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	Apology Should Be Backed by Action, Says Grand Chief Thompson Standard-Freeholder June 12, 2008 http://www.standard-freeholder.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1069997 (Staff) — An apology to former students of the Indian Residential School program from PM Stephen Harper was greeted with guarded optimism by the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne. "It was an apology long overdue to the people of First Nations and survivors of the residential school system," said Grand Chief Tim Thompson. "Was it sincere? Only time will tell. The government has to back its apology with action." Roughly 150,000 native children were forcibly taken from their families starting in the 1840s through to the 1970s and often subjected to physical, mental and sexual abuse at the hands of their keepers. The children also lost touch with their heritage as the church-run schools attempted to erase knowledge of native culture from the students with Christian ideology. Thompson, who attended Harper's speech in Ottawa, said the survivors who listened with him "can forgive, but not forget" the "countless atrocities" that took place in those schools. He called the federal government reports by the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission due to be compiled over the next five years "a good start towards giving survivors closure."
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