Hi, I'm Phalen Johnson.

And I'm Leah Simone Bowen, and we look at history a bit differently.

Have you ever wondered how hundreds of wild horses came to inhabit an island in the Atlantic Ocean?

Or what Lord of the Rings and a small town in Manitoba have in common?

Or the burning question, did Canada invent the teen drama?

The Secret Life of Canada is a podcast about the country you know and the stories you don't.

New episodes available now wherever you get CBC podcast.

Before we start, this is a podcast about Canada's Indian residential schools and it contains

descriptions of sexual violence, suicide, and abuse.

If you need support, you can find information about where to turn for help at

cebec.c.c.a slash Keeper Island. It was a warm day in June, 1966.

Tony Charlie was 15 years old and he was heading to the gym at the Cooper Island

residential school to play basketball. But something held him back.

I got to the door and I grabbed the door knob and I was just overcome by hesitation.

It almost seemed like there was something stopping me from going opening the door. So I held on the door and I let the door

go and I went back. And so that happened to me twice. I went to the gym and I got the door and I couldn't go in.

So he didn't go inside the gym that day.

The next day they learned a boy had hung himself there.

At least that's what they were told.

It's just on the other side down.

This is where the gymnasium was. No, it was right here on the left here. On the left. Yeah.

It was an old barn. Red barn and they made it into a gym.

...