Witnessing, testimony and trauma in indian school days

Residential schools functioned from 1876 to 1996 in Canada in order to assimilate Indigenous children to Euro- Canadian culture. By implementation of Indian Act (1876), the Indigenous children were taken away from their parents and sent to these schools. The trauma that these kids underwent as a result of physical, mental and sexual abuse at these residential schools has been reflected in Basil H. Johnstons' Indian School Days. The novel will be analyzed based on Judith Herman's concept of trauma and Shoshana Felman and Dori Laub's concept of witnessting and testimony since the literary work can be a witness to the historical incidents that happened at residential schools in Canada. However, the novel also reflects the incidents that remained non-documented within various narratives within the selected novel.