scholarly journals The Ethics of Reconciling: Learning from Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-48
Author(s):  
Emily Snyder
Keyword(s):  
Public Education ◽  
Residential Schools ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Indian Residential Schools ◽  
Education Goals ◽  
The Many

In 2008, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was initiated to address the historical and contemporary injustices and impacts of Indian Residential Schools. Of the many goals of the TRC, I focus on reconciliation and how the TRC aims to promote this through public education and engagement. To explore this, I consider two questions: Ethical queries arise which speak to broader concerns about the TRC’s capability to fulfill its public education goals. I raise several concerns about whether the TRC’s plan to convoke the collective will result in over-simplifying the process by relying on blunt, poorly defined identity categories that erase the heterogeneity of those residing in Canada, as well as the complexity of the conflict among us. I attempt to situate myself in-between proclamations of “success” or “failure” of the TRC, to better understand what can be learned from contested truths and experiences of uncertainty.

scholarly journals Reconciliation and Conflict: A Review of Practice

2011 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 831
Author(s):  
Emily Snyder
Keyword(s):  
Race Relations ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Residential Schools ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Residential School ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Indian Residential Schools ◽  
Ongoing Dialogue ◽  
Concurrent Events

In this article I provide a review of two connected events.  The first is the conference "Prairie Perspectives on Indian Residential Schools, Truth and Reconciliation," which was held in June 2010 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  This conference was just one of many concurrent events taking place at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's first national event.  Specific themes and aspects of the conference are covered here.  Secondly, I parallel my discussion of the conference to my experiences with the national event - experiences can be complex and do not happen in isolation from the broader context around them. Overall, I argue that while the conference and the national event made some meaningful contributions to ongoing dialogue about reconciliation in Canada, it is clear that understanding how to deal with and discuss the conflict that arises from discussions of residential school, "race relations," and reconciliation more broadly is an ongoing learning experience.  I offer some recommendations concerning how conflict could be better dealt with at future conferences and national events.  Reconciliation processes can be more effective if there is not only space for dissent but, most importantly, that mechanisms are in place for encouraging productive discussions about the conflict that arises and that will continue to arise.

scholarly journals L'impossible vérité de l'histoire des pensionnats : Traumatismes, victimisation et réconciliation prématurée.   Commission de vérité et réconciliation, 2015, Rapport final de la Commission de vérité et réconciliation du Canada, Volume 1. Pensionnats du Canada : L’histoire, partie 1, des origines à 1939, 1072 p. Commission de vérité et réconciliation, 2015, Volume 1. Pensionnats du Canada : L’histoire, partie 2, de 1939 à 2000, 896 p. Commission de vérité et réconciliation, 2016, Volume 2. Pensionnats du Canada : L’expérience inuite et nordique, 290 p. Commission de vérité et réconciliation, 2015, Volume 3. Pensionnats du Canada : L’expérience métisse, 96 p. Commission de vérité et réconciliation, 2015, Volume 4. Pensionnats du Canada : Enfants disparus et lieux de sépulture non marqués, 304 p. Commission de vérité et réconciliation, 2016, Volume 5. Pensionnats du Canada : Les séquelles, 464 p. Commission de vérité et réconciliation, 2016, Volume 6. Pensionnats du Canada : La réconciliation, 352 p. Goulet H., 2016, Histoire des pensionnats indiens catholiques du Québec. Le rôle déterminant des pères oblats. Montréal, Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 222 p. Niezen R., 2013, Truth and Indignation. Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Indian Residential Schools. Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 192 p.

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 329
Author(s):  
Frédéric Laugrand
Keyword(s):  
Residential Schools ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Indian Residential Schools

The Genocide Question and Indian Residential Schools in Canada

2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 427-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. MacDonald ◽  
Graham Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Residential Schools ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Aboriginal Peoples ◽  
Genocide Convention ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Cultural Genocide ◽  
Indian Residential Schools ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Le Canada

