There is a petition that will help to preserve Residential School records in Canada. Photo of SAIT students during a Truth and Reconciliation event by Stephen Strand
A petition has been started to prevent Residential School documents from being destroyed.
This petition was filed by Tiana Vrbanik in partnership with the Anishinabek Mukwa Dodem, which is the traditional governing body of the Anishinabek Nation, and is calling for the federal government to ensure all residential school records are preserved.
This petition is also being supported by Conservative Member of Parliament, William “Billy” Morin IV, who was also the Chief of Enoch Cree Nation from August 2015 to June 2022.
Laura Arndt, the Secretariat Lead with Survivors’ Secretariat, explains more.
The petition has five key areas, which focuses on stopping the destruction of all records and documents associated with the operation of Residential Schools in Canada, which includes records held by the Federal government, the provincial government, and church custodians.
Not only is this petition trying to stop the destruction of the records, but also preserving them.
According to Arndt, another part of the petition is to get the documents digitized.
Over the last few years, Survivors’ Secretariat has been working to recover and preserve these records, which has cost millions of dollars.
Another critical part of preserving these documents, is affirming Indigenous people’s rights as partners in custodian of those documents.
On top of that, this petition will help to ensure there is transparency around what happened at Residential Schools across Canada.
Arndt explains more about people being denied access to the documents.
Arndt goes on to explain why she feels like people are not being given proper access to these documents.
In May, there will be an international tribunal investigating Residential Schools in Canada and the crimes against Indigenous children at Residential Schools.
As part of the Permanent People’s Tribunal, Canada will be on trial for genocide.
While Canada is being investigated for these crimes, Arndt says this treatment of Indigenous people began before Canada was even officially a country, leading to over 170 years of history of Residential Schools.
Arndt says many people don’t know where the documents are currently being held, but she has been told that some of the records have been damaged by mold.
These records, according to Arndt, contain Band records, financial records, communications between the schools, Canada, and the churches involved, police reports, complaints filed, and more.
Arndt says they are trying to piece together the children’s lives.
She adds that there are archives across Canada that contain these files.
If this petition gets approved and they are able to prevent the records from being destroyed or lost, Arndt says the information will be included into a digital database so every survivor or family of a survivor can access the information.
Arndt adds that she wants people to remember that these records holds information about the crimes against humanity Indigenous children had to endure.
To see the petition and learn more, click here.
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