TRIGGER WARNING:
Some information and stories contains subject matter that may be disturbing to some readers, especially to residential schools survivors, or trigger unpleasant feelings or thoughts. If you or someone you know needs support, please call the IRSSS crisis line at 1-866-925-4419.
Truth and Reconciliation
From 1831 to 1996, more than 150,000 children were taken from their homes and communities to attend over 130 residential schools all across Canada. Many never returned home.
The Indian Residential School System was a government-sponsored system of church-run boarding schools. The goal of these schools was to assimilate Indigenous youth into Canadian society by severing the children’s connection to their cultures and families. Residential schools were “a systematic, government- sponsored attempt to destroy Aboriginal cultures and languages and to assimilate Aboriginal peoples so that they no longer existed as distinct peoples” (Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, page 153).
These schools were physically, emotionally, and sexually abusive. The Indigenous children who attended them were hundreds of kilometers from their home communities, isolated from their families and cultures, separated from their siblings, and systemically striped of their cultural practices. If children returned home, it was to a community they did not recognize and who did not recognize them–many lost their language, their cultural teachings, and their connections to their family and communities.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada concluded that this was cultural genocide.
The impacts of residential schools continue to be felt by those who survived the schools, families whose children never returned home, and the descendants of residential school survivors who face intergenerational trauma.
TRC AND RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL RESOURCES
What is the TRC?
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was created as a result of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA). The IRSSA was the largest class-action settlement in Canada and was created as an agreement between Canada and residential school survivors to provide compensation for the injustices and harms survivors suffered while attending residential schools.
One part of the IRSSA was to establish the TRC to facilitate reconciliation between survivors and their families and communities, and the government of Canada. The TRC’s mandate is to document the impact of the Indian Residential School System on survivors, their families, and Indigenous communities, and to share their findings with the rest of Canada.
From 2007 until its final report in 2015, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, the TRC did extensive research, hosted national and community events, collected documents, and established a national research centre (National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation).
The TRC also presented 94 Calls to Action to advance the process of Canadian reconciliation. These 94 Calls to Action are a series of actionable policy recommendations for Child Welfare, Education, Language and Culture, Health, Justice, and Reconciliation that call on the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments, as well as various churches, sectors, corporations, and organizations to work towards reconciliation.
What is Orange Shirt Day / National Day for Truth and Reconciliation?
Orange Shirt Day started as an Indigenous-led grassroots movement to recognize and raise awareness of the impacts of residential schools on survivors and their families, the families of the children who never returned home, and the intergenerational trauma that affects Indigenous communities. In 2013, the first Orange Shirt Day was held in Williams Lake, BC, and, two-years later, Phyllis (Jack) Webstad founded the Orange Shirt Society, a non-profit organization to foster awareness of the intergenerational trauma Residential Schools caused, support reconciliation, and promote the truth that “Every Child Matters.”
As of September 30, 2021, Orange Shirt Day has also been recognized by the Canadian government through the creation of a new national statutory holiday, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Why Orange Shirts? – Phyllis’ Story
I went to the Mission for one school year in 1973/1974. I had just turned 6 years old. I lived with my grandmother on the Dog Creek reserve. We never had very much money, but somehow my granny managed to buy me a new outfit to go to the Mission school. I remember going to Robinson’s store and picking out a shiny orange shirt. It had string laced up in front, and was so bright and exciting – just like I felt to be going to school!
When I got to the Mission, they stripped me, and took away my clothes, including the orange shirt! I never wore it again. I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t give it back to me, it was mine! The color orange has always reminded me of that and how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and how I felt like I was worth nothing. All of us little children were crying and no one cared.
– Phyllis (Jack) Webstad – Except from Phyllis’ Story … In Her Own Words
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR)
The NCTR was created by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) and the University of Manitoba as a collection of Survivors’ statements, documents, photographs, and other materials gathered by the TRC. The NCTR has information, documents, photographs, and primary sources on the 130+ residential schools across Canada that affected more than 150,000 children. The last federally funded residential school closed in 1996, located in Punnichy, only 230 km from Wanuskewin.
Legacy of Hope Foundation
The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is a national Indigenous-led charitable organization that is working to promote healing and reconciliation through education and awareness about the intergenerational impacts of the Residential School System and Sixties Scoop that Indigenous Survivors, their descendants, and their communities face today. With a focus on education and healing, the LHF works to create awareness about these topics while also addressing racism and fostering empathy and understanding.
LHF Research Areas
Residential School Survivor Stories: Our Stories…Our Strength Video Collection
The Our Stories…Our Strength video collection contains videos of residential school survivors sharing their personal stories and accounts of their experiences with the Indian Residential School System and its legacy.
That old fear is still kind of there. I’m not scared of the dark and such, but there’s just kind of a fear there that kind of knots up my stomach. I don’t know why. It’s not being able to tell anybody I think was the biggest fear. If you tell your mom and then she comes and interferes, and yet it’s —
I know now as a parent it’s part of looking after your children.
And I was very conscious of that with my children. If they were in trouble in school or trying to be aware of what they were doing, my wife was so gung-ho to go and fix whatever is going on or bring it to the attention of somebody and it would create a problem between us. I’m saying, “Hey, maybe you should ask him first?” “What are going to be his consequences?” Maybe that’s what my fear is about, I’m not sure.
– Ed Bitternose – Excerpt from the Our Stories…Our Strength video collection
Indian Residential School Survivors Society
The Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS) is a non-profit and provincial organization based out of BC that has been providing residential school survivors and families with resources and essential services since 1994. When the IRSSS started its work in the 1990s, it was known as “The Residential School Project,” which primarily focused on assisting survivors with litigation processes; by 2002, it formally became the IRSSS and has since grown to provide other services and supports to survivors, their families, and those impacted by intergenerational trauma.
Métis Residential School Survivors
For many years, the federal government and the provincial and territorial governments argued over whose jurisdiction Métis people fell under. Because of this, Métis children who attended residential school often “fell through the cracks” and their attendance was either poorly documented or not documented at all. As a result, many Métis survivors were not recognized in the 2006 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and are excluded from the compensation and settlement process. Métis survivors and communities continue to lobby for acknowledgement of their experiences in residential schools to this day.
TRC – Virtual Quilt (Nipiqaqtugut Sanaugatigut)
The TRC – Virtual Quilt (Nipiqaqtugut Sanaugatigut) is a commemoration initiative recommended by the TRC as a project for Inuit communities to produce art pieces that reflect Inuit women’s unique experiences within Residential Schools. The virtual quilt that was created contains art from individuals, groups, organizations, and communities.
Additional Resources, Phone Numbers, and Crisis Lines
Support for Residential School Survivors:
- National Indian Residential School Crisis Line (24-hour crisis support): 1-866-925-4419
- Hope for Wellness Help Line (24-hour support for all Indigenous people): 1-855-242-3310
- Also available for online chat: https://www.hopeforwellness.ca/
Support for MMIWG2S:
- Nation Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ Toll-free Support Phone Line (24-hour support): 1-844-413-6649
Saskatoon / Saskatchewan Resources:
- Saskatoon Community Mental Health Intake line: 1-306-655-7777
- Also available for online intake
- Saskatoon Crisis Intervention Service: 1-306-933-6200
- Regina and Area Mobile Crisis Services: 1-306-757-0127
- Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) – Programs & Services: https://sktc.sk.ca/programs-services/
- Saskatoon Indian & Metis Friendship Centre: https://simfc.ca/
