The Ojibway girl from Rolling River First Nation was at the sanatorium to be treated for tuberculosis. "And now to come to the conclusion our people were experimented on — it's an awful thing to think about." Finally, the nuns decided to send her to the sanatorium, saying she might have tuberculosis in her bones. She has heard stories similar to Genaille's from other sanatorium survivors and does know this: Indian hospitals were long the training ground for medical students. Paine, a pre-eminent physician who was previously the medical superintendent of the Ninette sanatorium, explained he performed these surgeries with just a local anesthetic.

Source: CBC News September 22, 2017 10:00 UTC