ABSTRACT
Colonialism has left a terrible legacy in many parts of the world. However, one of the least known yet most appalling legacies of the colonial era is the devastating impact European settlement wrought on the indigenous peoples of the ‘New World’. Violence, disease and dispossession marked the early relationship between the European colonizers and the original inhabitants of the land. But worse was to come. The horrific accounts of Aboriginal children being torn from their families and communities and the abuse to which they were subsequently subjected are deeply shocking. The missions and residential schools in Canada and Australia stand as one of the most potent symbols of the totally misconceived iniquity of European imperialism. And yet, whilst the residential schools may have closed, for Aboriginal peoples in Canada and Australia, colonialism cannot be consigned to the annals of history: it remains a current reality.
