Reconcili-ACTION Role for Museums UPDATE, 1 July 2021: Indigenous Resilience Day

Above image is author’s multimedia artwork for Canada Day using his very old orange shirt and ‘Happy Canada Day’ poster sent by his MP. In light of calls to re-brand the 2021 annual ‘celebration’ as “Indigenous Resilience Day” (Al Mallees 2021) it seems appropriate to display an upside-down Canadian flag to represent necessary distress for Indigenous & all non-Indigenous people in this country.

Across Canada today, instead of celebrating Canada Day, there have been calls for and large crowds attending Indigenous Resilience Day events. This day of reflection “. . .is all about education, educating the general public on what happened at residential schools and why we hadn’t heard about it until recently” (Al Mallees 2021).

[UPDATED 5 & 8 JULY 2021] Since my 11 June post  “Reconcili-ACTION Role for Museums Covering Canada with Residential School Exhibits for our Citizens Remedial Education’ ‘Remedial Education’” there have been many new revelations & incidents of various kinds including more discoveries of previously unrecorded burials on grounds of ‘Indian Residential Schools’ (IRS) e.g. (Skjerven 2021). As a result of the original news about the 215 unmarked graves in Kamloops Canada, the new Native American Secretary of the Interior in the United States, Deb Haaland, has determined to undertake similar investigations for unrecorded burials across that country. Indeed, Haaland reports “nearly 83 percent of Native American school-age children were in the [IRS, a.k.a. ‘boarding schools’] system (Haaland 2021).

Parallel to the point of my earlier post, I also discovered a similar call from Cree musician & activist Buffy Sainte-Marie who advocated for an adults-only exhibit on residential schools when she spoke at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CBC News 2016; cf. Thibeault 2021). Buffy argued the need for an exhibit that would detail realities of IRS “that are too graphic for children.”

Sainte-Marie wants to see the museum include more details about brutal conditions Indigenous children faced in residential schools. “We hear about how they cut their hair or they didn’t let them speak their languages . . .what about the electric chairs? What about the cattle prod? What about the electric wires affixed to children’s bodies trying to torture them into being Christian or not talking back or having their own ideas,” she said (CBC News 2016).

Since my 11 June 2021 post subsequent reports have emerged regularly, including 751 additional unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Marieval residential school on the Cowessess First Nation reserve in Saskatchewan [not all of which are likely to be children’s] (Skjerven 2021) & subsequent vandalism & destruction of Catholic churches (Crrigg 2021; Global News 2021).

With regard to IRS survivor access to needed archival records, there has been some progress in releasing Catholic church & its religious orders’ records to the Royal British Columbia Museum (Victoria News Staff 2021).

Availability of Exhibitions on IRS:

What follows are several examples of the kind of exhibits & programmes that I recommend be circulated. In fact, many of the existing exhibit examples located in my search were developed by small museums.

UPDATE 8 JULY: Responses to your blogger’s promotion of this post on the American Association for State & Local History listserv for small museums raised the question of whether there were any American museum exhibits on what are known as ‘boarding schools’ for Native American children in that country.  I had never even considered the need to search with that term, but my Google this morning brought up a sole example, the Pheonix AZ Heard Museum’s “Remembering Our Indian School Days: The Boarding School Experience” that in 2015 received funding to circulate the exhibit for 2 years.  However, an answer to the AASLH listserv post query provided the following additional example:

Landry, Jennifer. 2021. “RE: Small Museums Affinity Community: Existing Residential/Boarding School Exhibits in Circulation” AASLH Community Center Small Museums Affinity Community listserv posted 8 July 2021.

ExhibitsUSA/Mid-America Arts Alliance has a traveling exhibition “Away from Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories” that we hosted earlier this year. It is based on the exhibit at the Heard and is very well done. We had a very good response from our community to the exhibition despite limited access because of the pandemic.  I believe it is fully booked but perhaps they have a waiting list in case of a cancellation: eusa.org/exhibition/away-from-home/.
Jennifer Landry, Director of Museums, Irving Archives and Museum, Irving, TX.

