The role of reparative justice in responding to the legacy of Indian Residential Schools

Significance The discovery of the bodies of hundreds of children at Canada’s former Indian Residential Schools has unleashed a wave of anger and mourning across Canada’s growing Indigenous population. More discoveries are expected, posing challenges for the country’s economic and social fabric. Impacts Public works projects may slow amid intensified disputes between the Canadian state and Indigenous peoples over lands and resources. There will be more pressure to share wealth from economic activity that directly affects Indigenous communities. Indigenous communities are likely to benefit from greater control over the design and delivery of government services. Cultural and academic institutions will increasingly prioritise and amplify Indigenous voices and perspectives. Canada’s reputation as an advocate for human rights will be affected by its handling of the residential schools issue.

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Introduction: Reflections on health and the body at Canadian Indian residential schools

British Journal of Canadian Studies ◽

10.3828/bjcs.2017.8 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 143-145

Author(s):

Evan J. Habkirk ◽

Janice Forsyth

Keyword(s):

Residential Schools ◽

The Body ◽

Indian Residential Schools

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Squaring the Circle: How Canada is Dealing with the Legacy of Its Indian Residential Schools Experiment

International Journal of Legal Information ◽

10.1017/s0731126500009094 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 232-265

Author(s):

Pamela O'Connor

Keyword(s):

Cultural Transformation ◽

Residential Schools ◽

Social Costs ◽

Indian Children ◽

Squaring The Circle ◽

Indian Residential Schools ◽

The Social ◽

Compulsory Attendance ◽

Indigenous Children ◽

Abuse And Neglect

Canada, like Australia, is belatedly confronting a problem that has long been denied and ignored. Each country is now reckoning the social costs of past policies which sought to achieve the forced assimilation of indigenous children. In Canada this policy was mainly implemented through laws requiring the compulsory attendance of Indian children at school. Some 100,000 children were directed to church-operated residential schools where their cultural transformation could be effected in isolation from their families and the outside world. That isolation left them highly vulnerable to abuse and neglect.

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Reconciliation and Conflict: A Review of Practice

Alberta Law Review ◽

10.29173/alr136 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 48 (4) ◽

pp. 831

Author(s):

Emily Snyder

Keyword(s):

Race Relations ◽

Learning Experience ◽

Residential Schools ◽

Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽

Residential School ◽

Reconciliation Commission ◽

Truth And Reconciliation ◽

Indian Residential Schools ◽

Ongoing Dialogue ◽

Concurrent Events

In this article I provide a review of two connected events. The first is the conference "Prairie Perspectives on Indian Residential Schools, Truth and Reconciliation," which was held in June 2010 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This conference was just one of many concurrent events taking place at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's first national event. Specific themes and aspects of the conference are covered here. Secondly, I parallel my discussion of the conference to my experiences with the national event - experiences can be complex and do not happen in isolation from the broader context around them. Overall, I argue that while the conference and the national event made some meaningful contributions to ongoing dialogue about reconciliation in Canada, it is clear that understanding how to deal with and discuss the conflict that arises from discussions of residential school, "race relations," and reconciliation more broadly is an ongoing learning experience. I offer some recommendations concerning how conflict could be better dealt with at future conferences and national events. Reconciliation processes can be more effective if there is not only space for dissent but, most importantly, that mechanisms are in place for encouraging productive discussions about the conflict that arises and that will continue to arise.

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