How researchers are thinking about residential schools and the reconciliation process

As noted in Unit 1, all people living in Canada today are treaty people. The formation – and later, the dismantling – of the residential school system involves both Indigenous people and settlers.

When it was in operation, as part of its work the Aboriginal Healing Foundation supported dialogue and discussion between these groups. It published a book series about those issues. Brian Rice, a member of the Mohawk Nation with a doctorate in Traditional Aboriginal Knowledge and Anna Snyder, whose work focuses on conflict resolution, wrote an interesting chapter about the ongoing process of reconciliation.

Rice and Snyder identify three factors we can think about when studying residential schools:

In another chapter from the Aboriginal Healing Foundation’s book series, an Anglican rector named Ian Mackenzie references Prime Minister Harper’s apology. He writes that without significant program development support and funding directed to address ongoing challenges like land claims, treaty issues, and community infrastructure, the apology lacks meaning. Similar to Rice and Snyder, Mackenzie stresses that policy discussions must consider the history and ongoing effects of colonialism, including the challenges facing Indigenous communities today.

Before the Foundation’s funding concluded, the organization established a national charity, called the Legacy of Hope Foundation, to continue its work. They produced videos presenting the stories of residential school survivors. Their stories contain subject matter that may be disturbing to some viewers, particularly survivors, and so viewer discretion is advised.