• 2021. “Exhibitions on Residential School Experiences.” The Legacy of Hope Foundation has produced nineteen groundbreaking exhibitions on the Residential School System. Exhibitions that are mobile, stand-alone and provide a unique, museum-like experience that include first-hand, Indigenous Testimonies of the RSS and SS. The exhibitions, which promote healing and encourage acts of Reconciliation, can be hosted in schools, offices, parliaments, galleries, or in any public space at https://legacyofhope.ca/home/exhibitions/ (accessed 1 July 2021). [The exhibits identified in the available catalogue follow.]
  • Where are the Children? Healing the Legacy of Residential Schools Version 2.1: Exhibition; Travel – Launched in 2018
  • We Were So Far Away: The Inuit Experience of Residential Schools Version 1.1: Exhibition; 22 Banners – Launched in 2009 • Version 3.1: Exhibition; Travel – Launched in 2018
  • 100 Years of Loss: The Residential Schools System in Canada • Version 1.2: Exhibition – Launched in 2015
  • Killing the Indian in the Child: Generations Lost Version 2.1: Exhibition; Travel – Launched in 2018
  • A National Crime: The Residential School System in Canada Version 2.1: Exhibition; 5 Banners – Launched in 2018
  • Forgotten: The Métis Residential School Experience Version 2.1: Exhibition; Travel – Launched in 2018
  • Peter Henderson Bryce: A Man of Conscience Version 1.2: Exhibition; 5 Banners – Launched in 2018
  • Bi-Giwen: Coming Home -Truth -Telling from the Sixties Scoop Version 2.1: Exhibition; Travel – Launched in 2018
  • Youth on Reconciliation – Imagine A Canada Version 1.1: Exhibition; 10 Banners – Launched in 2018
  • Remembering, Honouring, and The Way Forward: 10 Years After the Residential School Apology Version 1.1: Exhibition; Travel – Launched June 11, 2018
  • Waniskahtan – Honouring the lives and legacies of Indigenous Women and Girls and 2SLGBTQ+Version 1.1: Exhibition; Travel – Launched in 2020
    • Please refer to the Legacy of Hope Foundation Educational Resources and Exhibition Catalogue for the welcome required floor space & shipping weight details for the exhibits, each with its “WARNING: This exhibition contains subject matter that may be disturbing to some visitors and may be triggering” linked at https://legacyofhope.ca/home/exhibitions/ .
• 2021. Anne Chafe, CEO, The Rooms Corporation e-mail to Thistle 14 June 2021: “Thank you for issuing this challenge. I thought you might be interested in knowing that we opened just such an exhibition last year on October 1, 2020 [until October 4, 2021]. Information on it can be found here: https://www.therooms.ca/exhibits/now/in-their-own-words-life-for-labrador-students-at-residential-school . We also have an online resource containing personal stories from students here https://www.therooms.ca/healing-and-commemoration “The Healing and Commemoration Collection was launched on The Rooms website on September 2, 2020 to provide former students of Labrador and Newfoundland residential schools the opportunity to add their voices to the National conversation of Truth and Reconciliation.”
  • • “The exhibit [In Their Own Words: Life for Labrador Students at Residential School] will be here in St. John’s until October 2021 then we are looking at travelling it to our Regional Museum in North West River, Labrador, where one of the residential schools was located. There is also a companion travelling exhibition be developed by our Federal partners but due to COVID that project has been delayed. We also developed an education kit that does travel throughout our province. https://www.therooms.ca/programs-events/school-youth-programs/edu-kits/healing-and-commemoration-edukit [Teacher Resource Guide].
    • . . .in 2017, a team was sent to Labrador, St. John’s and Ottawa to gather stories from those students. This exhibition combines artifacts, artworks and archival material to tell the story of those former students, through their own eyes and in their own words.
  • 2021. School Programmes: “Residential School Reflection & Reconciliation Art Action (Grade 6-9)” Royal Ontario Museum at https://www.rom.on.ca/en/whats-on/indigenous-voices/residential-school-reflection-reconciliation-art-action (accessed 1 July 2021).
    • Designed for K-12 students and teachers, Indigenous Voices episodes feature Indigenous ROM educators and guest speakers as they highlight distinct ancestral objects, share stories, and offer arts-based activities that celebrate living Indigenous cultures.
