Residential school

We fact-checked residential school denialists and debunked their 'mass grave hoax' theory

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Recently a politician from a village in Prince Edward Island displayed an offensive sign on his property in which he proclaimed there is a “mass grave hoax” regarding the former Indian Residential Schools in Canada.

Key Points: 
  • Recently a politician from a village in Prince Edward Island displayed an offensive sign on his property in which he proclaimed there is a “mass grave hoax” regarding the former Indian Residential Schools in Canada.
  • Although many have called for him to resign, he is just one of many people who subscribe to this false theory.
  • A hoax is an act intended to trick people into believing something that isn’t true.

There is no media conspiracy

    • As two settler academic researchers, we decided to investigate the claims of a media conspiracy and fact-check them against evidence.
    • To find out, we analyzed 386 news articles across five Canadian media outlets (CBC, National Post, the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and The Canadian Press) released between May 27 and Oct. 15, 2021.

‘Preliminary findings’ of ‘unmarked burials’

    • A National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation Memorial Register has to date confirmed the deaths of more than 4,000 Indigenous children associated with residential schools.
    • But the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) noted its register of missing children was incomplete, partly due to a large volume of yet-to-be-examined and destroyed records.

Countering harmful misinformation

    • In the two years since, a number of commentators, priests and politicians, including the P.E.I councillor with his sign, have downplayed the harms of residential schooling — or questioned the validity, gravity and significance of the the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation’s announcement.
    • We hope that our research can contribute to this work and that our report helps to debunk the “mass grave hoax” narrative specifically.

Cherry-picked ‘evidence’

    • Myths, however, are not pure fiction; they often contain a kernel of truth that is exaggerated or misrepresented.
    • This selective representation of evidence is commonly referred to as cherry-picking, and it’s easy to see how those spreading the “mass grave hoax” narrative rely on cherry-picked evidence.
    • By September, denialists were misrepresenting the extent of media errors to push the conspiratorial “mass grave hoax” narrative online.
    • And we hope our report sparks a national conversation about how important language is when covering this issue.

Challenging Residential School denialism

    • According to Daniel Heath Justice and Sean Carleton (one of the authors of this story), residential school denialism is not the denial of the residential school system’s existence.
    • Read more:
      Truth before reconciliation: 8 ways to identify and confront Residential School denialism

      Residential school denialism, like climate change denialism or science denialism, cherry-picks evidence to fit a conspiratorial counter-narrative.

Truth before reconciliation

    • This is the strategy of disempowering and discrediting residential school denialism advocated by former TRC Chair Murray Sinclair.
    • We hope others will join us in this type of research to help Canadians learn how to identify and confront residential school denialism and support meaningful reconciliation.
    • As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission said in its final report, without truth there can be no genuine reconciliation.

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

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, September 28, 2023

More than 150,000 Indigenous children from across Canada were forced to attend Indian Residential Schools.

Key Points: 
  • More than 150,000 Indigenous children from across Canada were forced to attend Indian Residential Schools.
  • Now, there are ongoing efforts to find the final resting places of those missing children.
  • As we approach the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we take you inside the ongoing quest to document the children who died in Canada’s Indian Residential Schools system.
  • She says the number of unmarked graves across the country is much higher than many of us could have imagined.

CONTINUE TO HONOUR THE VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS OF RESIDENTIAL, DAY AND BOARDING SCHOOLS WITH THE ROYAL CANADIAN MINT'S TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION KEEPSAKE

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, September 26, 2023

All net proceeds from sales of the Truth and Reconciliation Keepsake are being donated to the Na-mi-quai-ni-mak Community Support Fund, established by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

Key Points: 
  • All net proceeds from sales of the Truth and Reconciliation Keepsake are being donated to the Na-mi-quai-ni-mak Community Support Fund, established by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
  • Honouring the Survivors and the children who never returned home, the Truth and Reconciliation Keepsake raises awareness about the intergenerational impacts of Residential, Day and Boarding schools.
  • "The Truth and Reconciliation Keepsake helps us acknowledge the truth of the Indigenous children who never returned from Residential, Day and Boarding schools," said Royal Canadian Mint President and CEO, Marie Lemay.
  • All net proceeds from the sale of the Truth and Reconciliation Keepsake will support the work of Na-mi-quai-ni-mak Community Support Fund, established by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

