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Articles on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

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A heart garden at University of Manitoba honours relatives, children who never came home, families that had their children taken, Survivors and intergenerational Survivors of Residential Schools. (University of Manitoba Faculty of Education)

Indigenous students and faculty are on the rise – and universities have a moral obligation to support them

When universities declare commitments to reconciliation, these commitments must accompany changes necessary to ensure Indigenous students are truly welcomed and celebrated on campuses.
A collective apology cannot speak to the range of experiences or contributions to harm of anti-Indigenous racism. As racism operates at multiple levels, so must accountability. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Reflections on the Canadian Medical Association’s apology to Indigenous Peoples

The Canadian Medical Association’s apology for harms to Indigenous Peoples is an opportunity to reflect on the gap between apologies and the work of true repair necessary for reconciliation.
The Saskatchewan Legislative Building in Regina. Indigenous leaders have criticized the province’s updated consultation framework saying it excludes Indigenous nations. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Taylor

Saskatchewan’s revised policy for consulting Indigenous nations is not nearly good enough

Saskatchewan’s provincial government must work with Indigenous nations on a shared vision for the future that is more likely to withstand the tests of time and litigation.
Kwetiio, Kahentinetha and Karakwine (from left to right), three of the six Mohawk Mothers seeking to uncover unmarked graves at the former Royal Victoria Hospital in Montréal. (Justin Heritage)

Mapping unmarked graves: Why the Mohawk Mothers are fighting McGill University

Debates over what “mapping” means show how Indigenous communities still have to advocate for and defend their cartographic methods in order to uphold their connections to the land.
Ceremonial tipis sit in front of the former residential school, Blue Quills, now the home to Blue Quills university run by seven First Nations. (Terri Cardinal)

Residential school deaths are significantly higher than previously reported

The author led a search for unmarked graves at the site of Blue Quills, a former residential school. She found more areas of interest (potential graves) than the official record shows.
The Blue Quills Indian Residential School in St. Paul, Alta., Aug. 15, 1931. When the federal government announced plans to shutter the school in 1970, the community fought back, and Blue Quills became the first residence and school controlled by First Nations people in Canada. (Provincial Archives of Alberta)

Inside the search for the unmarked graves of children lost to Indian Residential Schools

To honour Truth and Reconciliation Day, we spoke with Terri Cardinal, who headed up one of the many community searches for the children who went missing while attending an Indian Residential School.
A stretch of Highway 16 near Prince George, B.C., known as the Highway of Tears, where several Indigenous women and girls have gone missing. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Transportation paved the way for colonization — it can also support reconciliation

Transport development paved the way for colonization and is directly linked to the chronic and extreme social inequities Indigenous communities continue to face to this day.
An Indigenous flag flies in front of Parliament during the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Sept. 30, 2021. To live up to the intentions of UNDRIP, Canada must work with Indigenous communities to change harmful laws. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

UNDRIP 15 years on: Genuine truth and reconciliation requires legislative reform

To fully implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Canada must engage in genuine and inclusive law reform.
Alex Bird (second from the left) and his siblings from the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation were among the first students to attend this public school, near Prince George, B.C., in the early 1910s. (Royal B.C. Museum, Image B-00342, British Columbia Archives)

Reckoning with the history of public schooling and settler colonialism

In B.C., residential school principals sat on public school boards, and some Indigenous children even attended public schools. Understanding such links matters for truth and reconciliation.
A temporary memorial for Canada’s residential schools is blessed by Indigenous elders in a pipe ceremony in Calgary in August 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Graveland

Reckoning with the truths of unmarked graves of Indigenous children, education systems must take action

Here’s what the education system needs to do to help teachers address, repair and heal education towards and beyond reconciliation.
Protesters march to Parliament Hill in Ottawa in response to the discovery of unmarked Indigenous graves at residential schools on July 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle

National Day for Truth & Reconciliation: Universities and schools must acknowledge how colonial education has reproduced anti-Indigenous racism

It is important for people who are part of educational institutions to honour the year-round significance of the new National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30.

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