The first residential school opened in 1831, and more than 150,000 children were forced to attend schools across Canada during the operation, according to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

In 1907, chief medical inspector Dr. P.H. Bryce from the Department of Indian Affairs wrote a report detailing the poor health conditions in residential schools. He went on to call them a national crime. But by 1920, the Indian Act had made attendance mandatory for children between seven and 15 years old. In 1958, Indian Affairs inspectors, again, took a critical view of residential schools, recommending they be abolished. They were not.

Residential School Survivors were subject to social isolation and cultural assimilation. This was part of the federal government’s policy to “kill the Indian in the child.” For more than 150 years, about 180,000 First Nations, Inuit and Metis children were removed from their homes and sent to federally-funded schools managed by Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian and United churches.

Pine Creek Residential School opened in 1890, closed in 1892 and reopened in a larger building in 1894. A still newer and larger building was constructed in 1899. The school and the surrounding farmland covered approximately 632 acres. As with many schools, frustration, homesickness, and conflicts over discipline led students to run away or to engage in acts of arson. For example, in 1928, eight boys ran away from the school at once. Two years later, a boy was caught trying to set the school on fire. The school closed in 1969.

The film imparts its harrowing tale through intensely personal testimonies. The Residential School Survivors recall the horrors they experienced when they first arrived at the school. The survivors speak of cousins, friends and classmates, who they suspect was beaten, sexually assaulted, or just went missing. The survivors presumed that some died and were buried among other children thought to have perished on school grounds. Survivors share stories of how they were kidnapped from their homes as youngsters. The school and church are haunted houses for these victims and others like them.

The last of these schools closed in the late 90s, but their hideous imprint remains. A survivor’s grief never ends, nor does the guilt of those who found themselves unwitting accomplices to these horrors. So in the truest sense, ‘We Were Not Allowed To Cry’ is a horror film. But by shining light on a history long-shrouded by time, it achieves a measure of catharsis for all involved.