Canada's Indian policy has, since the 1830s, consisted mainly of attempts at cultural replacement. Although rarely practised, cultural synthesis of native and western cultures has been advocated as an important alternative especially in the last ten years. This book is a study of E.F. Wilson (1844–1915), a Canadian missionary of British background, who experienced, promoted, and advocated both approaches to native policy during his lifetime. On the one hand, he practised cultural replacement at the Shingwauk and Wawanosh Schools which he founded at Sault Ste. Marie; on the other hand, he advocated programs of cultural synthesis and political autonomy which were a distinct departure from the paternalist notions of the 1880s and 1890s. His support of such ideas was fostered by the influence of leading anthropologists such as Horatio Hale but also by his own extensive travel and observation of Indians, particularly the Cherokee Indians of Oklahoma. This book describes the efforts of a nineteenth-century Canadian missionary who entertained radical notions of Indian self-government and cultural synthesis, as well as more conventional ideas of native assimilation and cultural replacement.

"I am going to tell you how we are treated. I am always hungry." -- Edward B., a student at Onion Lake School (1923)"[I]f I were appointed by the Dominion Government for the express purpose of spreading tuberculosis, there is nothing finer in existance that the average Indian residential school." -- N. Walker, Indian Affairs Superintendent (1948)For over 100 years, thousands of Aboriginal children passed through the Canadian residential school system. Begun in the 1870s, it was intended, in the words of government officials, to bring these children into the "circle of civilization," the results, however, were far different. More often, the schools provided an inferior education in an atmosphere of neglect, disease, and often abuse. Using previously unreleased government documents, historian John S. Milloy provides a full picture of the history and reality of the residential school system. He begins by tracing the ideological roots of the system, and follows the paper trail of internal memoranda, reports from field inspectors, and letters of complaint. In the early decades, the system grew without planning or restraint. Despite numerous critical commissions and reports, it persisted into the 1970s, when it transformed itself into a social welfare system without improving conditions for its thousands of wards. A National Crime shows that the residential system was chronically underfunded and often mismanaged, and documents in detail and how this affected the health, education, and well-being of entire generations of Aboriginal children.

This is a resource book not only for historians and anthropologists, but also for Native people exploring personal and community histories. The stories told in the book may encourage other former students in their healing process.

Contains a bibliographic essay on Canadian Indian policy from 1608 to the present, an alphabetical list of all works cited with items suitable for secondary school students denoted, a list of recommended works for the beginner and a basic library collection list.

Vols. 29- include the society's Report, 1931/32- except 1938/39-1939/40 which were issued separately.