    • SENSITIVE TOPIC WARNING Invited guest Tsimshan/Dididaht/Nuu-chah-nulth arts educator Pamela Carter, Red Medicine Woman, respectfully reflects on the impact of residential schools. Learners will participate in a reflective action-based art activity to advance awareness and compassion.
  • 2021.“Art, activism and residential schools part of new exhibits at Canadian Museum for Human Rights” by Brittany Hobson, May 02, 2021 Canadian Museum for Human Rights https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/art-activism-and-residential-schools-part-of-new-exhibits-at-canadian-museum-for-human-rights/ (accessed 1 July 2021):
    • Two new exhibits exploring the impact of residential schools are opening at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights this week, including the first public display since 2017 of the large scale project the Witness Blanket. [also see Witness Blanket 2019).
    • The Winnipeg-based museum is hosting the North American premiere of Artivism, an international exhibit using art to share the stories of mass atrocities and genocides across the world including the creation of residential schools, and Witness Blanket: Preserving a Legacy.
  • 2021. Woodland Cultural Centre. “Save the Evidence.” Brantford, ON: Woodland Cultural Centre at https://woodlandculturalcentre.ca/the-campaign/ (accessed 15 June. 2021).
    • . . . raise awareness and support for the restoration of the former Mohawk Institute Residential School [1828-1970], and to develop the building into an Interpreted Historic Site and Educational Resource. As a site of conscience, the final goal is to create a fully-realized Interpretive Centre that will be the definitive destination for information about the history of Residential Schools in Canada, the experiences of Survivors of the schools, and the impact that the Residential School system has had on our communities.
  • UPDATE 8 JULY 2021: In relation to the above Woodland Cultural Centre adaptive re-use project, it is of interest that the Old Sun Indian Residential School, established on the Siksika (Blackfoot) reserve near Gleichen (modern-day Alberta) in 1883, ceased operation “in the 1960s.” It was adaptively re-used a Blackfoot adult education centre . In 1988 it the Province of Alberta legislated it as the Old Sun Community College run by the Blackfoot Nation (Old Sun Community College [2021?]). According to Vivian, Ayoungman, (herself a survivor of the IRS) an instructor & coordinator of the Siksika Research and Development Department at the college, although some survivors of the IRS cannot bring themselves to enter the building, it has become a place to celebrate Siksika culture & for example to teach the traditional language taken away from students at the school (CBC Radio 2021).
  • 2020. “Portraits mask painful past of residential schools in touring exhibit.” Vancouver Island Free Daily by Mike Youds Mar. 22, 2020 11:00 a.m. at the Alberni Valley Museum, Port Alberni, BC at https://www.vancouverislandfreedaily.com/community/portraits-mask-painful-past-of-residential-schools-in-touring-exhibit/ (accessed 1 July 2021). “Visiting exhibition offers unique insight into residential schools” . . . Speaking to Memory/Project of Heart, a pair of travelling exhibits on show that recently arrived at the Alberni Valley Museum.
    • “It’s a three-way partnership with the school district and the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council,” said Shelley Harding, museum co-ordinator.
    • Speaking to Memory is comprised of dozens of black-and-white photographs, a uniquely personal glimpse into the disturbing legacy of the residential school nightmare. They were taken in the late 1930s and early 1940s, mostly by Beverley Brown when she was a young student at St. Michael’s school in Alert Bay. Brown hailed from Bella Bella and was given a camera by her father earlier on. She took hundreds of photos, later donating her collection to UBC’s Museum of Anthropology.
    • At the centre of this emotional tempest rests a calming, cathartic installation — the Project of Heart Canoe — a collective expression from the heart, infused with hope, inspiration and a desire to heal. The symbolic canoe was built by Tsleil-waututh carver Derrick George and his three sons, who presented it to B.C. Teachers Federation as part of a Truth and Reconciliation commemoration project in 2012. . . Since then the sculpture, covered with 6,000 handwritten tiles honouring victims, survivors and their families, has become a permanent installation in the U’Mista Museum, located next to the ruins of the St. Michael’s residential school in Alert Bay.

