Residential schools brought immeasurable human suffering to the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples, the effects of which continue to reverberate through generations of families and many communities. Other policies were harsh but could be worked around. The government banned the potlatch, so practitioners went underground to continue to hold ceremonies; the government pushed people onto small reserves but they still were with their families. But when the government took the children from their families, it was unbearable.