THE HISTORY® CHANNEL'S GROUNDBREAKING DOCUMENTARY TRUE STORY RETURNS FOR PART TWO

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, August 31, 2023

"In conjunction with our esteemed production partners at Eagle Vision, we're pleased to present True Story Part Two, which will further educate and inform viewers about important issues surrounding truth and reconciliation."

Key Points: 
  • "In conjunction with our esteemed production partners at Eagle Vision, we're pleased to present True Story Part Two, which will further educate and inform viewers about important issues surrounding truth and reconciliation."
  • Indigenous knowledge keepers attempt to answer that burning question in True Story Part Two.
  • The HISTORY® Channel programming, including True Story Part One , can be streamed via STACKTV , available on Amazon Prime Video Channels, FuboTV, Rogers Ignite TV and Ignite SmartStream.
  • The HISTORY® Channel on Instagram: @historyca
    The HISTORY® Channel on Facebook: facebook.com/HISTORYCanada
    The HISTORY® Channel on YouTube: @HISTORYCanada
    The HISTORY® Channel is a Corus Entertainment Network.

St. Bruno's Indian Residential School Ground-Penetrating-Radar Report Released

Retrieved on: 
Friday, June 23, 2023

JOUSSARD, AB, June 23, 2023 /CNW/ - Sucker Creek First Nation Chief Roderick Willier and Driftpile Cree Nation Chief Dwayne Laboucan welcomed over 400 registered Survivors, Descendants, and Community Members – from across Treaty 8 – to the St. Bruno's Indian Residential School Gathering.

Key Points: 
  • JOUSSARD, AB, June 23, 2023 /CNW/ - Sucker Creek First Nation Chief Roderick Willier and Driftpile Cree Nation Chief Dwayne Laboucan welcomed over 400 registered Survivors, Descendants, and Community Members – from across Treaty 8 – to the St. Bruno's Indian Residential School Gathering.
  • This Gathering was rescheduled to June 23rd through June 25th due to the recent wildfire state of emergency across Alberta.
  • In his opening remarks, Driftpile Cree Nation Chief Dwayne Laboucan stated:
    "This afternoon's Indian Residential School Gathering is being held on the site of the former St. Bruno's Indian Residential School, a site where 1.13 acres was surveyed by the UofA in the Summer of 2022 (Phase 1).
  • This survey work used advanced ground-penetrating-radar technologies and data analysis to identify locations that have a high potential for containing unmarked graves.

Listen: Why preserving Indigenous languages is so critical to culture

Retrieved on: 
Friday, June 16, 2023

This is especially true if you have had your language forcibly removed from you, like the thousands of Indigenous children who survived Canada’s colonial assimilation project.

Key Points: 
  • This is especially true if you have had your language forcibly removed from you, like the thousands of Indigenous children who survived Canada’s colonial assimilation project.
  • Last year, the United Nations acknowledged the importance of Indigenous languages by declaring the decade ahead to be the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.
  • But long before the UN declaration, First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples have been pushing to revitalize more than 70 Indigenous languages across Canada.
  • They tackle the issue of disappearing Indigenous languages and delve into how much more needs to be done to revitalize them and why doing so is critical.

Listen: Why preserving Indigenous languages is so critical to preserving culture

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, June 15, 2023

This is especially true if you have had your language forcibly removed from you, like the thousands of Indigenous children who survived Canada’s colonial assimilation project.

Key Points: 
  • This is especially true if you have had your language forcibly removed from you, like the thousands of Indigenous children who survived Canada’s colonial assimilation project.
  • Last year, the United Nations acknowledged the importance of Indigenous languages by declaring the decade ahead to be the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.
  • But long before the UN declaration, First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples have been pushing to revitalize more than 70 Indigenous languages across Canada.
  • They tackle the issue of disappearing Indigenous languages and delve into how much more needs to be done to revitalize them and why doing so is critical.

