"The Feds founded the first three federal residential schools in 1883 in Alberta and Saskatchewan. First Nations people formed the majority of the population and were power brokers in that area and one of the ways to deal with them was treaties, the other way to deal with them was to take their children hostages."

John Milloy's award winning book, "A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School System," used ground breaking research into government archives to expose the planned genocide of First Nations people at the heart of the residential school system. It has been described as one of the 100 most important Canadian books ever written.

In the wake of the 215 unmarked graves of First Nations children found at the the Kamloops Indian Residential School, Milloy discusses the reasons for the birth of the Residential Schools as a tool to oppression, why it was so brutal, why it continued for so long, and why Canadians continue to be surprised by the horrors of that system, despite repeated high profile exposures of that system over the last 25 years.

John Milloy is professor emeritus in the departments of Native Studies and History at Trent University.

The Ahkameyimok Podcast is produced by David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions in Ottawa.

Our theme music is performed by the Red Dog Singers of Treaty Four Territory in Saskatchewan.