If Reconciliation is the medicine and treatment for Canada’s national hurt, then Truth is the essential diagnosis. When it comes to the malady of Indigenous mental health services, the workers on the ground have provided a definitive diagnosis, but the prognosis remains dire so long as a treatment plan is not adequately funded.

Canada is a wounded country today. The legacy of Indigenous trauma, being revealed in more painful detail every day, is not a new injury. It’s a very old and deep wound that has been left undressed for far too long. And we’ve been losing lives this whole time. As with any wound that’s left untreated, the symptoms and complications this country is experiencing today — including the epidemic of mental health disorders and addictions— have advanced to become distinct ailments of their own, in need of decisive treatment before the underlying injury can even begin to heal.

This is the essential recursive nature of Truth and Reconciliation. To reconcile with Canada’s past, we must first gaze honestly and open-eyed at the fullness of that history. But there’s no way to access the heart of that Truth without first understanding and reconciling the ways in which the wrongs of yesterday continue to echo in the harms of today.

“The intergenerational trauma in Indigenous communities, from residential schools, from unmarked graves, from a host of other issues, remains unresolved,” says Thunderbird Partnership Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer Carol Hopkins. “For First Nations people in Canada, trauma is not an individual burden, it’s endemic to the people. Loss of land, loss of our connection to culture, loss of the connection to our original languages. This trauma carries from generation to generation. And when you go to provincial services for help with the mental health implications of that trauma, you are met with a system that doesn’t understand the harms of colonization, that’s barely even aware of residential school issues. That puts the burden on the individual seeking services to provide training to their service providers. In order for them to be effective in helping you, you first have to educate them.”

The need is clear. The solution is known

The Thunderbird Partnership Foundation is a national organization providing support for youth and adult addiction treatment programs in First Nations communities across Canada. With an Indigenous worldview, Thunderbird promotes the use of culture-based practises in concert with the most modern mainstream treatment frameworks. They conduct research, engage in knowledge translation, provide training and education, and work with policymakers to create an environment that supports the healing of trauma in a context that speaks the same language as the original hurt.

Today, Thunderbird and its allies have diagnosed the full extent of the impacts of addiction and mental health service gaps in Canada’s Indigenous communities, and they have delivered a clear 5-point treatment plan to the federal government. Their recommendation includes strengthening support for the culturally informed interventions that actually work, but the primary focus of the plan is on a much larger problem that prevents even the best approaches from succeeding: capacity, pay, and funding inequity.

Overqualified and underfunded

Indigenous communities across Canada have been hard at work building the infrastructure and training the talent for world-class treatment programs. These programs are highly accredited, deeply rooted in Indigenous Knowledge, and they can boast treatment success rates that would be the envy of most provinces. And yet, due to persistent funding shortfalls and jurisdictional uncertainty, the workers who staff these programs continue to earn up to 45 per cent less than their peers in the provincial systems. As a result, staff turnover rates can be as high as 50 per cent, despite the urgent need for stability of care in these communities. 

“How can we keep our skilled workers when they could make the same salary serving hamburgers as what they earn delivering trauma-informed, culturally based services to First Nations people?” Hopkins asks. “We’ve always been operating with the good faith belief that, if we just do this one more thing, get this one more accreditation, jump through this one last hoop, it will result in more funding. But it hasn’t. Yes, there have been small increments of funding over the years, but there has been nothing to address the fundamental deficit these programs are operating within.”

The work of Reconciliation begins here

The persistent underfunding of critical community care services, such as mental health and addiction treatment is the salt in Canada’s national wound. Even as First Nations communities, with the support of organizations such as Thunderbird, have gone above and beyond in their efforts to support the healing and wellness of the people, Canada has been unwilling to fully respond. “It can’t be the case, especially in this climate of Reconciliation, that our people continue to be told that their only option for mental health services is a provincial system that may be only beginning to understand colonization, racism, or collective trauma,” says Hopkins. “People who need support in our communities are being left without equity. The resource capacity that enables publicly funded addiction and mental health services available to every other Canadian are not available to a First Nations person.”

This is the Truth. And what happens without Reconciliation is all too clear. No matter how we treat this wound, the country will be left with a nasty scar drawn through deaths due to contaminated drugs, trauma-induced mental illnesses, addictions, and broken promises. The question before us now is how much longer will we ask these communities to struggle without the help they have a right too? Because regardless of what happens next, Indigenous communities will absolutely survive. They will draw on their resilience and their culture and fight for their wellness — as they have always done. But perhaps, reconciliation will bring some perspective and First Nations will not be looked upon as a deficit to Canada but rather with respect for the First Peoples of the land.

