Reconciliation Canada and Walk for Reconciliation

Reconciliation Canada is an organization dedicated to promoting dialogue and developing relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples towards the goal of building sustainable communities.  Inspired by the work of Gwawaenuk  Elder and Chief Robert Joseph, the initiative encourages individuals and organizations to organize dialogue circles

Project of Heart

Project of Heart is an award-winning educational project designed for school, community, multi-cultural or faith-based groups to understand the history of Indian residential schools and to build respectful relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.  The six-step process takes learners through an educational experience of learning the history, the impacts, and the contemporary manifestations of the residential school experience.

University of British Columbia: Indigenous Foundations

The UBC Indigenous Foundations website holds a collection of “resources on key topics relating to the histories, politics, and cultures of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. This website was developed to support students in their studies, and to provide instructors, researchers and the broader public with a place to begin exploring topics that relate to Aboriginal peoples, cultures, and histories. Indigenous Foundations was developed by the First Nations Studies Program at the University of British Columbia, located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people.”

McGill University: Aboriginal Human Rights Initiatives

McGill’s Human Rights Centre has a specialized focus on Aboriginal rights and issues in Canada. The Centre cites the mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and works collectively to contribute to the topic noting, “that residential schools are part of our shared history and it is essential to ensure awareness and understanding of this chapter.” The primary area of research and scholarship at the Centre is examining the legacies of injustice at residential schools and the responsibilities and relationships through the “Lens of Law” in Canadian context. The Centre uses their comprehension of human rights to analyze various abuses in Canadian Residential Schools.

Exhibition: Where are the Children? Healing the Legacy of the Residential Schools

Launched at the National Archives of Canada in 2001, “Where are the Children? Healing the Legacy of the Residential Schools” is an exhibition that has toured all over Canada. As stated on the website, “the exhibition consists of 118 framed archival photographs, text panels, maps, original classroom textbooks and historical government papers selected from nine public and church archives, and depicts the history and legacy of Canada’s Residential School System. Where are the Children? spans over 130 years and contains photographs and documents from the 1880s to present day.”

University of Manitoba: National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation

As per its mandate, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) has established a permanent National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, to ensure the work and legacy of the commission carries on after its five-year mandate is complete. In June 2013, it was announced that the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Human Rights Research would become the home of the centre.

Learning First Peoples: Classroom Resources

The Learning First Peoples Initiative is a joint venture of the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) and the First Nations Schools Association (FNSA), with the support of the British Columbia Ministry of Education, and was borne out of the First Nations education jurisdiction agreements reached in B.C. Under this initiative, the two organizations have worked over the past several years to develop curriculum and teaching resources to be used within the British Columbia school system. These materials have been designed for use by both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students and educators.

Presbytarian Church of Canada: Healing and Reconciliation Seed Fund

The Healing and Reconciliation Seed Fund was created by the Presbyterian Church of Canada (PCC) in the year 2006, as a way to support projects that encourage relationship building between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Presbyterians. The project envisions neighbors (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) learning from one another, and working together as partners towards common goals.

The United Church of Canada’s Justice and Reconciliation Fund

The Justice and Reconciliation Fund is an initiative of the Residential Schools Steering Committee of The United Church of Canada. It was established in the year 2000 to assist the United Church in understanding and responding to the IRS legacy. It has since supported around 50 initiatives Canada-wide, disbursing more than $200,000.

Wampum-Neechi: Indigenous & non-Indigenous Youth Experience

Wampum is a one-week summer camp program for youth aged 12 to 14, hosted by the Aboriginal Ministries Circle and the Hamilton and London Conferences, at Five Oaks Education and Retreat Centre. The program is part of Five Oaks’ ongoing “Right Relations” programming, which promotes reconciliation and relationship building, in conjunction with the decolonization efforts of the Aboriginal Ministries Circle as the Indigenous arm of the United Church of Canada.