    • 

      Author’s image of the former St. Michael’s IRS (closed 1974) taken in 1984 while I was visiting the nearby Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw U’mista Cultural Centre (opened in 1980 to house repatriated potlatch artifacts) located on Quadra Island in Alert Bay. At the time, it was serving as the First Nation’s office. The building was demolished in 2015 at the behest of the local community because, “It represented all that was wrong with Canada during that time,” according to Chief Robert Joseph CBC News (2015). Note the rather ironic nature of the red brick structure painted white with the brick colour showing through. In heritage structure preservation terms, painting brick does not work well. By the time the building was torn down in 2015 the white colouration had nearly disappeared.  See image in CBC News (2015) [UPDATE 5 JULY 2021].

  • 2020. “We Were Taught Differently: The Indian Residential School Experience.” Travelling exhibit opening 15 February 2020 at The Welland Museum circulated by another small museum, The Lake of the Woods Museum, Kenora, ON at https://www.wellandmuseum.ca/we-were-taught-differently/ (accessed 1 July 2021):
    • This exhibit examines the Indian residential school experience, most particularly in the two schools that were located in Kenora, Ontario – Cecilia Jeffrey and St. Mary’s. It also includes mention of all six schools in Treaty #3, as many local residents were sent to schools outside the immediate Kenora area. The exhibit is reflective of the residential school experience across Canada, nation-wide.
    • Powerful images, text, video, archival material and personal recollections combine to tell the story of the residential school experience. Visitors will learn why residential schools were established, what life in the schools was like, the legacy.
  • 2020. “Travelling exhibits detailing residential schools stop at museum ‘Witness Blanket’ and ‘We were taught differently’ run until Nov. 30” Sep 27, 2020 4:45 PM by BradfordToday Staff at https://www.bradfordtoday.ca/local-news/travelling-exhibits-detailing-residential-schools-stop-at-museum-2744143 (accessed 1 July 2021) [Both of these exhibits have appeared at several small museums. Also see Witness Blanket (2019)].
  • 2019.“New tems swiya exhibit reveals history of residential school on Sunshine Coast.” Coast Reporter at the tems swiya Museum, Sunshine Coast, BC. Oct 1, 2019 1:29 PM at https://www.coastreporter.net/local-news/new-tems-swiya-exhibit-reveals-history-of-residential-school-on-sunshine-coast-3413181 (accessed 1 July 2021).
    • newest exhibit, kelkelus ?e she welh xwuxwulh t’i walh wixiw tems staw [Tears of the Past Revealing our True Story]. “It’s right here in our community. We can’t not tell this history,” said Raquel Joe, the museum’s curator. . . unveiled at the shíshálh Nation museum following a poignant ceremony for Orange Shirt Day – a national day of remembrance honouring survivors of residential school.
    • Some images are graphic, such as a strap and handcuffs used on children. Equally unequivocal are text displays of the accounts of elders who were physically abused and barred from speaking their language and practising their customs.
    • While these details have proven raw for many, including for Joe, who is a descendent of a residential school survivor and day scholar, elders in the community gave Joe permission to convey the stories. “They said yes, tell everything.”
    • “We’re not going to forget our past, we’re not going to forget what happened in that residential school, but we have to look forward to our future, we have to look forward to where we’re going,” he said.
  • 2015. “Exhibit created from 800 pieces of residential school history opens at CMHR on eve of final TRC report.” Canadian Museum for Human Rights:
    • Winnipeg – December 14, 2015 – A battered shoe. Braids of hair. A hockey trophy. A wooden door. A black‐and‐white photograph. A piece of stained glass. They are silent witnesses to the Indian residential schools era (1870–1996). Together with 800 other objects collected from 77 sites all across Canada, they have been given a voice in a 12‐metre‐long artwork created by artist Carey Newman as a national monument to the children at https://humanrights.ca/news/exhibit-created-from-800-pieces-of-residential-school (accessed 1 July 2021) [see Witness Blanket (2019).
  • 2014. “Canadian Museum of History hosts Residential Schools exhibition,” Gatineau, Quebec, June 6, 2014 at https://www.historymuseum.ca/media/canadian-museum-of-history-hosts-residential-schools-exhibition/ (accessed 1 July 2021).
    • In recognition of National Aboriginal History Month, . . . pleased to present the travelling exhibition 100 Years of Loss – The Residential School System in Canada. . . examines the emergence of the Residential School System from the early days of European expansion into North America, and traces its legacy to the present. Reproductions of archival photographs, works of art, primary documents and recent research reveal the histories of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children who were forcibly removed from their families and institutionalized in residential schools. The exhibition has previously toured schools, colleges, universities, galleries, community centres, and has been on display at Truth and Reconciliation Commission events.
  • 2014. Peterson, Hanna. 2021. “’Built on trust’: Lheidli T’enneh and Exploration Place model journey of reconciliation: ‘They work hand-in-hand with us.’” Prince George Citizen Jun 21, 2021 5:30 AM https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/local-news/built-on-trust-lheidli-tenneh-and-exploration-place-model-journey-of-reconciliation-3885384 (accessed 27 June 2021).
    • Exploration Place, a small museum in Prince George BC, & the local Lheidli T’enneh First Nation have worked together to preserve and showcase the living culture of the Lheidli T’enneh and promote a better understanding of history. This partnership eventually brought in an exhibit called Where are the Children, [at some point before 2013] which told the story of Canada’s Residential School System and included Elders from all over northern B.C. . . when the exhibit opened, an Elder approached her and told her it was the first time she had been able to talk to her grandchildren about her experiences.