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In Indigenous communities across the country, access to mental health services and successful mental health outcomes remain beset with barriers and persistent inequity. At this time of Truth and Reconciliation, a robust understanding of Indigenous mental wellness disparities — the kind of understanding that only comes through comprehensive scientific research — is indispensable. But, critically, in order for that research to truly illuminate the shape of this gap, it must have an Indigenous lens fixed firmly in place. It must engage with Indigenous voices and respect Indigenous ways of knowing. 

The time is past for looking in from the outside. It’s time instead for the convergence of expertise and perspective provided by Indigenous researchers working in fields like nursing.

Nothing about us without us

“New Indigenous nursing researchers being mentored under the BC Chair program acknowledge it’s a time for bringing ancient wisdom into the original tapestry of today’s nursing world,” explains Lisa Bourque Bearskin, CIHR Indigenous Health Research Chair in Nursing and associate professor at Thompson Rivers University (TRU). “A time where Indigenous nurses’ unique contributions are brought into focus, and we recognize that we cannot sacrifice the old for the new or the new for the old, but we have to bring them into balance in the centre of the collective whole. Through Indigenous nurse-led research, these personal, professional, and public spaces will require us to negotiate a place where both can be incorporated into new ways of thinking.”

This torch of understanding has been picked up by TRU’s Master of Nursing student Nikki Hunter-Porter, a member of the St’uxwtéws Secwepemc First Nation. At this early point in her career, Hunter-Porter has already worked in eight different First Nations communities, accruing first-hand experience in the mental wellness gaps that persist in British Columbia, as they do in Canada on the whole. Hunter-Porter drew on this experience to formulate the essential research questions and, as a direct and recent descendant of residential school and Sixties Scoop survivors, felt equipped to ask these questions with the empathy and perspective the subject required. 

“This research aims to determine the social, cultural, and systemic factors that influence the delivery of mental health wellness services to the Peoples of my home community St’uxwstews, a rural First Nations community in British Columbia, with opportunities to create positive impacts within other First Nations communities,” explains Hunter-Porter. “The research is grounded in the strengths of St’uxwstews and First Nations Peoples while acknowledging the barriers and challenges that exist within the mental health-care systems and structures. Indigenous research methodologies will be used as an overarching framework to embed Indigenous thinkers, voices, knowledge, cultural practices, protocols, and concerns in every step of the research process.”

Even the best question, unfunded, goes unanswered

Though research of this type is chronically underfunded, Hunter-Porter — with the aid of Bourque Bearskin — was able to apply for, and receive support from independent research and development not-for-profit Mitacs in partnership with Mental Health Research Canada.

“Seeing the proposal for this project was just unbelievable,” says Candice Loring, Senior Advisor, Indigenous Relations and Initiatives at Mitacs. “It matters so much to have people like Nikki working in these places, people who don’t come to this from a place of sympathy and pity, but from a true place of understanding and leading with the heart. Historically, research was done on Indigenous people and not for, with, or by Indigenous people. What Hunter-Porter is doing is taking the voices of all the Indigenous people in her community, weaving those voices together, and creating a platform for better awareness and policy in how we approach Indigenous mental health.”

Knowledge from the Secwepemc Peoples, for the Secwepemc Peoples

Hunter-Porter’s project “Exploring the Experiences of First Nations Mental Wellness with Skú7pecen (Porcupine),” is rooted within stseptékwlls, the traditional oral Secwepemc teachings and stories, held since time immemorial and passed down through generations. She sees this as a way to centre local values, knowledge, and tradition into the work for the benefit of the whole community, herself included. “Through this research process, I’ve been able to reconnect with my home community, learn about my family’s history and traditional knowledge systems, and understand how important it’s to protect our knowledge as Secwepemc Peoples,” says Hunter-Porter. “I always acknowledge my knowledge teachers and mentors, my family, and my Secwepemc Nation, as this is how we continue to build upon and protect our traditional Indigenous knowledge to continue to support our people in their health and wellness journeys.”

Hunter-Porter’s research is ongoing, and while the potential positive mental health outcomes of her project are profound, they represent just one bright light of hope in a wide sea of persisting inequity and need. The road to Truth and Reconciliation will lead through many other such projects in many disciplines, led by Indigenous researchers around Canada with similarly personal — but individually unique — experience and empathy. The questions remain for all of us whether we will work to ensure that these voices, too, are supported.

