vi, 536 pages : 25 cm
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. -- ‡c From publisher's description
"Note to readers: This second printing includes includes a preface and appendices added to the report by the Commission in July-August 2015. It is otherwise identical to the first printing of this edition of the report."--Title page verso
Contains: Honouring the truth, reconciling for the future summary of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
Includes bibliographical references and index
Commission activities -- The history -- The legacy -- The challenge of reconciliation -- Calls to action

Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future By The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada; Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, issuing body

Toronto: James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers

Canada - English Language, Canada

First Edition, 2015-07-23

"Between 1867 and 2000, the Canadian govenment sent over 150,000 Aboriginal children to residental schools across the country. Government officials and missionaries agreed that in order to 'civilize and Christianize' Aboriginal children, it was necessary to separate them from their parents and their home communities. For children, life in these schools was lonely and alien. Discipline was harsh, and daily life was highly regimented. Aboriginal languages and cultures were denigrated and suppressed. Education and technical training too often gave way to the drudgery of doing chores necessary to make the schools self-sustaining. Child neglect was institutionalized, and the lack of supervision created situations where students were prey to sexual and physical abusers. Legal action by the schools' former students led to the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2008. The product of over six years of research, the Commission's final report outlines the history and legacy of the schools, and charts a pathway towards reconciliation" --Back cover

2023-06-28