Ottawa – Residential schools for First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were first established in 1831 and ran for 165 years until 1996. This system had one goal: to forcibly assimilate Canada’s Indigenous Peoples into the non-Indigenous population. Canadian Geographic Education (Can Geo Education), the first Canadian organization to produce Google Earth Voyager content, has worked closely with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) of the University of Manitoba to create an educational tool that will help students learn about this dark chapter in Canadian history.

This is a harrowing tale but required learning on our journey towards reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous Peoples,” says Ellen Curtis, Director of Can Geo Education. “Our Google Earth Voyager residential school story provides a much needed primer for elementary and secondary school students. “

Told through a geographic lens, the Google Earth Voyager residential school story shows students where each school is located on a map of Canada, and often providing an overhead view of the school itself. The story explains why the schools were built, what attending a residential school was like for Indigenous children, the effects of the system on students, and how residential school survivors are working to move forward. The poignant testimonials of residential school survivors, providing detailed accounts of their abuse inside this educational system, ...