Honoring the Children
Resources about Indian Residential Schools
Warning: The following may be triggering. Please know that support is available.
Truths have been shared by the Tseshaht Nation on February 21st, 2023. The United Church of Canada, which ran the Port Alberni residential institution from 1925 to 1969, acknowledges and is saddened by what we have heard. This is the time for Canada to hear from the Tseshaht Nation and other communities that have been impacted by the Port Alberni residential institution. The United Church will make a statement and be available to media on Wednesday, February 22.
We bear witness the c̓išaaʔatḥ (Tseshaht) First Nation’s truth and acknowledge that there have been 67 confirmed student deaths and 17 potential unmarked graves that were found at the Alberni Indian Residential Institution.
Here is where you can learn more about how we honour the lost children.
Here is where you can find the initial UCC statement to the findings from the ʔuuʔatumin yaqckwiimitqin (Doing it for our Ancestors) project.
If you need help, or support, please reach out.
Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS)
IRSSS has a wealth of experience delivering wellness and healing services to Indian Residential School Survivors and intergenerational Survivors throughout British-Columbia. IRSSS provides essential services to Residential School Survivors, their families, and to those dealing with intergenerational traumas. English only.
Toll-Free: 1-800-721-0066
Phone: 604-985-4464 Email: reception@irsss.ca
https://www.irsss.ca
KUU-US Crisis Line Society
KUU-US services are for First Nations, by First Nations. All crisis response personnel are certified and trained in Indigenous cultural safety bringing an understanding of First Nations history and trauma from the residential school to their roles.
Toll-Free 24/7 Crisis Line: 1-800-588-8717
Phone: 250-723-4050 https://www.kuu-uscrisisline.comWarning: The following may be triggering. Please know that support is available.
Truths have been shared by the Tseshaht Nation on February 21st, 2023. The United Church of Canada, which ran the Port Alberni residential institution from 1925 to 1969, acknowledges and is saddened by what we have heard. This is the time for Canada to hear from the Tseshaht Nation and other communities that have been impacted by the Port Alberni residential institution. The United Church will make a statement and be available to media on Wednesday, February 22.
We bear witness the c̓išaaʔatḥ (Tseshaht) First Nation’s truth and acknowledge that there have been 67 confirmed student deaths and 17 potential unmarked graves that were found at the Alberni Indian Residential Institution.
Here is where you can learn more about how we honour the lost children.
Here is where you can find the initial UCC statement to the findings from the ʔuuʔatumin yaqckwiimitqin (Doing it for our Ancestors) project.
If you need help, or support, please reach out.
Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS)
IRSSS has a wealth of experience delivering wellness and healing services to Indian Residential School Survivors and intergenerational Survivors throughout British-Columbia. IRSSS provides essential services to Residential School Survivors, their families, and to those dealing with intergenerational traumas. English only.
Toll-Free: 1-800-721-0066
Phone: 604-985-4464 Email: reception@irsss.ca
https://www.irsss.ca
KUU-US Crisis Line Society
KUU-US services are for First Nations, by First Nations. All crisis response personnel are certified and trained in Indigenous cultural safety bringing an understanding of First Nations history and trauma from the residential school to their roles.
Toll-Free 24/7 Crisis Line: 1-800-588-8717
Phone: 250-723-4050 https://www.kuu-uscrisisline.com
Know who’s land you stand on.
When you can, I encourage you to go to https://native-land.ca/ and find the location of the place you call home . We do this because it was a promise that we made as one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations. It takes practice.
United Church Apologies
As we work toward reconciliation, a very long journey, we have considered the following…. As Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, we have worked to more faithfully reflect who we are as a church.
The church has learned and continues to learn from Indigenous wisdom and spiritual practices. You can read the statement “Affirming Other Spiritual Paths” under Downloads, below.
We have apologized as a church for our broken relationship, and we have pledged to heal it.
To read more about the United Church Apologies, CLICK ON THIS LINK
To see a summary of the United Church Apologies CLICK ON THIS LINK
A member of the Tla-O-Qui-Aht First Nation pays her respects below the steps outside the legislature in Victoria on June 1.
Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Response to Kamloops Residential School Graves Discovery
Since the announcement of the discovery of the undocumented and unmarked remains of 215 children on the grounds of Kamloops Residential School, we have received many messages of sorrow, concern, and outrage from members of the church.
Please read the United Church’s Response to this heartbreaking discovery.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
Listen to the Indigenous stories; let the stories land in our hearts.
When our Indigenous sisters and brothers ask something of us, do it.
Donate to:
The United Church Healing Fund
Write the Federal Government (Prime Minister – see website: Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau; Hon Carolyn Bennett, Fed. Minister of Crown Relations: carolyn.bennett@parl.gc.ca)
Demand transparent, easy access to funds for ground radar equipment.
Ask the Federal Government to continue to allocate sufficient resources to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to develop and maintain a National Residential School Student death registry.
To work with relevant parties to maintain on-line registry of residential school cemeteries.
To work with relevant parties to maintain and protect residential school cemeteries and other sites where children are buried.
Ask the BC Minister of Education to ensure on-going education of teachers on the residential schools and on anti-racism. (Hon. Jennifer Whiteside: educ.minister@gov.bc.ca)
Ask the BC Minister of Education to ensure the curriculum includes the history of residential schools, throughout the years, but also the contribution of Indigenous Peoples to Canadian society.
Educate the next generation: provide children’s books on the residential schools to your children / grandchildren / nieces and nephews.
Read (or re-read)
Read the United Church of Canada’s Apology. Reflect on what it means for us today.
What we can do next
150 Actions
Learn about 150 vital actions you can take to encourage people to think about Indigenous-settler relationships in new ways.
Watch
“For over 130 years, Canada’s First Nations children were legally required to attend government-funded residential schools run by various orders of the Christian faith. The schools were part of a wider program designed to integrate the Aboriginal population into the dominant culture and, in essence, to “kill the Indian in the child.”
An incredibly heartbreaking film to learn more about the reality of Residential Schools in Canada.
Learn
Discover the Witness Blanket
Tsow-Tun Le Lum (TTLL) is a non-profit Indigenous healing house that supports and works directly with residential school survivors, inter-generational survivors, their families, and communities. For over 34 years we have provided trauma-informed in-house programs that are grounded in Indigenous culture and ceremony. Teams from our outreach program travel to provide emotional and cultural support and teachings to individuals, families, communities, and organizations. Our toll-free phone line offers immediate assistance for people who call asking for emotional, clinical, or cultural support.
There is a GoFundMe Campaign ongoing right now seeking funding to search other local Residential Schools for more lost children.
There are several locations on Vancouver Island where residential schools were located including the following:
Kuper Island Residential School - Penelakut Island
St. Michaels Residential School - Alert Bay
Christie (Clayoquot/Kakawis) School - Tofin/Mears Island
Alberni Residential School - Port Alberni
Ahousaht Residential School -Ahousaht Island
The funds raised will be used to buy a ground penetrating radar unit, and launch this investigation.
