Next Friday, on September 27, all SMUS students will gather on their respective campuses to mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR). What began as “Orange Shirt Day” in 2013, thanks to the efforts of survivor Phyllis Webstad, has evolved into a statutory Canada-wide commemoration. The formalization of NDTR was also one of 94 “calls to action” issued by Canada’s National Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which spent several years gathering records and testimonies about the historical residential school system and its continuing legacy.
We felt it was important to remind our wider community of this upcoming commemoration, in part to emphasize its centrality in our school’s calendar. We also believe that offering insights into our approach could both inform and expand the potential for learning. Knowing when, why and how we engage with this subject can also better prepare you for those “teachable” moments that will inevitably arise.
It is fair to say that everyone in our learning community engages with this day in their own way, reflective of their unique backgrounds, experiences and understandings. For many students, particularly those who have grown up at SMUS, the day reflects another step in their learning about our colonial legacy.
For our international students, especially those new to school, the day can be unexpected, as they encounter, often for the first time, a dark chapter in our country’s troubled past. They then realize that its consequences are still very much in play today.
For some SMUS families, however, the harms caused by residential schools are unavoidably concrete-and current—and reflect their lived experiences, or those of their loved ones or their wider communities.
Guidance in approach
With all of this in mind, we have attempted to be very intentional in our approach to NDTR, and regularly consult local Elders (especially our Indigenous Guide Bill White of the Snuneymuxw Nation). Their advice and guidance, in turn, fundamentally informs the structure and content of our events, helping us to organize a programme that is, as much as possible, respectful to—and reflective of—how our traditional local communities approach such occasions.
With the help of our Guide, we have compiled a guiding document that we work through with all of our educators.
Here are a few particularly insightful excerpts:
“Our local peoples begin and end gatherings by celebrating the values they hold dear. When referring to negative experiences, they do so briefly, and even then only to frame the place of teachings to protect and surround. They would have us be especially careful when exposing children to negative events and experiences.”
“Chief Dan George spoke of this period of time as being his people’s 'sad winter.' It’s important to listen to community members so that we understand both what happened and the consequences that continue to impact Indigenous people. At the same time, our Elders would not have us dwell on the pain as this ‘brings darkness closer.’ We should understand why we’re marking NDTR but not draw the pain into our bodies and souls. For NDTR, it is enough to listen, understand, and commit to not imposing our values, so that this never again happens to any group.”
While our formal NDTR ceremonies unfold similarly on all three campuses, the discussions and learning that result are unique, reflecting the differing ages, levels of knowledge, and emotional maturity of each grade. At the Junior School, the focus is on beginning the conversation where the students are at: by talking about what it is like to be part of a family and community, and how being disconnected can be sad, lonely and scary. By Middle School, students are starting to learn more about the broad patterns, conditions and impacts of the system. But it is primarily in the Senior School where the truth becomes more specific and detailed, where students encounter specific survivor experiences, and where the intergenerational impacts are traced through to the present and connected to other events like the “Sixties Scoop”.
Ceremony proceedings
During the ceremonies, traditional songs and prayer are offered to surround and protect students, and a common story is read aloud, reminding us that “through the repetitive use of prayers, prayer songs, teachings, rites and rituals, the old people within the immediate Coast Salish region demonstrate protection and healing in order to ‘release energies that do not belong.’” Each year, a speaker is carefully selected in consultation with our guide, and invited to offer thought-provoking and age-appropriate remarks.
While our programming explicitly acknowledges the truth of what happened, it also emphasizes the richness, beauty and resilience of Indigenous communities and their cultures. Quite intentionally, the emotional heaviness inherent in exploring this history is counterbalanced with uplifting elements, such a Métis jig dance, traditional local teachings, and words of encouragement for how to move forward. And the day itself is bracketed by preparatory learning, reflective debriefings and intentionally celebratory moments in classrooms and Chapel presentations both before and after.
All of our teachers who facilitate these discussions—both before, during and after the official day of commemoration—have undergone training to ensure that they approach this learning in a way that is age-appropriate, trauma-informed, and reflective of the advice and guidance we have received. And to support students who feel strong emotions as a result of this learning, our counselling team is always standing by to sit with any who feel the need for additional support.
Witnessing the truth
Our guidance document for NDTR also emphasizes that the “Residential School period seriously damaged whole communities and generations of families.” But it also advises that “the “purpose of NDTR at SMUS is not to ‘fix’ this wrong or to feel guilty, but to bear witness to the truth of its continuing reality, connect with local Indigenous people, and celebrate the values and resiliency of their communities.” And do what we can to ensure that we “do not repeat actions which hurt and demean.”
We have also been reminded that “we have a tendency to bring the focus onto ourselves, making it about us: we did this terrible thing, it’s something for us to resolve. Here our Elders would ask us to ‘fix ourselves’ as NDTR is neither the time nor place for such energy and thoughts. We have been told that we ‘do not have permission to feel guilty.’ Instead, we can emphasize the values and living culture of Indigenous communities, and how their values can be put into action.”
Ultimately, our hope is that by learning the truth of residential schooling, our young people will be better equipped to address the lasting consequences of our colonial history, learn from our past, and ensure that we make better decisions moving forward. Hopefully we can become a model for all our students of what it can look like for a country to face up to its past in order to move forward in a good way.
Because Truth and Reconciliation are best approached with care and respect.