References Cited:

Al Mallees, Nojoud. 2021. “First Nation communities to lead ‘Resilience Day’ events on July 1.” · CBC News Posted: Jun 30, 2021 9:00 AM AT at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/resilience-day-new-brunswick-1.6084907 (accessed 1 July 2021).

CBC News. 2016. “Buffy Sainte-Marie calls for adults only exhibit on residential schools at Canadian Museum for Human Rights.” Cree musician wants to see exhibit on realities too graphic for children CBC News Last Updated: October 4, 2016 CBC News at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/cmhr-buffy-sainte-marie-1.3791663 (accessed 1 July 2021).

CBC News. 2015. “Alert Bay residential school survivors celebrate demolition.” All Points West CBC News  posted Feb 15, 2015 6:00 AM PT at https://i.cbc.ca/1.2954366.1423717776!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_780/st-michael-s-indian-residential-school.jpg (accessed 4 July 2021) [UPDAT 5 JULY 2021].

CBC Radio. 2021. “Beaten for speaking Blackfoot at residential school, this Siksika woman now teaches it in the same building.” The Current posted 29 June 2021 12:0:08 PM ET at https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-june-29-2021-1.6083307/beaten-for-speaking-blackfoot-at-residential-school-this-siksika-woman-now-teaches-it-in-the-same-building-1.6083309 (accessed 8 July 2021).

Carrigg, David 2021 Two Catholic churches burn to ground on First Nations’ land overnight.” Vancouver Sun posted 21 June 10 p.m. PDT at https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/two-catholic-churches-burn-to-ground-on-first-nations-land-overnight/ar-AALhORy?ocid=mailsignout&li=AAggNb9 (accessed 22 June 2021).

Darryl Dyck. 2021. “Royal British Columbia Museum working with Indigenous groups on school records.” The Williams Lake Tribune THE CANADIAN PRESS posted Monday, May 31, 2021 at https://www.wltribune.com/news/royal-british-columbia-museum-working-with-indigenous-groups-on-school-records/ (accessed 13 June 2021).

Global News. 2021. “Another church on B.C. First Nations land targeted by arson: Chief.” Global News posted 5:00 p.m. 27 June by Simon Little at https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/another-church-on-bc-first-nations-land-targeted-by-arson-chief/ar-AALvwwl?ocid=mailsignout&li=AAggNb9 (accessed 27 June 2021).

Haaland, Deb 2021. “Deb Haaland, the U.S. interior secretary, is the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary.” The Washington Post June 11, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. EDT at https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/11/deb-haaland-indigenous-boarding-schools/ (accessed 21 June 2021).

Old Sun Community College. [1921?] “About Us: Residential School to College.” Old Sun Community College at  http://oldsuncollege.ca/index.php/about-us/ (accessed 6 July 2021).

Skjerven. Kelly. 2021. “751 unmarked graves found at former Saskatchewan residential school.” Global News at  https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/751-unmarked-graves-found-at-former-saskatchewan-residential-school/ar-AALoAy2?ocid=mailsignout&li=AAggNb9 (accessed 24 June 2021).

Thibault, Alissa. 2021. “What should happen to Kamloops shoe memorial at Vancouver Art Gallery? CTV News Vancouver Last Updated Saturday, June 12, 2021 6:31PM PDT at https://bc.ctvnews.ca/what-should-happen-to-kamloops-shoe-memorial-at-vancouver-art-gallery-1.5467857

Wells, Nick. 2021. “Identifying children’s remains at B.C. residential school stalled by lack of records.” The Canadian Press Published Thursday, June 3, 2021 5:50AM EDT at https://www.cp24.com/news/identifying-children-s-remains-at-b-c-residential-school-stalled-by-lack-of-records-1.5454305 (accessed 15 June 2021).

Witness Blanket. 2019. “Witness Blanket: A National Monument to recognize the atrocities of Indian Residential Schools.” Victoria, BC at http://witnessblanket.ca/#!/project/  (accessed 1 July 2021).