While the northern experience of residential schools was unique in some ways, the broader themes remain constant. Children were taken from their parents, often with little in the way of consultation or consent. They were educated in an alien language and setting. They lived in institutions that were underfunded and understaffed, and were prey to harsh discipline, disease and abuse. For these reasons this is not the only volume of the historical report to address northern issues. The thematic chapters in other parts of this report include northern examples in their discussion of the residential school experience.