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The Ohpikiwin Series: Journey to financial empowerment helps young Indigenous entrepreneurs realize their dream of launching a successful business.

Young entrepreneurs drive Canada’s economic growth, prosperity, and innovation. But the startup process can be challenging. It takes skills, mentoring, and financing to successfully take a new product or service from idea to launch. 

As Canada’s only national, non-profit organization providing financing, mentoring, and support tools to business owners aged 18–39, Futurpreneur has helped more than 16,500 diverse young entrepreneurs launch over 13,000 businesses in every province and territory since its inception in 1996.

Developing business capacity and entrepreneurship skills

Futurpreneur recently launched the Ohpikiwin Series: Journey to financial empowerment, dedicated to the financial empowerment of young, aspiring Indigenous entrepreneurs in developing their financial business capacity and entrepreneurship skills. “Indigenous youth are one of the largest demographic youth segments in Canada and an integral part of the nation’s economic development and growth,” says Karen Greve Young, CEO of Futurpreneur Canada. “Ensuring they’re equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to identify a gap in the market, develop a viable business plan, and establish their small business is essential to the health and wellness of our future economies in myriad ways, including creating new jobs and providing services honouring Indigenous culture, history, values, and much more,” says Greve Young.

The name Ohpikiwin means “growth” in Cree. “It resonated with us for its meaning, which aligns with my team’s overarching goal to continue to grow the number of Indigenous-owned businesses started and to foster Indigenous economic growth and resilience nationwide,” says Holly Atjecoutay, Director of Futurpreneur’s Indigenous Entrepreneur Startup Program.

Supporting strong Indigenous economy

The Ohpikiwin Series will be co-designed in collaboration with Indigenuity Consulting Group Inc., an Indigenous-owned company, which works alongside various Indigenous communities, community members, elders, knowledge keepers, entrepreneurs and Indigenous-led organizations, and be delivered in partnership with Youth Business International and Accenture as part of their Indigenous Entrepreneur Startup Program (IESP) to further drive economic inclusion and resilience into Indigenous communities. IESP provides qualifying participants with financing of up to $60,000, access to resources and workshops, and matches them with an experienced mentor for up to two years. Since Futurpreneur’s IESP was established in 2019, more than 100 young Indigenous entrepreneurs have been able to pursue their dreams of launching a business. 

“The main goal of the Ohpikiwin Series: Journey to financial empowerment is to empower young Indigenous entrepreneurs and provide supports to foster the success and growth of Indigenous small businesses across the country, which we believe are the foundation of a strong Indigenous economy and will greatly bolster Indigenous economic development,” says Greve Young.

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Canada thrives when all of us are connected, and connecting Indigenous communities is critical on the path to Reconciliation. While Canada’s communications technology companies like TELUS are well known for spearheading connectivity in Indigenous communities — TELUS has thus far connected 151 communities in 91 First Nations to 5G and fibre networks — they’re also taking the initiative on another equally important type of connection: the connection to investment capital.

The $100 million TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good is a corporate social impact fund launched in 2020 with a mission to drive responsible innovation across the broad areas of agriculture, health care, the environment, and building inclusive communities. “We have diversity and inclusiveness built into how we operate, so we’re looking to address systemic biases and limitations with respect to access to capital,” says Blair Miller, Managing Partner, TELUS Pollinator Fund. “Over 50 per cent of our founders today within the portfolio are Indigenous and racialized people, and almost half of our portfolio companies are led by women.” 

Respectful investing in Indigenous business

Recognizing the importance of collaboration, especially in Indigenous spaces, one of the Pollinator Fund’s first investments was in Raven Indigenous Capital Partners. Raven’s Impact Capital Fund is creating an Indigenous-led partnership empowered to specifically maximize the impact of investments as a means for addressing issues of systemic racism, bias, resource disparity, and inequality that beset Indigenous businesses and communities. “We knew that having an informed partner was essential to operating respectfully in the Indigenous business community, especially considering the issues of colonization and the historical trauma surrounding money and the effects of capital,” says Miller. “Raven was exactly what we were looking for.”

