It is absolutely incumbent on every follower of Christ to know the stories of injustice and pain that their closest neighbors continue to endure. And beyond just Christians, there is a responsibility for every person to know the story of the land they are privileged to call home.

Jennifer Singh

The Church Has Ignored the Grief of First Nation Peoples Too Long

 

Resources to Educate

At the end of 2011, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada submitted a report on the
history, purpose, operation, and supervision of the residential school system, the effect and
consequences of the system, and its ongoing legacy. The publication of this report can be found here.

In 2015 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released a call to action to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation. The publication of these 94 calls to action can be found here. Although all of these calls to action are incredibly important, some of the most applicable for our context are in the section titled “Church apologies and Reconciliation” (58-61).

A website has been formed to monitor the progress of the journey towards reconciliation, based on these 94 calls to action. You can follow along in this journey here.

There has been a National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada. You can find the Executive Summary of the Final Report of this Inquiry here.

The University of Alberta offers a free course on Indigenous History in Canada. This course has 12 lessons and can be completed at your own pace. You can find more information and register for this course here.

 

The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada has created a guide to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in a format that is written especially for children. You can access this guide here.