Portage College is committed to reconciliation and has chosen to observe National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Thursday, September 30th. To give students, staff and faculty the opportunity to learn more about the history and ongoing consequences of residential schools, classes have been cancelled and employees will receive the day off work.
It's important to remember and honour those who never returned home after attending residential school and the survivors and their families who carry the burden of this painful part of our shared history.
We encourage people to go through the many resources provided on this web page.
Portage College was honoured to host a Sunrise Ceremony on the morning of September 30th. The event was live via Facebook and recorded so we could share it with you.
Sunrise Ceremony
It's important to remember and honour those who never returned home after attending residential school and the survivors and their families who carry the burden of this painful part of our shared history.
Please read the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation at Portage College press release.
Sept 27 to Oct 1 - Truth and Reconciliation Week 2021
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has a full week of virtual programming.
Sept 30 - Portage College Virtual Sunrise Ceremony
7:10 A.M. Approximately
Streaming live on the Portage College Facebook event page.
Sept 30 - Cold Lake Community
Cold Lake Museum Free Admission
Sept 30 - St. Paul Community
Sept 30 Reconciliation in Action Events
Oct 4 - Bonnyville Community
Oct 4 Honouring the MMIW and Stolen Children
Sept 2021 to June 2022 - Project of Hope
Portage College has planned two initiatives for the Project of Hope to assist people on their personal journey to truth and reconciliation. The first initiative invites people to write a personal commitment towards truth and reconciliation and place it in the provided box. In June 2022 that commitment will be mailed back to participants so that they can see if they followed through on their commitment. The second initiative is based on the Project of Heart where tiles are created based on commitments for truth and reconciliation. Those tiles will be combined into art installations.
Books:
- Phil Fontaine, AiméeCraft. A Knock at the Door: The Essential History of Residential Schools from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2015.
- R. Miller. Shingwauk's Vision: A History of Native Residential Schools. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996.
- John Milloy. A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School System, 1879-1896. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.
- Elizabeth Graham. The Mush Hole: Life at Two Indian Residential Schools. HefflePublishing, 1997.
For more book options, visit:
Memoirs:
- Arthur Bear Chief. My Decade at Old Sun, My Lifetime of Hell. https://www.aupress.ca/books/120260-my-decade-at-old-sun-my-lifetime-of-hell/
- Edmund Metatawabin. Up Ghost River: A Chief's Journey Through The Turbulent Waters
- Basil Johnston. Indian School Days
- WabKinew. The Reason We Walk
- Joseph Merasty. The Education of Augie Merasty: A Residential School Memoir
- Bev Sellars. They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School
- Theodore Fontaine. Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools: A Memoir
- Russell Moses, Columnist for Ottawa Citizen. “Moses: In residential school, we were treated as sub-human, and hunger was never absent.”
- We Were Children (2012)
- Where the Spirit Lives (1989)
- Christmas at Moose Factory (1971)
- The Secret Path (2016)
- Wawahte: Stories of Residential School Survivors (2016)
- Indian Horse (2018) Available on Netflix
- The Chanie Wenjack Heritage Minute
- For more films and documentaries please go to:
National Film Board Residential Schools Video List
Vimeo Residential Schools Video List - CBC's Radio-Canada CURIO.ca Resources:
https://curio.ca/en/collection/beyond-94-truth-and-reconciliation-in-canada-2586/
https://curio.ca/en/collection/residential-schools-a-sad-chapter-in-canadian-history-2027/
https://curio.ca/en/collection/aboriginal-education-then-and-now-issues-controversies-and-concerns-1737/
We acknowledge that Portage College’s service region is on the traditional lands of First Nation Peoples, the owners of Treaty 6, 8 and 10, which are also homelands to the Métis people. We honour the history and culture of all people who first lived and gathered in these lands.