The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has millions of stories to tell, and it wants to make sure they are told properly and respectfully.
It is holding a series of hearings across the country to learn how residential school survivors and their families want their stories shared. On Tuesday it started a day of hearings at the First Nations University in Regina.
The director of the centre, Ryan Moran, says the volume of information is staggering. More than five million documents have been cataloged. He says the centre wants to make sure they are used to educate Canadians about the true history of the schools, but at the same time protecting the rights and privacy of the thousands of people who told their stories during five years of hearings.
“People have to understand that residential schools are but one element of a whole bunch of other shady stuff that happened in this country,” he said. “That is one of the main reasons that these records are going to have so much power because as they get out there they are going to be that critical tool for exposing the truth and helping educate Canadians.”
Eugene Arcand is a member of the governing circle for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), which is based out of the University of Manitoba. He brings a personal perspective to the table. Arcand is a former FSIN chief and he is a residential school survivor. He spent eight years in residential schools in Duck Lake and Labret.
In his pocket, he carries around a photograph taken in 1959. It shows a seven-year-old Eugene Arcand with 31 other residential school students. He is one of only nine that is still alive today.
It was hard for him to talk about the old black and white photograph.
“Well I don’t mind sharing it and showing it to people but when I get in depth on it – it is certainly a rough go,” he said. “But I am happy they are my support mechanism – they are with me all the time.”
Arcand said he would like to see Canadians better educated about First Nations, their culture, and their struggles. He says the process should begin at the grade school level and should also include the thousands of new immigrants coming to Canada because they are getting a distorted view of Canada’s aboriginal community.
“They are adopting the stereotype that is out there: that our people are lazy, drunk and different,” he says. “The only thing that is true is that we are different with a different world view.”
The next stop for the NCTR is Prince Albert on Thursday.