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Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommends curriculum review
The history and ongoing legacy of residential schools should be taught to students across the country, according to a commission set up to educate Canadians about the church-run schools and inspire a process of truth and healing.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) released its interim report February 24 in Vancouver. It also launched a new historical publication entitled They Came for the Children: Canada, Aboriginal Peoples, and Residential Schools.
The interim report reflects activities undertaken by the TRC since June 2009 and provides 20
recommendations that touch on five key areas—the operation of the commission, education, support for survivors, reconciliation and commemoration. It represents a brief summary of what the commissioners have heard directly from as many as 3,000 former students and staff who were most affected by residential schools.
“The truth about the residential school system will cause many Canadians to see their country differently,” said Justice Murray Sinclair, chair of the TRC. “These are hard truths that we need to acknowledge in order to lay the foundation for reconciliation.”
“We have this incredible opportunity before us to develop and nurture relations of mutual respect between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians,” commented Chief Wilton Littlechild, one of the three commissioners. “Residential schools operated in Canada for well over a century. In the same way, the reconciliation process will have to span generations. It will take time to re-establish respect. It will take time and commitment to reverse this legacy.”
In their interim report, the commissioners emphasize the need to increase public awareness and understanding of the history of residential schools. To that end, they recommend that
- each provincial and territorial government undertake a review of the curriculum materials currently in use in public schools to assess what, if anything, they teach about residential schools;
- provincial and territorial departments of education work in concert with the commission to develop age-appropriate educational materials about residential schools for use in public schools; and
- the federal government distribute to every secondary school in Canada a framed copy of the “Statement of Apology to Former Students of Indian Residential Schools” for prominent public display and ongoing educational purposes.
The Government of the Northwest Territories was the first to take up the challenge of developing age-appropriate educational materials about residential schools for use in public schools. In collaboration with the Government of Nunavut, it is developing a comprehensive residential school curriculum, which it hopes to pilot in six schools in the Northwest Territories this spring and implement in all 49 schools in the territory by September.
During the announcement, TRC Commissioner Marie Wilson presented the first copy of They Came for the Children to Jackson Lafferty, Northwest Territories minister of education. “It is our hope that this resource will serve a useful, ongoing purpose in furthering efforts to educate Canadians about this part of our history,” Wilson said.
Lafferty responded. “The Government of the Northwest Territories recognizes that the issues surrounding the legacy of residential schools in the Northwest Territories are of vital significance to all people. Through curriculum and teaching resources, we are ensuring that all students, teachers and education resource staff in the NWT education system achieve an understanding of the residential school era and its legacy in our history,” he said.
As part of its mandate, the commission also released a new historical publication. They Came for the Children examines more than 100 years of history, purpose, operation and supervision of the residential school system; the effect and consequences of the system; and its ongoing legacy.
The commissioners found that residential schools constituted an assault on Aboriginal children, families, self-governing Aboriginal nations and culture. The impacts of the residential school system were immediate and have been ongoing since the earliest years of the schools. The commissioners also found that Canadians have been denied a full and proper education about the nature of Aboriginal societies and the history of the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples.
Copies of the interim report and They Came for the Children are available on the commission’s website at www.trc.ca. Print copies can be requested by calling the toll-free number
1-888-872-5554.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada was created as part of the 2007 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement to inform all Canadians about the legacy of Indian residential schools and inspire a process of reconciliation and renewed relationships based on mutual understanding and respect.
