The headlines are among the most sensational and disturbing in recent years in Canada. In court cases, testimony before government commissions, literature and public speeches, First Nations people in Canada have recounted their experiences in residential schools. These educational institutions, designed as instruments of "civilization" and training, became powerful tools of cultural destruction, language suppression and personal torment. In recent years, media attention has focused on examples of sexual abuse and brutality, documented in frightening detail by the survivors of the residential school experience. The recent Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples listened to many First Nations speakers as they recounted their stories, and included a detailed examination of residential schools in their final report.