Victims Of Benevolence, By Elizabeth Furniss

First Nations people have been facing prejudice and have been the victims of cruelties since the first European explorers set foot on Canadian soil. It has been a long-standing problem in Canada and oftentimes Canadian society chooses to ignore this part of its’ history. The book, Victims of Benevolence: The Dark Legacy of the Williams Lake Residential School written by Elizabeth Furniss in 1992, published in Vancouver by Arsenal Pulp Press. The message the book aims to deliver to bring awareness to the mistreatment and cruelties suffered by First Nations while in the clutches of religious administrators in residential schools. Not only the mistreatment, but also to educate readers about the life in residential schools that has been hidden
During the years of its operation, students suffered from physical, sexual, and emotional abuse at the hands of their teachers. Over the course of its history, many investigations by the Department of Indian Affairs and several other government organizations failed to successfully bring forth any change in the school. Even the death of two male students (in separate incidences) brought forth no change. The deaths of the boys were blamed on the “wild nature” (page 112) of the First Nations, and that they “hate confinement” (page 112). The book ends with blaming the church and government’s inability to effectively stop the mistreatment at residential schooling systems, which has ultimately lead to much suffering and long-lasting trauma in First Nation’s people and their
This was the most interesting part because oftentimes, people are ignorant about the abuses at these schools. To read about and to be able to experience the suffering these students went through was very eye opening. Another interesting portion of the book was the topic of the politics behind the residential schools and the Oblates motivation to use the school to sell things to the community. This was very surprising as some readers may have been under the previous impression that residential schools were only used to try and integrate First Nations people into Canadian society.
In conclusion, the book, Victims of Benevolence was a very interesting and educating read. There was a lot of new information provided and a lot of new hidden ideas to explore. This book could be recommended to those wanting to learn about injustices faced by First Nations people or individuals who want to learn more about Canada’s tainted history. Overall, this was a highly educating and highly recommended