The establishment and operation of Indian Residential Schools is one of the darkest moments in Canadian history. Over “150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were forced to attend” these schools throughout the twentieth century which were set up by the Canadian government and administered by churches (Perkel). The aim of these schools was to assimilate aboriginal children into the predominate Euro-Canadian culture. This was done by removing them from their community and forcing them to attended isolated boarding schools where they were unable to speak their own language or practice their culture. In addition to receiving a subpar education at the residential schools, the aboriginal children were often victims to horrific abuse, both psychologically and physically. (For more information about the Indian residential schools in Canada follow this link.) Even after the last residential school closed in 1996, the damage caused through loss of identity and coping with the trauma endured is still evident in the Aboriginal communities today. Lack of discussion was one aspect of healing that was missing for the residential school survivors; therefore the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established as a platform for survivors to safely share their stories.

Prior to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission the archival information about the residential schools was mainly a product of the dominate powers in society such as the church and the Canadian government; thus “the archives were shaped” by these powerful groups (Carter 217). However, TRC was established as a way to write back to the dominate powers and fill these “unnatural archival silences”, as exemplified by the silencing of the survivors of the residential schools by the government and churches (Carter 228). By creating an archive, the TRC can “transcend the limitations of the oral” and help to create a “societal memory”, which acknowledges the injustices and harms experienced by Aboriginal people (Carter 222-223). The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation houses the materials collected from churches, the Canadian government, as well as the material from the TRC with the mandate “to preserve the memory of Canada’s Residential School system and legacy” (University of Manitoba). By having public sharing panels for the victims of the residential schools to share their stories the Aboriginal community was able to have their stories added to the archive leaving their impact on societal memory. In addition to the public discussion some survivors chose to share their stories privately as a way to validate their claim to compensation from the government. The 20,000 plus survivors who opted to share privately were “guaranteed confidentiality”; consequently, survivors shared intimate details about their experiences that they would not have done if they knew it was going to be shared with the public (CBC News). However, after the court case the Truth and Reconciliation Commission asked the Ontario Superior Court to include the private stories as part of its National Research Centre (CBC News). By purposely keeping their stories back from the NCTR these survivors were showing the “power of silences” and when the NCTR attempt to publicly share their stories they were upset (Carter 227). While the TRC thought that by collecting the stories and making them public they would be filling an unnatural silence by increasing awareness of Canadians of this dark history, but the survivors were exercising their right to natural silences by not sharing their stories and felt betrayed when the TRC attempted to collect them without their permission. The outcome of the struggle over the control of the TRC testimonies was resolved when Ontario’s top court ruled that survivors of Canada’s “have the right to see their stories archived if they wish, but their accounts must otherwise be destroyed in 15 years” (Perkel). The Canadian court recognized the right of the residential school survivors to hold maintain their silence, thus honoring their promise.

Works Cited

Carter, Rodney G.S. “Of Things Said and Unsaid: Power, Archival Silences, and Power in Silence.” The Journal Association of Canadian Archivists 61 (2006): 215-33. Archivaria. 01 Mar. 2006. Web. 04 Mar. 2017. <http://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/12541/13687>.

Hanson, Erin. “The Residential School System.” Indigenousfoundations. 2009. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/>.

News, CBC. “Residential School Survivors Go to Court to Keep Testimony Private.”CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 15 May 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/residential-school-survivors-fear-testimony-could-be-made-public-1.2644349>.

“Our Mandate.” Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC). Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=7>

Perkel, Colin. “Stories of Residential School Abuse Can Be Shredded after 15 Years, Court Says.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 04 Apr. 2016. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/stories-of-residential-school-abuse-can-be-shredded-after-15years-1.3520210>.

“University of Manitoba – National Research Centre for Truth and Reconciliation – Our Mandate.” University of Manitoba – National Research Centre for Truth and Reconciliation – Our Mandate. Web. 15 Mar. 2017. <http://umanitoba.ca/centres/nctr/mandate.html>.