When our ENGL 474F class visited the “Speaking to Memory: Images and Voices from St. Michael’s Residential School” exhibit at the UBC Museum of Anthropology, we were prompted to consider how a museum visitor who entered from the exit/second entrance might view the exhibit.
From the second entrance, the first thing that a visitor would encounter is a quote from the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996, a report that ultimately gave 440 recommendations for “sweeping changes to the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people and governments in Canada”.
One of the parts of the exhibit closest to the second entrance are apologies from the government of Canada and religious groups printed on banners hanging from the ceiling. This includes Stephen Harper’s 2008 apology that declared that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission would be a “positive step in forging new relationships between Aboriginal peoples and other Canadians”. Apologies from the Anglican, Catholic and Presbyterian Churches of Canada describe working together to heal with Aboriginal peoples.
After considering the experience of the exhibit through the second entrance, I started thinking about the components of the exhibit that highlight responses by the Canadian government and the religious groups that implemented the Indian Residential School System. Although I was prompted by the experience of visitors coming through the second entrance, I want to focus on the way that regardless of the way that a visitor enters the exhibit, they might get the impression that Canada is actively working to reconcile the legacy of the Indian Residential School System. There is an argument to be made that actively working to reconcile is what they are doing through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and other initiatives.
However, I think it’s also important to note that the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, which emerged from a class action lawsuit against the Canadian government. Without the lawsuit and actions taken by Aboriginal groups and former Residential School students, would the Truth and Reconciliation Commission have been implemented? Does it matter if it was done voluntarily or not?
Hi Annita,
I think that you’ve definitely highlighted a point that really questions the efficacy of both mandated and non-government mandated responses to the Indian Residential School System. This year, BC recognized Reconciliation Week from September 16-22, 2013 during which the TRC was hosted at the PNE for a 3-day event. Upon reflection about my experience at the TRC event, I recall being surprised by the amount of media attention that this national event lacked. Surely, an event that is so crucial to the history of Canada and its indigenous and non-indigenous members would be at the forefront of all media outlets, at least Canadian ones. Interestingly enough, some of my own UBC peers did not understand why classes had been suspended on September 18th to honour the TRC. I don’t think we could have expected all BC residents to visit the TRC during that week, but I think it’s a necessary responsibility that as Canadians, we are educated about the significant parts of our nation’s history whether it is mandated or not.