The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final reports were released in 2015, but reconciliation didn't end there. The journey is very far from over.
Now more than ever, it’s time to revisit the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s findings and calls to action with a publishing lens.
Below, we’ll go over some of the key findings from the Truth and Reconciliation reports and what it means to talk about reconciliation.
To discover actionable steps to take towards reconciliation, check out our paired blog post for an interpretation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action for the book industry.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada emerged out of the 2007 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and lasted from 2008 to 2015. The mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was to identify, witness, document, educate, and commemorate experiences and impacts of the residential school system.
As the Summary of the Final Report of Truth and Reconciliation Commission exposes, the residential schools system was “part of a coherent policy to eliminate Aboriginal people as distinct peoples and to assimilate them into the Canadian mainstream against their will.” This is a form of cultural genocide. The residential school system separated children from their parents, families, and communities and brought them into government-funded residential schools to systematically sever their ties to their culture and identity and “acquire the habits and modes of thought of white men.”
The history of the residential school system spans over 100 years, with the final schools ceasing operation in the late 1990s. Over that time, at least 150,000 First Nation, Métis, and Inuit children passed through over 130 residential schools. As part of its research, the Commission importantly gathered the testimonies of nearly 7,000 residential school survivors.
The cultural genocide these children faced went beyond being taken away from their families. To further sever their cultural ties, braided hair was cut, school uniforms were mandatory, and children’s own names were replaced by Euro-Canadian ones, as well as a number. School was taught in either English or French and in many schools children were punished for speaking their languages. For much of the history of residential schools, there was no explicit government policy on discipline. Children were physically abused. Children were sexually abused. Children were neglected. Oftentimes schools offered little to no sanitation or ventilation systems, nor an infirmary. Children became sick. Children ran away. Children died in the custody of residential schools and did not return home to their families and communities. For those who did return home, they often felt isolated. The school system left them without their language and culture nor the skills to pursue either traditional or Euro-Canadian economic pursuits.
The Commission identified 3,200 deaths on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Register of Confirmed Deaths of Named Residential School Students and the Register of Confirmed Deaths of Unnamed Residential School Students. Names continue to be added to the National Student Memorial Register to honour and acknowledge the children who died while attending residential schools and the Commission urges for the work identifying unmarked residential school gravesites to continue:
On the basis of the work undertaken to date, it is apparent that there are likely to be other unidentified residential gravesites across the country. A national program, carried out in close consultation with the concerned Aboriginal communities, is required to complete the task of identifying the many unmarked residential school cemeteries and gravesites across Canada.
The Commission hasn’t been alone in calling for the identification of unmarked residential school gravesites. For decades, survivors of residential schools and their communities have been advocating for and leading the discovery of unidentified residential school cemeteries, like the survivors of the Kamloops Indian Residential School and the survivors of Marieval Indian Residential School. We mourn and remember all children whose remains are now being found across Canada.
In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released a series of final reports as well as 94 calls to action. These reports expose the history, legacy, and consequences of the residential school system, as well as starting points for reconciliation. The calls to action contain government and industry-specific actions Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians should take to advance the process of reconciliation.
What does reconciliation mean?
For the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, “reconciliation is about establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in this country.“ Here’s more on the Commission’s approach:
To some people, reconciliation is the re-establishment of a conciliatory state. However, this is a state that many Aboriginal people assert never has existed between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. To others, reconciliation, in the context of Indian residential schools, is similar to dealing with a situation of family violence. It’s about coming to terms with events of the past in a manner that overcomes conflict and establishes a respectful and healthy relationship among people, going forward. It is in the latter context that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada has approached the question of reconciliation.
To support these healthy and respectful relationships, the Commission also outlines 10 reconciliation principles that underpin the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action and the way we should approach our journeys towards reconciliation:
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is the framework for reconciliation at all levels and across all sectors of Canadian society.
First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, as the original peoples of this country and as self-determining peoples, have Treaty, constitutional, and human rights that must be recognized and respected.
Reconciliation is a process of healing of relationships that requires public truth sharing, apology, and commemoration that acknowledge and redress past harms.
Reconciliation requires constructive action on addressing the ongoing legacies of colonialism that have had destructive impacts on Aboriginal peoples’ education, cultures and languages, health, child welfare, the administration of justice, and economic opportunities and prosperity.
Reconciliation must create a more equitable and inclusive society by closing the gaps in social, health, and economic outcomes that exist between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians.
All Canadians, as Treaty peoples, share responsibility for establishing and maintaining mutually respectful relationships.
The perspectives and understandings of Aboriginal Elders and Traditional Knowledge Keepers of the ethics, concepts, and practices of reconciliation are vital to long-term reconciliation.
Supporting Aboriginal peoples’ cultural revitalization and integrating Indigenous knowledge systems, oral histories, laws, protocols, and connections to the land into the reconciliation process are essential.
Reconciliation requires political will, joint leadership, trust building, accountability, and transparency, as well as a substantial investment of resources.
Reconciliation requires sustained public education and dialogue, including youth engagement, about the history and legacy of residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal rights, as well as the historical and contemporary contributions of Aboriginal peoples to Canadian society.
With this as our foundation, progress towards reconciliation has been sincerely underway. Since 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s focus has been continued by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
But the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation aren’t the only ones responsible for reconciliation efforts.
Whether we realize it or not, reconciliation is a relationship that we all, non-Indigenous and Indigenous peoples alike, are taking part in or working against every day. And it’s not enough for us to just talk about reconciliation — we need to live out the principles of reconciliation in our actions individually and in the work we do in the book industry.
What can we and the book industry do to participate in the process of reconciliation?
This is where the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 calls to action come into play. Even though the book industry isn’t specifically called out in these calls to action, it doesn’t mean that they don’t apply to us as individuals or as an industry. In our paired blog post, we’ve read through the calls to action with a publishing lens to further our conversations of reconciliation into action.
We hope you will read it and consider what kind of commitments you can make towards reconciliation.
