INDIAN RESIDENTIAL, DAY,
AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS


Trigger warning: readers may be triggered by the recount of Indian Residential Schools. To access a 24-hour National Crisis Line, call: 1-866-925-4419. Community Assistance Program (CAP) can be accessed for citizens of the Anishinabek Nation: 1-800-663-1142.

Indian Residential School (IRS) Commemoration Monument

Please note that only those who attended Indian Residential Schools will be commemorated on the monument. Applications received from Day School students will be kept on file for data purposes only.

Consent and Nomination Form

In 2013, the Anishinabek Nation unveiled the Indian Residential School monument to pay tribute to Anishinabek Nation First Nations citizens (living or deceased) who attended Indian Residential Schools.

Today, we look to continue this tribute by adding the names of individuals from the 39 Anishinabek Nation First Nations who attend Residential School. If you wish to have an individual’s name honoured on this monument, this consent form is to be completed by the individual themselves or by an authorized family member on their behalf.



MONUMENT UNVEILING AND COMMEMORATION

NIPISSING FIRST NATION— On March 25, 2013, the Anishinabek Nation held a commemoration event at the Head Office located in Nipissing First Nation.

At the commemoration event, the unveiling of the honouring monument for all Anishinabek students who attended Indian Residential Schools was held. At the same time, the launching of the numerous resources that were developed to foster healing and promote education about the legacy of the Indian Residential School system was introduced.

The unveiling ceremony was an overall success with over 100 Anishinabek Nation citizens including Survivors and their families in attendance, and a move in the right direction.

The Anishinabek Nation is still accepting consent forms from Survivors (living or deceased) for their name to be included on one of the 10 plaques that will be placed on the monument.

The consent form can be found here; it can be picked up at the Anishinabek Nation Head Office or you can contact the Anishinabek Nation Reconciliation Manager at 705-497-9127 extension 2307.

Please enjoy the photos from the commemoration event. All photos where taken by Ed Regan – Regan Pictures and are the property of the Union of Ontario Indians.


 

Commemoration Initiatives

September 30 marks Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Over the past few years, several commemoration projects have been unveiled with more being announced every month. These projects include monuments, sculptures, parks, legacy projects, multi-media projects, education curriculum, special archives, and Survivors initiatives. These memorial projects will ensure that the truth and history of the Indian Residential Schools will never be forgotten.

**Truth and Reconciliation Commemoration Projects Map

An Interactive map identifying current IRS commemoration projects in Canada

https://residentialschoolsatlas.org/index.html?module=module.trcp

 

Memorials and Commemoration Projects

COMMEMORATION PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES

Commemoration is an important component of the process of reconciliation.  It will allow former students, their families, and their communities to pay tribute to, honour, educate, remember, memorialize, and acknowledge the systemic impacts and the intergenerational effects of the Indian Residential School system on Indigenous peoples and communities.

The objectives of Commemoration are to:

  • Assist in honouring and validating the healing and reconciliation of former students and their families by acknowledging their experiences;
  • Provide supports in an effort to improve relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people;
  • Provide an opportunity for former students and their families to support one another and to recognize/celebrate their strengths, courage, resiliency, and achievements;
  • Contribute to a sense of identity, unity, and belonging;
  • Promote Indigenous languages, cultures, traditional values, and spiritual beliefs;
  • Ensure the legacy of Indian Residential Schools, former students and their families’ experiences and needs are affirmed; and,

Memorialize the Indian Residential School experience in a tangible and permanent way.

 

Anishinabek Nation Memorial
https://www.anishinabek.ca/irscphome/

Orange Shirt Day
http://www.orangeshirtday.org/about-us.html

National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation Memorial Website
https://nctr.ca/memorial/

Shubenacadie IRS Commemoration Project
https://www.facebook.com/IRSCommemoration/

The Children Remembered: Residential School Archives Project
https://thechildrenremembered.ca/

Project of Heart: Canada’s National Cemetery exhibits 57,000 Project of Heart tiles as part of National Day of Truth and Reconciliation
https://projectofheart.ca/

Mount Elgin IRS Monument
https://anishinabeknews.ca/2021/11/04/the-story-of-the-chippewas-of-the-thames-indian-residential-school-monument/

 

Upcoming Commemoration Projects

 

 

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Indian Residential, Day, and Industrial Schools

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