The Pollinator Fund was part of Raven’s initial $25 million Fund I raise and is reinvesting for a second time. As Raven recently launched Fund II, the partnership is providing critical support and resources to an array of Indigenous founders and businesses, beyond just capital. One of their most significant successes has been Virtual Gurus – which also joined the list of portfolio companies for the Pollinator Fund in early 2021. Today the company boasts the largest network of virtual administrative assistants in North America and Canada’s first successful Series A tech startup led by an Indigenous woman. But the path taken by Virtual Gurus CEO Bobbie Racette to get here was not an easy one. “She’d had so many rejections in terms of accessing capital to grow the business, and yet she persisted and found a way to move forward,” says Miller. “She’s the personification of grit.”

This is an example of the Indigenous entrepreneurs, businesses, and communities that are striving to make a difference for Indigenous Peoples across the country. On National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30), the hope is that partnerships like that between Raven and the Pollinator Fund can continue to empower Indigenous-led businesses and Indigenous Peoples.

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dion simons

medicine trail coordinator, iniskim centre, artist

dr. tim rahilly

president & vice chancellor, mount royal university

in calgary, alberta, the campus of mount royal university is alive with the indigenous knowledge of the niitsitapi blackfoot territory on which it sits. the university has committed to a path toward indigenization and decolonization that’s redefining higher education in canada.

to say that the relationship between canada’s indigenous people and institutions of learning is complicated would be an unforgivable understatement. with the dark history of residential schools and unmarked graves in the forefront of canadian consciousness, the spirit of truth and reconciliation now requires an especially empathetic commitment to progress and healing from our nation’s colleges and universities. in calgary, mount royal university (mru) is putting everything on the table in pursuit of a truly inclusive and culturally responsible environment for understanding and learning.

with a charter dating back to 1910, the mru campus sits on niitsitapi blackfoot territory, treaty 7 land. appreciating, revitalizing, and reintegrating the knowledge of that land and the people it belongs to is essential to the future of the university, according to dr. linda manyguns, mru’s associate vice-president of indigenization and decolonization.

“this is where our histories are,” says dr. manyguns. “the most important hope is that through indigenization, with the help of all our faculty and students, everyone who comes to the university will understand indigenous knowledge and the indigenous history of canada in a way that has not historically been taught. colonizers write their own history books, and indigenous history has long been specifically and intentionally removed from the text. this has directly led to the current state of confusion and suffering, and that’s what we are trying to address at mount royal university. decolonization and indigenization are two sides of the same coin.”

indigenization and decolonization at every level of university life

the school’s indigenization and decolonization efforts are evident in the classroom, where instructors and elders-in-residence are incorporating invaluable indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing into teachings from literature to physics and from geography to botany. the commitment is evident on the campus grounds, where ceremonial spaces have been created and a hundred saskatoon bushes are being planted. and the philosophy is also evident in the administrative offices, where mru president dr. tim rahilly has been championing the institution’s overarching indigenous strategy.

“through the implementation of our indigenous strategic plan, we will continue to indigenize and decolonize mount royal university,” says dr. rahilly. “there were many consultations that helped articulate the goals and there’s more important work that remains ahead of us but it’s essential that we start with a broad acknowledgement of the truth.”

truth, after all, comes before reconciliation. indigenous truths have too long been buried in this country, often under the guise of education. but indigenous truth and knowledge is profoundly resilient. “we know that indigenous knowledge has its own power,” says dr. manyguns. “the knowledge survived the residential schools. it survived the devastation, the damage, and the focused attacks of assimilation and destruction of culture that have persisted since the 1800s here in canada. it survived because there’s a deep value of respect and honesty and truth that animates that knowledge. everybody can understand that. the simplicity of the knowledge is what makes it malleable enough to fit into these academic places. as former senator murray sinclair said: education got us into this mess and education will get us out.”

nothing about us without us: indigenous stewardship of indigenous knowledge

for this reinvention of education to take root in earnest, it’s necessary that it be planted in the soil of empathy and inclusion. indigenous ways of knowing belong to the indigenous peoples, and the principles of belonging, respect, and truth dictate that they must come to mainstream canada through indigenous stewardship.

