Ten years ago, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) issued its final report on the history of residential schools in Canada. Mandated to “inform all Canadians about what happened in residential schools”, the “TRC documented the truth of Survivors, their families, communities and anyone personally affected by the residential school experience.” It found that residential schools were part of a… Read more »
This case study of Jean de Brébeuf emphasizes the intricacies of colonial tensions and complicates colonial narratives and ideas of civilization hierarchies. Indigenous cannibalism was used as a means of ‘othering’ conducted by Catholic missionaries in the writings of the Jesuit Relations that recount the story of the cannibalization and martyrdom of Brébeuf and Lalement. The prescription of Brébeuf’s relics by a Catholic nun in 17th century Quebec complicates the simplicity of this process by contrasting it with the long standing European medical tradition of human consumption: corpse medicine.
The Squamish Nation’s Yúusnewas project demonstrates the importance of data sovereignty, big data analysis, and the need for collaborative, community-engaged residential school research as part of the ongoing work of taking care of Survivors and everyone.
Jody Mason In her incisive discussion of Elon Musk’s recent gutting of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Jill Campbell-Miller correctly assesses the move as motivated by MAGA-movement isolationism. She further notes that Musk’s actions are complicated by the fact that, for many decades, the aid paradigm has also been subject to substantive critique from those who, unlike… Read more »
The Indigenous and Northern Housing plan within Canada’s current National Housing Strategy is a good start, but it does not go nearly far enough to meet the long-standing housing needs of First Nations communities. With the new Liberal platform prioritizing the rapid development of affordable and sustainable homes, Prime Minister Mark Carney has a chance to begin remedying some of the historical and ongoing injustices that First Nations peoples encounter regarding housing on reserves. This can be accomplished by integrating the AFN’s proposal into the National Housing Strategy, providing a streamlined process for First Nations to benefit, and working directly with First Nations to meet the specific needs of each community, steering clear of the paternalistic dynamics that have largely fueled the housing crisis experienced by First Nations communities throughout Canada.
Overall, we believe that Canadians can, and should, scrutinize Robert Carney’s past views on schooling for Indigenous Peoples, press Mark Carney to clarify his commitment to truth and reconciliation, and challenge the twisting of truth by residential school denialists. Doing all of these things can demonstrate truth and reconciliation leadership and help build a more honourable future. Unlike the denialists, then, our task is to guide public understanding with nuanced, historical work that promotes empathy, understanding, healing, and justice.
By Jacob Richard Imagine walking through the doors of the last large museum you visited. What do you see? Colourful artwork hanging off the walls? Marble sculptures along voluminous hallways? Rare cultural artifacts in neatly packed display cases? If any of this sounds familiar, your memory has betrayed you. You would have seen, first and foremost, the metal detector, the… Read more »
How I Survived was also envisioned as a way to further truth and reconciliation in this country, and engage with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action.
One problem is that those engaging in Indian Residential School denialism understand the important role that truth-telling about the past has on social change. If establishing the truth is, as the TRC contended, the precondition for healing, justice, and reconciliation, then denialists seek to deliberately divert attention away from the truths about the horrors of Indian Residential Schools.
By Jacob Richard On December 2, 1920, The Globe reported in its ‘News of the Day’ that Joseph Buchie, an “Indian convict” in the Port Arthur Jail, had cleverly “locked his warder in his cell, released two others, cooked a breakfast and walked out.”[1] Buchie must have felt elated when he walked free of the prison doors; the full breakfast… Read more »
