Behind Closed Doors

The Kamloops Indian Residential School operated from 1893-1977 as part of Canada’s residential school system, near the traditional homelands of the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc people. Similar to U.S. government operated Indian boarding schools, both structures forcefully separated school aged children from their homes to attend these institutions for acculturation purposes. But callous practices and abuses by staff and teachers left life-long and intergenerational scars upon the Native students, families and communities. Fourteen brave individuals share heartrending stories of life in the Kamploops school and their road to personal wellness in four sections: Coping, Resistance, Survival and Healing. Behind Closed Doors: Stories from the Kamloops Indian Residential School was a project developed by the Secwépemc Cultural Education Society to help former residential school students to understand their experience and lead towards wholistic wellness. These are stories of healing, hope, reconciliation, and a deepened sense of Secwépemc identity, survival and empowerment.