The horrific legacy of abuse and death in Canada’s Residential School (IRS) system has been thoroughly documented, and was the focus of 2015’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission Report. That report details cemeteries and graveyards attached to residential schools, and provides the impetus for recent investigations of unmarked gravesites across the country.
The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) stands respectfully in support and mourning with Indigenous communities across Canada at the loss of thousands of children, and the unimaginable grief the families of these victims continue to experience. TWUC supports ongoing efforts to identify all those lost to the shameful, genocidal policy of residential schools; and we support the call to action to implement the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
TWUC reasserts its own 2015 resolution:
… to endorse the spirit and the challenge of reconciliation emerging from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and commit to both taking and supporting relevant action, especially focused on increasing the space for Indigenous-authored stories in standard K-12 school curricula, including residential school stories, their context in the history of colonialism in Canada, and their lasting impact.
Recommended actions:
- Read and listen to the stories of Indigenous writers and storytellers:
- Necessary Residential School Reading (by Waubgeshig Rice),
- List of Residential School readings (by David A. Robertson),
- Indigenous-themed podcasts,
- Indigenous cinema library,
- The Giller Master Panel: Indigenous Authors Explore Identity Through Language,
- Other resources — All Lit Up, Open Book, 49th Shelf, Books for Children, Vancouver Public Library, Edmonton Public Library, Winnipeg Public Library, Toronto Public Library, Halifax Public Library, Indigo.
- Read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report in full. It can be found at this link.
- Read the TRC’s Calls to Action, and reflect upon how you are able to respond to and incorporate them.
- To better understand the scope of this outrageous tragedy, visit the online Memorial Register to read the 2,880 names of those residential school victims whose death records are known.
- Read the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation’s residential school timeline.
- Read the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP).
- Donate to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society.
- Take the University of Alberta’s online Indigenous Canada course.
Links to organisations and services:
- The National Residential Schools Crisis Line is available 24-hours a day for anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of residential school experience. Call 1-866-925-4419.
- The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba is full of information and resources.
- The NCTR website includes resources for survivors and intergenerational survivors, including support and research access.
- Here is a list of Indigenous organisations in Canada, from the Thunder Bay Public Library.
- The Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre at Algoma University conducts research and archiving in residential schools history.
- The Canada Council for the Arts {Re}Conciliation projects promoting artistic collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists.
- Truth and Reconciliation Roadmap Project, a guide to resources and training to support organizations in understanding TRC Calls to Action.
- Kapabamayak Achaak Healing Forest, a place for learning and healing in Winnipeg’s North End, dedicated to those children lost to or affected by Residential Schools.
- Notice on supporting Tk ̓emlúps te Secwépemc (Kamloops Indian Band).
Date: July 1, 2021