Abstract. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been investigating the array of crimes committed in Canada's Indian Residential Schools. Genocide is being invoked with increasing regularity to describe the crimes inflicted within the IRS system, the intent behind those crimes, and the legacies that have flowed from them. We ask the following questions. Did Canada commit genocide against Aboriginal peoples by attempting to forcibly assimilate them in residential schools? How does the UN Genocide Convention help interpret genocide claims? If not genocide, what other descriptors are more appropriate? Our position might be described as “fence sitting”: whether genocide was committed cannot be definitively settled at this time. This has to do with polyvalent interpretations of the term, coupled with the growing body of evidence the TRC is building up. We favour using the term cultural genocide as a “ground floor” and a means to legally and morally interpret the IRS system.Résumé. La Commission de vérité et réconciliation a enquêté sur la matrice de crimes commis dans les pensionnats indiens au Canada. Le mot génocide est invoqué avec une régularité croissante pour décrire les crimes infligés au sein du système des pensionnats, l'intention derrière ces crimes, et l'héritage qui s'en est ensuivie. Nous posons les questions suivantes: le Canada a-t-il commis le génocide contre les élèves Aborigènes en essayant de les assimiler de force dans des pensionnats indiens? Comment la Convention des Nations Unies sur la prévention de génocide peut-elle aider interprétations des revendications de génocide ? Si ce pas de génocide, quel autre descripteur est plus approprié ? Notre position pourrait être décrite comme « séance de clôture »: la question de génocide ne peut être réglée définitivement en ce moment. Cela concerne les interprétations polyvalentes du terme, couplé avec le corps grandissant d'évidence que le CVR accumule. Nous préférons le terme génocide culturel comme « un rez-de-chaussée » et comme un moyen de légalement et moralement interpréter le système IRS.

scholarly journals Locating a Theoretical Framework for the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Charles Taylor or Nancy Fraser?

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantin S. Petoukhov
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Charles Taylor ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Residential Schools ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Indian Residential Schools ◽  
Nancy Fraser

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada was established to uncover and acknowledge the injustices that took place in Indian residential schools and, in doing so, to pave the way to reconciliation. However, the TRC does not define reconciliation or how we would know it when (and if) we get there, thus stirring a debate about what it could mean. This article examines two theories that may potentially be relevant to the TRC’s work: Charles Taylor’s theory of recognition and Nancy Fraser’s tripartite theory of justice. The goal is to discover what each theory contributes to our understanding of the harms that Indigenous peoples suffered in residential schools, as well as in the broader colonial project, and how to address these harms appropriately.

scholarly journals “I’m not really healed … I’m just bandaged up”: Perceptions of healing among former students of Indian residential schools

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Tracey Carr ◽  
Brian Chartier ◽  
Tina Dadgostari
Keyword(s):  
Aboriginal People ◽  
School Attendance ◽  
Residential Schools ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Residential School ◽  
School Students ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Indian Residential Schools ◽  
Settlement Agreement

<p>Attempts at resolution between former students of Indian residential schools and the non-Aboriginal Canadian population began with the signing of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement in 2006. The Settlement Agreement outlined provisions for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to document the stories of former students and for the Resolution Health Support Program to offer emotional and cultural support to former students and their families. Although former students have catalogued their stories through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission process, experiences of healing from the events of Indian residential schools remain relatively unknown. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of healing among former Indian residential school students. In partnership with an Aboriginal support agency in a small Saskatchewan city, we interviewed 10 Aboriginal people affected by residential schools. The focus of the interviews was to generate participants’ conceptions and experiences of healing regarding their residential school experiences. We found all participants continued to experience physical, mental, emotional, and/or spiritual impacts of residential school attendance. Disclosure of their experiences was an important turning point for some participants. Their efforts to move on varied from attempting to “forget” about their experience to reconnecting with their culture and/or following their spiritual, religious, or faith practices. Participants also noted the profound intergenerational effects of residential schools and the need for communities to promote healing. The findings will be used to guide an assessment of the healing needs among this population in Saskatchewan.</p>

Relational Remembering and Oppression

Hypatia ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 493-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine M. Koggel
Keyword(s):  
False Memory ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Residential Schools ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Indian Residential Schools ◽  
Political Implications

This paper begins by discussing Sue Campbell's account of memory as she first developed it in Relational Remembering: Rethinking the Memory Wars and applied it to the context of the false memory debates. In more recent work, Campbell was working on expanding her account of relational remembering from an analysis of personal rememberings to activities of public rememberings in contexts of historic harms and, specifically, harms to Aboriginals and their communities in Canada. The goal of this paper is to draw out the moral and political implications of Campbell's account of relational remembering and thereby to extend its reach and application. As applied to Aboriginal communities, Campbell's account of relational remembering confirms but also explains the important role that Canada's Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission (IRS TRC) is poised to play. It holds this promise and potential, however, only if all Canadians, Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal, engage in a process of remembering that is relational and has the goal of building and rebuilding relationships. The paper ends by drawing attention to what relational remembering can teach us about oppression more generally.

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