This series should become a required part of the curriculum for every school in Canada, IMHO.
The second episode aired on all CBC channels tonight and though I felt that I had a good understanding of the challenges facing native people, I didn't. I learned a lot tonight about residential schools; about the hundreds of missing and dead children, many who lie in unmarked graves; many who died trying to find a way home. 7 generations of native children were taken from their families and put in residential schools. I know that number had never really hit home before but it did when I put it in the context of my own family and how it would have been affected by such a policy.
But 8th Fire is about much more than residential schools, it is the story of native people all across our land who have made good lives for themselves and who are in turn working to inspire other Canadians, native and 'white' alike to work together for a better understanding of each other. It is about history and the real effect of treaties on so many facets of native people's lives.
I believe we can all learn something of value from this series and I highly recommend it.
CBC - 8th Fire - Home
The second episode aired on all CBC channels tonight and though I felt that I had a good understanding of the challenges facing native people, I didn't. I learned a lot tonight about residential schools; about the hundreds of missing and dead children, many who lie in unmarked graves; many who died trying to find a way home. 7 generations of native children were taken from their families and put in residential schools. I know that number had never really hit home before but it did when I put it in the context of my own family and how it would have been affected by such a policy.
But 8th Fire is about much more than residential schools, it is the story of native people all across our land who have made good lives for themselves and who are in turn working to inspire other Canadians, native and 'white' alike to work together for a better understanding of each other. It is about history and the real effect of treaties on so many facets of native people's lives.
I believe we can all learn something of value from this series and I highly recommend it.
CBC - 8th Fire - Home