In his talk, Mark Abley will explore questions that continue to baffle a lot of Canadians. He emphasizes that he will not speak for Indigenous people — they are more than capable to doing that for themselves. Instead he will ask: how could well-meaning Canadians, fifty or a hundred years ago, be so blind as to the nature and impact of the schools? What did the government and the churches believe they were doing? How did they justify their actions, and do these justifications have some resonance for us in 2021?