“i believe we’ve made great strides here at mount royal campus and that students are understanding the importance of building a relationship with indigenous peoples and indigenous history,” says dion simon, medicine trail coordinator at mru’s iniskim centre. “the goal is to have graduates walk into their chosen fields with a level of indigenous knowledge that they can apply practically to assist their work in the community. we want to give our students a traditional indigenous experience, so that they can use those tools and concepts to collaborate with indigenous peoples in their field.”

as a potent symbol of that collaboration, jill bear chief, daughter of elder-in-residence roy bear chief, has crafted a design giving visual embodiment to ten indigenous teachings to guide the future of education and land-based learning at mru. the design and teachings encompass philosophies that have been illuminated over the course of many years through consultations between elder-in-residence roy bear chief, elder grandmother doreen spence, one of canada’s first licensed indigenous nurses, and an mru honorary doctor of laws recipient, and others in the indigenous community. this design conveys the power and importance of indigenous ways of knowing, and it represents a vow of understanding between the university and the indigenous communities.

a promise not made lightly

it’s through gestures like this that we make the possibility of truth and reconciliation tangible. but even the most compelling image of the future is without substance unless we put in the hard work to make it real. the administration at mru understands the weight of this responsibility and is committed to following the guidance of indigenous knowledge in the ongoing indigenization and decolonization of the university, its curriculum, and its culture.

“i’m proud that mru is a place that embraces indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing through supporting indigenous learners and sharing indigenous experiences with the many students, faculty, and staff that make up our campus community,” says dr. rahilly. “instructors are rethinking how they teach by considering a culturally responsive curriculum. leaders are being thoughtful about what we’re trying to accomplish as a university and providing necessary direction. mount royal is a university that responds to the needs of our community. i believe that the difficult conversations and work required around truth, reconciliation, and decolonization is part of a commitment we have made as a nation that includes those who choose to come to mru.”

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As an Anishnawbe Kwe from Nipissing First Nation, I celebrate Truth and Reconciliation Day and recognize it as an important opportunity for discussion. It is a time for all of us to think, reflect, and gather our thoughts and feelings, with intention, while keeping our hearts and conversations open about the continuing and aftereffects of Indigenous oppression throughout Canada.

Indigenous peoples have experienced generations of oppression but remain resilient. Our history is filled with many examples but the confirmation of Indigenous children who passed without ceremony and who were unaccounted for is a poignant example of the dreadful experiences Indigenous children faced at former residential schools across the county.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the survivors and their families who showed incredible courage in telling their stories as part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It is unfortunate that it took the confirmation of remains of mass Indigenous children’s graves, 16 years after the completion of the work of the Commission, to capture the country’s attention.

According to the Truth and Reconciliation Report’s (2015) definition of reconciliation, it is “about establishing and maintaining a mutually and respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. For that to happen, there must be awareness of the past, and acknowledgement of the harm that was inflicted, atonement for the causes, and action to change behaviour.” With each truth there is a time to reconcile, then to learn and accept another truth, and reconcile. It is a continuous journey that is multifaceted. A journey that can change behaviour by honouring treaties, respecting Indigenous culture, acknowledging rights and title, eradicating false negative perceptions and stereotypes, learning about Indigenous history, and building relationships.

One of our greatest means to learn and change behaviour is through national media. News of the missing children and grave sites at residential schools across the country garnered national exposure and that helped a great deal to bring attention to Canada’s history with Indigenous people. However, still today national media provides platforms to writers that deny the truth about Indigenous people experiences, specifically those of people at Canada’s former residential schools. Some go as far to call the courageous stories fabricated and fear mongering.  Culture is defined by language, art, music, oral traditions, and way of life, which for most Indigenous people involved living off the land. When you take a defined culture that has been built through generations and reform it to fit a criterion for the purposes of assimilation, that is cultural genocide. An experience that is impossible to fabricate.

As President & CEO of Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) I want to share an additional truth with respect to the economy. In 1876, through the Indian Act (Indian Act | Canadian Encyclopedia), Indigenous inherent economic rights were systematically and expressly stripped. Many Canadians do not know that from 1881 until as recently as 2014; the Indian Act contained a permit system to control First Nations’ ability to sell products off the reserves. Until 1951, First Nations peoples were not considered Indians under the Indian Act if they obtained a post-secondary school degree, which then meant if you were a lawyer or an engineer or a doctor, your Indian status was stripped away.  We lost mentors and role models for our youth and the opportunity for intergenerational wealth, which made way to generations of financial struggle and trauma.

Since its inception 39 years ago, CCAB has been an advocate for rebuilding the Indigenous economy. We take pride in building bridges between Indigenous and non-Indigenous businesses, supporting Indigenous entrepreneurs and providing leadership through our research, programs, and mentorship to ensure Indigenous people are full participants in a joint economy in Canada.

Reflecting on the courage of survivors, it is now our turn to show courage – to listen, learn, to not be silent, and to ACT.

What We Have Learned: Principles of Truth and Reconciliation. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015, 118.

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What is your role as the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools?

