News and updates from UBC's Residential School History and Dialogue Centre

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August 2019 newsletter

Welcome to the Centre's first quarterly newsletter. Here we will share news and updates about our team, upcoming events, exhibitions, and more.

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, Aki-kwe, is the Academic Director of the Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, and a professor in UBC's faculty of law. Over the past year she has been active in drafting legislation, appearing before the House of Commons and Senate committees, and ensuring that Indigenous voices are represented and heard in Government. Learn more about her work over the past year in our Director's Update.

“I am so proud of the work of residential school Survivors who have pushed for the TRC Calls to Action to be meaningful, and have directed us to see this work completed...While I was disappointed that Bill C262 on UNDRIP did not make it through the Senate of Canada—I know it will be reintroduced in the next government and the campaign for justice and human rights, and the TRC calls to Action, will continue for many of us—working alongside Survivors, with a vision of a more just society for our children and communities." - Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, Aki-kwe

Read the full Update

Current exhibition highlights the Centre's engagement with Survivors and Indigenous communities

The Centre's latest exhibition opened last month, which focuses on the Centre itself. The exhibition highlights the origins, systems, development and on-going work of the RSHDC. Offering a different view for respectful engagement with Indigenous peoples and protocols, the exhibition explores the topics of colonial disruption, supporting spaces for Survivors. Videos from the Legacy of Hope Foundation focusing on Intergenerational Survivors are featured as well.

Find out more

Dialogues engage with community

Over the past year, the Centre has been involved in several community dialogues across British Columbia. In partnership with UBC’s Indigenous Research Support Initiative (IRSI), the Centre engaged with Indigenous communities, Survivors, researchers and information professionals to discuss issues around stewardship of Indigenous data, information and records.
Learn more

Focus on People

Dr. Tricia Logan is the Centre's new Assistant Director of Research and Engagement. Tricia, a Métis scholar with more than 18 years of experience working with Indigenous communities in Canada, joined the Centre in January 2019. She has previously held roles at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
Read more

Curated art exhibition highlights sport

Pride and Camaraderie: Stories of Residential School and Sport is a new exhibition on display on the upper level of the Centre. Featuring 12 images and stories from Survivors, the exhibition focuses on sport. Cree author Larry Loyie, Musqueam Chief Ed Sparrow and images from residential schools in BC and Alberta are on display until fall 2019.

Learn more

Up Close with Constance Brissenden

The Larry Loyie and Constance Brissenden Collection is the first collection of materials donated to the Centre. The collection highlights the work of Cree author Larry Loyie, a residential school Survivor, and his partner, editor Constance Brissenden. For more than 24 years, the couple researched Indigenous history, and wrote nine books together, including Residential Schools: With the Words and Images of Survivors. Learn more about Constance and Larry's legacy, and her on-going work in her profile.
Read her profile

Looking forward, looking back

Since opening in April 2018, the Residential School History and Dialogue Centre has been working collaboratively to support transparent information practices and research, in a Survivor-centred, trauma-informed way. The Centre has been building digital technologies such as the collections website, and furthering research related to residential schools such as intergenerational trauma, Indian hospitals and the Sixties Scoop, while supporting research and curriculum support on campus.
Read more about our highlights over the past year

In the news: Jody Wilson-Raybould, Puglaas, to release 'timely' and 'must-read' book during election campaign
Jody Wilson-Raybould's forthcoming book by UBC Press will focus on Canada's "fraught relationship with Indigenous peoples" and reconciliation.
Read the article

What's on

Things to do
The Museum of Vancouver’s newest feature exhibition There is Truth Here: Creativity and Resilience in Children’s Art from Indian Residential and Day Schools focuses on rare artworks created by children who attended residential schools in the Okanagan, Alert Bay, Vancouver Island and Manitoba. On view until January 2020.

Books to read
David MacDonald’s new book, The Sleeping Giant Awakens: Genocide, Indian Residential Schools, and the Challenge of Conciliation, highlights Canadian residential schools and uses genocide as a tool to better understand Canada’s past and present relationships between settlers and Indigenous peoples.

Sites to see
Whose Land is a web-based app that uses GIS technology to assist users in identifying Indigenous Nations, territories, and Indigenous communities across Canada. Learn about the territory your home is situated on, find information for a land acknowledgement, or learn about Canadian treaties and agreements.

Research your family
Connection To Kith And Kin is an Indigenous Ancestry Search hosted by the Vancouver Public Library Britannia Branch, in partnership with the Indian Residential School Survivors Society. Hosted at the Vancouver Public Library Britannia Branch every Wednesday afternoon until August 14.

Keep in touch!
You can check our website or follow us on Twitter or Facebook for updates.

Interested in receiving print newsletters? Let us know at communications.irshdc@ubc.ca.

UBC Residential School History and Dialogue Centre
1985 Learners' Walk
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1
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irshdc.ubc.ca

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