For more than a century, more than 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children as young as six years old were removed from their families and communities and forced to attend Indian Residential Schools. About 130 such schools operated in every territory and province except Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick from the latter half of the 19th century until the last school closed in 1996.
The treatment of children in these schools marks an abysmal chapter in Canadian history. The government and the churches that operated Indian residential schools have apologized and sought forgiveness for the catastrophic failings of these institutions: children and communities robbed of family life, separated for months or years at a time; substandard food, clothing, and living conditions that bred illness and sometimes death; rudimentary education that could hardly be said to provide improved life opportunities; corporal punishment for expressions of native languages or culture; and too often, exposure to physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.
On Thursday, March 3rd, join Mike DeGagné (Executive Director, Aboriginal Healing Foundation) and Jennifer Llewellyn (Associate Professor, Schulich School of Law; Director, Nova Scotia Restorative Justice Community Research Alliance) for the next lecture in Dalhousie’s Mini Law School series: “What Truth? What Reconciliation? Understanding the Work of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission.”
The evening’s discussion will outline the history of the residential schools system in Canada and the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in encouraging truth, healing, and reconciliation between former students, their families, communities, religious entities, former school employees, and the government and people of Canada.
Speaking about a living history
“There are painful, but necessary questions to be asked of this process: What truth? What reconciliation? Why engage with these questions rather than leave them to rest in the past?” asks Professor Llewellyn. “We are very much speaking about a living history between all parties – there is no rest or healing without first coming to terms with what happened and its legacy.”
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was formed as an integral part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement of 2007. The Commission is charged with establishing a lasting and detailed account of the Indian Residential Schools system by collecting and analyzing historical church and government records, witnessing and supporting former students’ personal accounts, and promoting awareness and public education opportunities for Canadians to learn about the system and its impacts on our shared history. The public will have an opportunity to participate in this process when the Commission hosts its next national event – currently scheduled to take place in Halifax in the fall of 2011.
Join us Thursday evening for this free public event. Light refreshments will be served. Mini Law School, hosted by the Schulich School of Law, takes place Thursday, March 3, 6 to 7:30 p.m. in?Room 105 of the Weldon Law Building.
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