Unrepentant

This week my courses begin. So far I have attended my one-and-only televised class and have begun to review the first week's material for my online classes. Both online classes are related to Indigenous Studies.

For my second Indigenous course we are required to watch a documentary film "Unrepentant".

The film is well done.

The material however, is very depressing.

But most of the material I really had no clue about. At all.

In fact I kept asking myself why I had never heard most of it before.

Sure we have all heard about the horrors that took place in the residential schools in Canada. The abuse. The torture.

But did you know how many children did not even survive? The numbers are absolutely appalling. So much so that I can't even bring myself to type it out.

Did you know that our fellow Canadians have experienced genocide?

Did you know that kids were deliberately exposed to serious diseases such as smallpox and TB?

Did you know the measures that some so-called "Christians" have taken to hide the truth?

The film Unrepentant was not easy to watch. I cried with the victims as they shared their stories. The truth is not easy to hear.

But I also don't want to become desensitized to this information. It's only my first week in these courses and I expect we will continue to hear more about it in the weeks to come.

I think this is a film that EVERY CANADIAN needs to watch. We need to be more aware of those around us, and the extreme pain that they themselves have experienced.

As someone who wants to become a social worker, I will no doubt be in contact with many aboriginals throughout my career someday. I am so thankful that my eyes have been opened, even if just a little, to the truth of what they have witnessed or had to endure. I pray that this will make me more sensitive to their individual situations.

And I want to encourage you to find some time to watch Unrepentant. It's available through Google Video and is about 90 minutes long. Certainly not appropriate for young children to watch. But VERY worthwhile for everyone else.