13. A Shocking Death Toll
Cruel treatment was bad enough. On top of that, Indigenous kids in the mandatory boarding schools were often housed in overcrowded dormitories. Sanitation was poor, the water was unclean, sewage was inadequate or nonexistent, and the heating was insufficient to cope with Canada’s harsh winters. Between that and an absence of medical care, diseases such as tuberculosis and influenza were rife. Because the amount of federal funding depended on enrollment figures, schools enrolled sick children to boost their numbers. In one school, student death rates reached 69 percent. About 150,000 Indigenous kids were placed in mandatory schools. Because of poor record keeping, the number of school deaths is unknown, but estimates range from a low of 3200 to highs of more than 30,000.
