Oblivious: Residential Schools, Segregated Hospitals, and the Use of Indigenous Peoples as Slaves of Race Science

An investigative journalist reckons with the cost of her own--and the culture-at-large's--obliviousness.

Over the last thirty years, Canadians have been forced to face their country's genocidal attempt to destroy its Indigenous populations through segregation, poverty, coerced labour, and infectious diseases. Few have read the statements of claim, academic literature, or multi-volume commission reports setting out exactly what we stole and who we hurt (and how); and the policies and decisions which harmed generations of Indigenous people are still not broadly known.

In Oblivious, investigative journalist Elaine Dewar exposes the governmental and psychological machinery that allowed this to continue for so long. The granddaughter of settlers saved during their first Prairie winter by the generosity of Indigenous neighbours, Dewar explores how even well-meaning Canadians who glimpsed what was being done did nothing to stop it. In the process, she uncovers further evidence of crimes against Indigenous people, including unethical and cruel scientific experiments, a segregated and woefully inadequate health care system, and a callous indifference to Indigenous well-being that has almost entirely eroded the sense of trust true reconciliation must be based on.

Part memoir, part investigation, Oblivious tells the story of a Jewish girl from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who grew up in a society so segregated--its Indigenous people consigned to an alternate universe--that she, like so many of us, failed to notice their plight for decades.

Elaine Dewar (1948-2025)--author, journalist, television story editor--has been honoured by nine National Magazine awards, including the prestigious President's Medal, and the White Award. Her first book, Cloak of Green, delved into the dark side of environmental politics and became an underground classic. Bones: Discovering the First Americans, an investigation of the science and politics regarding the peopling of the Americas, was a national bestseller and earned a special commendation from the Canadian Archaeological Association. The Second Tree: of Clones, Chimeras, and Quests for Immortality won Canada's premier literary nonfiction prize from the Writers' Trust. The Handover was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction. On The Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years broke front page news in the Globe and Mail with its investigation into the infiltration of Canada's only level four microbiology institution by leading Chinese military researchers who subsequently fled the country. Called "Canada's Rachel Carson," Dewar aspired to be a happy warrior for the public good.