Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume One: Summary by Truth and Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada; Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada This is the Final Report of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its six-year investigation of the residential school system for Aboriginal youth and the legacy of these schools. This report, the summary volume, includes the history of residential schools, the legacy of that school system, and the full text of the Commission's 94 recommendations for action to address that legacy. This report lays bare a part of Canada's history that until recently was little-known to most non-Aboriginal Canadians. The Commission discusses the logic of the colonization of Canada's territories, and why and how policy and practice developed to end the existence of distinct societies of Aboriginal peoples. Using brief excerpts from the powerful testimony heard from Survivors, this report documents the residential school system which forced children into institutions where they were forbidden to speak their language, required to discard their clothing in favour of institutional wear, given inadequate food, housed in inferior and fire-prone buildings, required to work when they should have been studying, and subjected to emotional, psychological and often physical abuse. In this setting, cruel punishments were all too common, as was sexual abuse. More than 30,000 Survivors have been compensated financially by the Government of Canada for their experiences in residential schools, but the legacy of this experience is ongoing today. This report explains the links to high rates of Aboriginal children being taken from their families, abuse of drugs and alcohol, and high rates of suicide. The report documents the drastic decline in the presence of Aboriginal languages, even as Survivors and others work to maintain their distinctive cultures, traditions, and governance. The report offers 94 calls to action on the part of governments, churches, public institutions and non-Aboriginal Canadians as a path to meaningful reconciliation of Canada today with Aboriginal citizens. Even though the historical experience of residential schools constituted an act of cultural genocide by Canadian government authorities, the United Nation's declaration of the rights of aboriginal peoples and the specific recommendations of the Commission offer a path to move from apology for these events to true reconciliation that can be embraced by all Canadians.

Truth and indignation : Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Indian Residential Schools by Ronald Niezen Summary: "The original version of Truth and Indignation offered the first close and critical assessment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as it was unfolding. Niezen used testimonies, texts, and visual materials produced by the Commission as well as interviews with survivors, priests, and nuns to raise important questions about the TRC process. He asked what the TRC has meant for reconciliation, transitional justice, and conceptions of traumatic memory. The new edition includes an Epilogue that discusses the initial reception of the book while the Commission was still unfolding, and the Final Report and Calls to Action coming out of the report, bringing the book up to date and making it a valuable text for teaching about transitional justice, colonialism and redress, public anthropology and human rights. Thoughtful, provocative, and uncompromising in the need to tell the "truth" as he sees it, Niezen offers an important contribution to understanding truth and reconciliation processes in general, and the Canadian experience in particular."-- Provided by publisher.

Teaching Each Other: Nehinuw Concepts and Indigenous Pedagogies

Speaking Our Truth by Monique Gray Smith

Speaking Our Truth: Teacher Guide by Tasha Henry Examine how we can foster reconciliation in an accessible way. Centered around the writings of Monique Gray Smith's Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, this teacher guide is a comprehensive support for educators focusing on Indigenous teachings and looking to build an inquiry-based unit plan about reconciliation. Features such as essential questions from the author, metaphors for learning and cross-curricular plans are laid out clearly, with instructions and appropriate vocabulary for teachers and students to embark on this journey of reconciliation together.