Truth and reconciliation activities

This week was Truth and Reconciliation Week in Canada. Although officially recognized over one week, these are conversations and teachings that should happen throughout the school year, not just one week, or one day. Reconciliation is about building relationships and respect, and that just cannot be reduced to a week. I wanted to share some of the activities, readings, and discussions I had with my Grade 5/6 class this year, mainly inspired by this resource, Every Child Matters. After…

This booklet is written by Spirit Bear as a youth-friendly guide to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) 94 Calls to Action. Between 1879 and 1996, the Government of Canada took First Nations, Métis, and Inuit kids away from their families and homes and put them in residential schools. At residential school, kids were not allowed to speak their language or

orange shirt day

Residential schools were church-run schools where approximately 150,000 Métis, Inuit and First Nations children were sent between the 1860s and the 1990s. The schools harmed Indigenous children by removing them from their families, forcing them to speak English or French instead of their ancestral languages, disconnecting them from their culture and traditions and forcing them to adopt Christianity in order to assimilate into Canadian society. Many of the children were abused. The government…

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September 30 has been synonymous with Orange Shirt Day and the concept of "Every Child Matters" since 2013. More recently, the federal government officially proclaimed September 30 as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It's a day that Canadians are encouraged to take time to have meaningful conversations about the effects of residential schools and their ongoing legacy. On this day, we wear orange to show our support for survivors and the countless children who didn't return…

Three Saskatchewan artists created original works for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Thursday, covering the erasure of Métis culture, residential schools, and lacklustre efforts at reconciliation.

This is a hands-on simulation lesson that explores the intergenerational trauma of residential schools and the impacts on communities left without children. It is designed to support teachers talking to kids about The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.