Unspeakable

Published in 2012, Thomas King’s The Inconvenient Indian spent four years on the bestseller lists and went on to win the RBC Taylor Prize. Among its many topics, the book examined the horrors of residential schools, which “became compulsory for all children from the ages of six to fifteen” in 1850. “There was no opting out,” King explained, for those who still didn’t know the story. “Non-compliance by parents was punishable by prison terms. Children were forcibly removed from their homes.” In their attempts to integrate and assimilate, the 130 or so schools that operated across the country “insisted that the children not have any extensive contact with their families or home communities. Students were forbidden to speak their languages or practise any part of their culture.” And as has been made painfully clear in recent weeks, disease, abuse, and death were rampant.

With...