Tag: residential schools

So Far from Home: Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation and Red Deer Industrial School

So Far from Home: Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation and Red Deer Industrial School

Jared

Editor’s note: September 30 is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. Reading residential school histories can be a painful process. If reading this is causing pain or bringing back distressing memories, please call the Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419. The Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day and can also provide information on other health supports provided by the Health Canada Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program.

An earlier version of this article appeared in the December/January 2024 issue of Nisichawayasi Achimowina.

Written by: Laura Golebiowski (Indigenous Consultation Adviser), in collaboration with Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation.

“Eight children, an equal number of boys and girls, were going with us to enter a Residential School… I applied, but without success, to the Principal of the Brandon Residential School, for the admittance of the Indian children. That they were “non-treaty” was the alleged objection. As, however, the Red Deer school was willing to receive them, we decided to take them there…In the course of two or three years, five of those apparently healthy children had died from Tuberculosis.”

– Samuel Gaudin, in Forty-Four Years with the Northern Crees

Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation are the Nisichawayasi Nehethowuk: the people whose ancestors lived near where the three rivers meet and who speak Nehetho, the language of the four winds. Their territory includes the rich lands of the Canadian Shield and boreal forest in what is now northern Manitoba. Their central community hub is located at Nelson House, a long-time place of Indigenous occupation where the Hudson’s Bay Company established a trading post in the late 1700s.

The rocky shoreline of Footprint Lake, Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation territory near Nelson House, Manitoba. Source: Laura Golebiowski.
Read more →
Indigenous Resources Guide at the Provincial Archives of Alberta

Indigenous Resources Guide at the Provincial Archives of Alberta

Jared

Written by: Jonas Vasseur, TRC Archivist Intern

The mission of the Provincial Archives of Alberta (PAA) is to acquire, preserve and make records available to the people of Alberta. This includes material created by the provincial government, but also records from individuals, families and organizations in the province. In our Indigenous-related holdings, we hold records from as early as the 1700s and 1800s, with some record holdings spanning more than five decades—some even a century. This week’s post is an update to work that has been carried out at the PAA on access to its Indigenous-related holdings.

The PAA holds a wide variety of records that were created by and about Indigenous people and communities. Although there are many useful and interesting records, it could be difficult to know where to begin and to find connections. Archival research can be daunting, as records are organized by creator rather than subject and are arranged as they were originally maintained, not necessarily in a chronological way. Our goal has been to identify the wide variety of Indigenous content, either created by or about the Indigenous people of the province, and to present a comprehensive and easy to use subject guide to these holdings.

The first half of a letter from Jenny Margetts (President of IRIW) to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PR2013.0313/114.1.

The PAA first released an “Aboriginal Resource Guide” document in 2006, and it listed the records identified as relevant to Indigenous communities in Alberta. This guide provided the building blocks for archival research to become more user-friendly.

Read more →
Kīcēyitākosiwak Awāsisak – Every Child is Sacred

Kīcēyitākosiwak Awāsisak – Every Child is Sacred

Jared

Today across Canada, we are collectively recognizing the legacy of the Residential School system through the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.  In Alberta, many events are taking place to commemorate the Residential School experience, to witness and honour the healing journey of the survivors and their families, and to commit to the ongoing process of reconciliation. 

Also known as Orange Shirt Day, September 30 is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) Residential School (1891-1981) Commemoration Project and Reunion events that took place in Williams Lake, BC, Canada, in May 2013. As spokesperson for the reunion group, former student Phyllis (Jack) Webstad told her story of her first day at residential school when her shiny new orange shirt, bought by her grandmother, was taken from her as a six-year old girl.  The orange shirt is a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations. Orange Shirt Day, an Indigenous-led grassroots movement, carries a very important message that we all recognize: that every child matters.

 To learn more about The Orange Shirt Society at orangeshirtday.org.

We Albertans can make special efforts to acknowledge the histories and legacies of residential schools, and to honour the survivors, their families and communities.

The Alberta government recognizes the significance of this day as well. There are a number of programs and services that can help you learn about residential school sites.

You can also learn more about residential schools in Alberta by visiting the National Centre for Truth Reconciliation.

And finally, here’s a list of local events:

Edmonton

University of Alberta

St. Albert

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo

Lethbridge

University of Lethbridge

Calgary

University of Calgary

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Jared

September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. In solidarity, orange shirts are worn to honour and remember the children who died at Residential Schools, to witness the healing journey of Survivors and their families and commit to the ongoing process of reconciliation.

The inspiration for Orange Shirt Day came from residential school survivor Phyllis Jack Webstad, who shared her story of her first day of residential schooling at six years old, when she was stripped of her clothes, including a new orange shirt her grandmother bought her, which was never returned. The orange shirt now symbolizes how the residential school system took away the Indigenous identities of its students.

To support the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, you can purchase an orange shirt at a number of Indigenous-owned businesses:

How to participate

September 30, 1:30 pm
Zoom and Facebook Live

Join guest curator Tanya Harnett for a free virtual exhibit talk. Tanya will share her experience curating the Residential Schools exhibit to share the history and realities of the residential school system in Alberta.

Tanya Harnett is a member of the Carry-The-Kettle First Nation in Saskatchewan. She is an artist and a professor at the University of Alberta in a joint appointment in the Department of Art and Design and the Faculty of Native Studies. Tanya is also a member of the Royal Alberta Museum’s Indigenous Advisory Panel.

This talk will be streamed on Zoom, and on the RAM Facebook page. 

Register to join the Zoom presentation here.

September 30, 10:30 am
Zoom and Facebook Live

Attend a virtual reading of Shi-Shi-Etko by Nicola Campbell. Shi-shi-etko is a young girl who has four days before she leaves home for residential school. Her family has many teachings to share with her, about her culture and the land. This book is appropriate for children aged 4-8.

This virtual story time will be streamed on Zoom, and on the RAM Facebook page. 

Register to join the Zoom presentation here.

Continue to learn

One of the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is that all Canadians educate themselves on the true history of Indigenous peoples. There are books to introduce children to the history of residential schools, and to help understand the Indian Act and Indigenous Rights. In the spirit of reconciliation, we must continue to listen, learn about and understand Indigenous history and culture, and recognize the long-standing Indigenous presence and sovereignty in this land.

Indigenous Reading List