Indigenous women in Northern Canada creating sustainable livelihoods through tourism

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, May 10, 2023

In summer 2022, the Northern WE in Tourism study invited Indigenous women entrepreneurs from northern Newfoundland and Labrador, northern Québec, Nunavut, the Yukon and Northwest Territories to collaborate on an Indigenous-led and ally-supported research project.

Key Points: 
  • In summer 2022, the Northern WE in Tourism study invited Indigenous women entrepreneurs from northern Newfoundland and Labrador, northern Québec, Nunavut, the Yukon and Northwest Territories to collaborate on an Indigenous-led and ally-supported research project.
  • Over shared stories of lived experiences and examples of best practices, participants discussed the barriers faced by Indigenous women entrepreneurs in the North and their colonial origins.

History of colonization

    • If an Indigenous woman married outside her community, she lost her status.
    • Her children were also denied their right to status, setting the foundation for intergenerational vulnerability and cultural alienation.
    • Almost 1,200 missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls were identified by law enforcement between 1980 and 2012.

Indigenous tourism

    • These conventional systems are not designed to factor the lived realities of Indigenous women into their operations.
    • The complex challenges facing Indigenous women in Canada’s North cannot be resolved in isolation or at the discretion of the entities that created them.
    • Often lacking Western educational requirements, business experience or associated skill sets, Indigenous women experience significant bias in accessing support.
    • And tourism provides a gateway to entrepreneurship for Indigenous women, serving as a catalyst capable of influencing societal behaviour on a broader scale.

Understanding success

    • Success requires healing and understanding the impact of intergenerational trauma.
    • Viewing success through this lens places value on equity, the concept of continuity of culture and Indigenous integration and stewardship of their lands.
    • As Indigenous business owner Joella Hogan put it:
      “I really try to lead my business with the values and teachings that I have been taught.
    • Our Elders give us these teachings so we can be strong Northern Tutchone people and live our lives in a good way.

Settlement agreement reached for Gottfriedson Band class

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, January 21, 2023

VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 21, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, Band class representatives former Chief Shane Gottfriedson and former Chief Garry Feschuk, along with the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, announced that Canada has signed an agreement with the Representative Plaintiffs who represent the 325 members that have opted into the Gottfriedson Band class litigation.

Key Points: 
  • VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 21, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, Band class representatives former Chief Shane Gottfriedson and former Chief Garry Feschuk, along with the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, announced that Canada has signed an agreement with the Representative Plaintiffs who represent the 325 members that have opted into the Gottfriedson Band class litigation.
  • Each Band class member will receive a share of annual investment income that is available.
  • The Court will consider whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and in the best interest of the class members.
  • Together, we have developed a settlement that will support the Band class members in their healing journeys for generations to come."

Janis Kahentóktha Monture appointed Executive Director & CEO of the Canadian Museums Association

Retrieved on: 
Monday, February 6, 2023

Ottawa, ON, Feb. 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Canadian Museums Association and Woodland Cultural Centre are excited to jointly announce that Janis Kahentóktha Monture has been appointed as the Executive Director & CEO of the Canadian Museums Association (CMA).

Key Points: 
  • Ottawa, ON, Feb. 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Canadian Museums Association and Woodland Cultural Centre are excited to jointly announce that Janis Kahentóktha Monture has been appointed as the Executive Director & CEO of the Canadian Museums Association (CMA).
  • On behalf of the Board of Directors, and staff of Woodland Cultural Centre, nyawen'kó:wa (thank you so much) Janis for your dedication and leadership, and congratulations on your new role as Executive Director of the Canadian Museums Association."
  • “As the president of the CMA I am thrilled to welcome Janis Monture into the role of Executive Director.
  • Bringing her expertise and lived experiences to bear, I believe Janis is poised to help evolve the organization, and the industry itself, country-wide.”
    - Tracy Calogheros, CEO, The Exploration Place Museum + Science Centre and Vice-President, Canadian Museums Association