As Independent Special Interlocutor, my role is to:

• Engage with Survivors, First Nations, Inuit and Métis governments, Indigenous organizations, Indigenous communities and families to gather information and input about barriers and concerns relating to the identification, preservation, and protection of unmarked graves and burial sites, including the exhumation and repatriation of remains, where desired.
• Provide information and liaise with relevant governments and organizations to assist Survivors, Indigenous families and communities to address barriers and navigate federal, provincial, territorial and municipal systems to support their search and recovery of the missing children. I will also do everything in my power to assist communities to obtain and preserve relevant information and records from Canada, the provinces and territories and any other institutions, such as church entities, universities and other record holders.
• Provide recommendations for a new federal legal framework to protect and preserve unmarked burial sites and support the recovery of the missing children. An important consideration in this regard will be how and what Indigenous laws apply.

Can you tell us more about the new federal framework that is underway and its role in ensuring the respectful and culturally appropriate treatment of unmarked graves and burial sites?

The Sacred work that Survivors and Indigenous communities have been leading to recover the children who were never returned home from Indian Residential Schools has revealed an urgent need for legislative, regulatory, and policy protections of former Indian Residential School sites and other associated sites. There are likely unmarked burials located at every former Indian Residential School Site across Canada, including both the Indian Residential Schools that are covered by the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement and those that were not recognized under that agreement.  In addition, there are many associated sites that need to be searched since children were often sent to other places from Indian Residential Schools, including hospitals, Indian hospitals, sanitoria, cemeteries, reformatory schools, and industrial schools.

There are significant gaps in legal protections at the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal levels to protect the sites pending searches and investigations, and from further development. In addition, there are barriers for Survivors, Indigenous families and communities leading this work to access relevant records to locate and identify the children who are recovered. Finally, there are questions about whether law reform or other measures are needed to support death investigations and, where appropriate, criminal prosecutions.  These are just some of the areas where gaps in legal protections are known to exist.  As I continue to meet with Survivors, Indigenous leaders, families and communities leading this work, I may also hear about other gaps in legal protections.  My final report and recommendations will be aimed at providing assistance to the federal government, and other governments, on how to ensure the protection of these sites so that the children are treated with the honour, respect and dignity that they deserve.

In terms of being able to achieve the goals of your position, are there any barriers?

There is a lot of complexity in the context of the search and recovery of the children who were never returned home from Indian Residential Schools. I do not want to talk about barriers to my work.  This work is too important and my goal is to deliver on my mandate within the timeframe provided.  Survivors, Indigenous families and communities have waited too long for action to be taken on this.  It has already been 7 years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada delivered its final report. Calls to Action 71 to 76 provide clear direction for all levels of government to take action to support this Sacred work.  In my role as Independent Special Interlocutor, my goal is to not contribute further to this delay.

Having said that, I can share some of the complexities of this work that those on the ground have been encountering that relate to the legal framework.  In speaking with Survivors, Indigenous families and communities leading this work it is clear that each site being searched is unique.  In some cases, the school buildings were moved multiple times within a site or to a completely different site.  In some cases, there are sites with a former Indian Residential School, cemetery, Indian hospital, all on the same site that need to be searched. In many cases, there are multiple types of ownership affecting sites that need to be searched; there may be federal lands, First Nations lands, provincial lands, private lands, and/or corporate lands.  In each of these types of lands, there are different laws that apply and private or corporate landowners have, in some cases, been blocking access to the sites.

How can Canadians ensure they are taking meaningful steps toward Truth and Reconciliation?

The fact that unmarked burials exist on former Indian Residential School sites across Canada changed Canada’s reputation both domestically and internationally.  Every Canadian has a role in supporting this Sacred work. Just as we would not tolerate the denigration of the graves of our own family members, each of us must stand up and call for respect and dignity to be shown to the children’s bodies and spirits who are being recovered.

It’s also important to highlight the role of different governments, institutions, entities and organizations in contributing to the operation of Indian Residential Schools.  People often think that the federal government and the church entities bear the sole responsibility of taking action in the context of the search for unmarked burials and the recovery of the children.  Certainly, the federal government and the churches share the majority of this responsibility; there is absolutely no doubt about that.  However, provinces, territorial governments and municipalities and other entities, such as universities, also hold records and they need to find and share these with those leading these searches.  In addition, in some cases, provinces, territorial governments and some universities actively participated in the administration and inspection of Indian Residential Schools.  As such, each of these governments, entities, institutions and organizations need to participate in supporting this Sacred work.

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