of another while they were students at the Williams Lake Indian Residential School during the early part of this century. Imbedded in these stories is the complex relationship between the Department of Indian Affairs, the Oblates, and the Aboriginal communities that in turn has influenced relations between government, church, and Aboriginal survivors today. Anthropologist Elizabeth Furniss has had a long association with the Cariboo Tribal Council. This book, an outgrowth of research she conducted for the council, attempts to explain Native/non-Native relations within the context of First Nations education.