Background Information: Indigenous populations of Turtle Island have suffered ongoing trauma through centuries of colonization, assimilation, and residential schools. The primary aim of this systemic and systematic discrimination was to erase culture by removing children from their families and forcing them to adapt to Western ideals. Notably, this was done without consideration of the devastating impact erasure would have, and many students who left residential schools did so without improved education, little knowledge of Western culture, internalized discrimination, and significant physical and psychological damage. As such, the so-called, publicizing goal of “educating” children by separating them from their culture and families had little success, nor should it have been a goal in the first place. With the recent discovery of bodies of Indigenous children from residential schools across Turtle Island, we want to acknowledge the suffering of this population and the residual effects of intergenerational trauma that has been forced upon children, students, and families without true reconciliation from the Canadian government, nor its citizens. Despite attempts at acknowledgement from the government and promises of action, these “gestures” have fallen flat with little follow-up.

Our mission is, then, to collaborate with Indigenous peoples to identify new strategies for truth and reconciliation. Moreover, we want to build hope and trust between residents of Turtle Island by listening, learning, and committing ourselves to decolonization.