Indigenous Resources - Background, Policy, Analysis: Residential Schools

Full-text publications and other materials still are available at the site.

"From Apology to Reconciliation: Residential School Survivors—A Guide for Grades 9 and 11 Social Studies Teachers in Manitoba
Wednesday, June 11, 2008, the Prime Minister of Canada made a formal apology for the treatment of Aboriginal people in the residential schools system. The Manitoba government saw this apology as an opportunity to further the dialogue about residential schools and expand citizens' awareness of what happened. This project is intended to encourage discussion and make progress on the path toward healing and reconciliation by providing Manitoba teachers and students with culturally appropriate resources regarding the treatment of Aboriginal people in the residential schools system."

The reports:
The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development was created in 1966.
Before 1966, different departments were responsible for the portfolios of Indian Affairs and Northern Affairs.
The departments responsible for Indian Affairs were (in chronological order):
The Department of the Secretary of State of Canada (to 1869)
The Department of the Secretary of State for the Provinces (1869-1873)
The Department of the Interior (1873-1880)
The Department of Indian Affairs (1880-1936)
The Department of Mines and Resources (1936-1950)
The Department of Citizenship and Immigration (1950-1965)
The Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources (1966)
The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (1966 to the present)

The departments responsible for Northern Affairs were (in chronological order):
The Department of the Interior (1873-1936)
The Department of Mines and Resources (1936-1950)
The Department of Resources and Development (1950-1953)
The Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources (1953-1966)
The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (1966 to the present)
Those departments published yearly reports regarding Indian Affairs that contained information about:
-names and activities of Indian agents in various areas of the country
-extent of education and health of aboriginal populations
-amount and nature of moneys spent
-some residential and day schools
-various statistics

"UBC supported the successful bid of the University of Manitoba to locate the national centre in Winnipeg, with the understanding that UBC would pursue the possibility of establishing a west coast affiliate Centre on its Vancouver campus." The Centre opened to the public 9 April 2018.

"If you made an IAP or ADR claim for compensation for residential school abuse, there are records of your claim. You now have the opportunity to choose what happens to those records after your claim is finished."

"...Indigenous Peoples of North America provides users with a robust, diverse, informative source that will enhance research and increase understanding of the historical experiences, cultural traditions and innovations, and political status of Indigenous Peoples in the United States and Canada. Researchers will explore the impact of invasion and colonization on Indigenous Peoples in North America, and the intersection of Indigenous and European histories and systems of knowledge through the use of manuscripts, monographs, newspapers, photographs, motion pictures, images of artwork, and more. These are the primary sources that take students beyond the facts and figures of history and into a deeper understanding of Indigenous Peoples...."

"Our mission is to educate towards creating just and equal relationships of reconciliation and healing for all Canadians, to expand awareness of and access to the rich legacy of the contributions of Indigenous Peoples in Canada and the world, and to make known the histories of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, including the histories of injustice."

"Searchable by name or school. Includes a list of the names of students and a map of the schools. "This register represents another starting place on our collective journey of honouring and remembering the children lost to the Residential Schools. Following the direction provided by Survivors during the community engagements held in 2018 and at the National Gathering of Elders only the names and dates of death will be public. For further information on each of the children please contact the NCTR directly....There are additional names of children waiting to be found not included within this register. There remains an extensive amount of work to be done to find all the children that never returned home and their burial sites."

"...The Oral History Centre is pleased to promote the official Nindibaajimomin website. The website is the fruition of a long running project supported by the Oral History Centre and funded by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation that brings forth the voices of inter generational survivors of residential schools...."

"Minister of Environment and Climate Change Jonathan Wilkinson, who is responsible for Parks Canada, officially announced today how the federal government is marking the history of the residential school system.

"From this day forward, the residential school system will be designated as an event of national historic significance, which will help to educate all Canadians on the system and its consequences and ensure that this part of our history is never forgotten or repeated," Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson also announced two former residential schools are being designated as national historic sites: Portage La Prairie Residential School in Manitoba and Shubenacadie Residential School in Nova Scotia."

At the site: Select HELP – right hand corner
Leads to
Search Help
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/microform-digitization/006003-130-0002-e.html?PHPSESSID=1ovgk1lvbhep10mu0b5tn27sg5

Find listing for
How the Records are Arranged on Microfilm Reels
Within that paragraph, click on
….You can also browse the list provided for a specific volume, school, or agency and find the corresponding microfilm reel number…..

Leads to
School File Series 1879-1953 (RG10) list.
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/006003/f2/006003-e.pdf
Agencies and schools are listed, along with Microfilm reel numbers. The column beside the Microfilm Reel number indicates the volume range on that reel that you need to find.

For example
pages 20,21
reel 8648 volume 6255-6257 Brandon Residential School/Methodist Church/United Church
reel 8649 volume 6257-6258 BRS/United Church
reel 8650 volume 6258-6259 BRS/United Church
reel 8651 volume 6259-6260 BRS/United Church

To find these, return to
Online reels
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/microform-digitization/006003-110.02-e.php?&q2=2&c2=&b2=&t2=&sk=0&brws_s=&PHPSESSID=mci9jbg7r3japj98d7e8uvi8k1
The list begins with reel 7909. Scroll through the pages until you find
reel 8648
Select it.
Check the bottom of the digitized page to find the volume range (6255-6257):
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/microform-digitization/006003-119.01-e.php?&q2=2&q3=236&interval=50&sk=151&tt=1953&sqn=1&&PHPSESSID=mci9jbg7r3japj98d7e8uvi8k1
At the bottom of each microfilmed page you will find the volume number. In this case volume 6255 starts at the beginning of the reel. Volume 6255 extends for many pages.
In addition to reel numbers and volume ranges, citations for this material may include file numbers and/or parts. File and part information may be located at the bottom of each microfilmed page, alongside the volume.

To turn pages, place your cursor at the corner of the page of the book as it appears on the screen. You will see the corner of the page start to turn. Click to move through the pages. If the book will not open for you, try using Firefox.

"...focuses on rare surviving artworks created by children who attended the Inkameep Day School (Okanagan), St Michael’s Indian Residential School (Alert Bay); the Alberni Indian Residential School (Vancouver Island) and Mackay Indian Residential School (Manitoba). The focus of the exhibition is not on the schools themselves, but upon witnessing the experiences of the survivors as conveyed through their childhood artworks – for some the only surviving material from their childhoods."