Bearing witness to residential schools at the Canadian Museum of History
Over the coming months, visitors to the Canadian Museum of History will have a unique opportunity to learn about and reflect on the history and legacy of residential schools in Canada.
The Witness Blanket
From February 8 to May 5, visitors can experience a travelling version of the Witness Blanket, a powerful art installation by renowned multidisciplinary artist Carey Newman (Ha̱yałka̱ng̱a̱me’). The touring exhibition was created in collaboration between Newman and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
Inspired by a woven blanket, this cedar-framed reproduction depicts over 800 pieces of Indian residential school history. The represented items were gathered by Newman and a dedicated team to make the original Witness Blanket installation.
Many objects were donated by residential school Survivors and their families, band offices, and friendship centres. Others were reclaimed from former residential school sites. Those responsible for the school system — churches and Canadian federal and provincial governments — also supplied pieces for the installation.
The touring version of the Witness Blanket is a full-size photographic replica of the original installation.
Photo: Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Aaron Cohen
The objects in the Blanket are supplemented by oral histories recorded with Survivors. Together, they bear witness to the loneliness and abuse that were inflicted by the residential school system and the people who operated it, and also reflect the courage and resilience of the children who were taken from their families.
Newman’s personal inspiration for the project was to honour his father Victor’s experience as a residential school Survivor. Bearing witness is a central message of Newman’s work, and refers both to the collective strength and truth of the stories contained in the Blanket, as well as to the act of witnessing that is asked of visitors.
In the oral traditions of my ancestors, a witness has an important role. To ensure that things are not forgotten, a witness watches, listens, and then remembers and shares with others what they have learned.
— Carey Newman
Visitors to the Witness Blanket are invited to bear witness, to reflect on the installation’s stories, and to share their intentions to pass on what they have learned. In this way, Newman hopes that visitors will carry what they learn from their time with the Blanket forward in their lives.
School groups and the public can also take in the documentary film Picking Up the Pieces: The Making of the Witness Blanket at CINÉ+.
Indian Residential School Memorial Monument
Visitors can further their learning and reflections on residential school history and reconciliation with a visit to the recently installed Indian Residential School Memorial Monument, by Kwaguʼł master carver Stanley C. Hunt.
Carved from the trunk of a red cedar tree, the work is 5.5 metres (18 feet) tall and 1.2 metres (4 feet) wide. It features 130 unsmiling children’s faces. A large raven looks down upon them protectively. Emblems such as the maple leaf and the cross, and abbreviations for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and North-West Mounted Police, have been carved upside down.
Upon its arrival, Stanley, his family, and many Museum staff participated in an outdoor eagle-down ceremony to bless the Monument.
Canadian Museum of History, IMG2023-0309-0056-Dm
Hunt was moved to create the piece in May of 2021 when he heard the announcement from the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Nation about the location of suspected unmarked graves of Indigenous children at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.
The Indian Residential School Memorial Monument is located in the Four Seasons Salon on Level 1 of the Museum.
Survivor Truths: Residential Schools, Art, and Reconciliation
Finally, teachers and schools who are considering a visit to the Museum in the coming months can also participate in a recently launched in-person learning program, Survivor Truths: Residential Schools, Art, and Reconciliation. The program uses a series of guided activities focused on the powerful role of the land and displacement in both residential school history and in the process of reconciliation.
This program was developed in partnership with Carey Newman, Dr. Andrea Walsh, and a group of Survivors from the Alberni Indian Residential School on Vancouver Island. It features art created by these Survivors when they were forced to attend the school in the 1950s and early 1960s.
The works of art provide inspiration for program participants to reflect on Indigenous relationships to land, Canada’s residential school history, colonialism, and their own place in Canada’s road to reconciliation. The program is part of a 10 year collaborative relationship between the Museum and the Alberni Indian Residential School Survivors Art and Education Society.
Survivors of Alberni Indian Residential School, left to right, Chuck August, Gina Laing, and Dennis Thomas of Port Alberni hold up their paintings at the Canadian Museum of History.
Photo: Dave Chan
These exhibitions and programs provide an opportunity for Canadians to reflect on an especially difficult aspect of Canada’s history. In the words of Elder Stan Mackay:
“We all have stories to tell and, in order to grow in tolerance and understanding, we must listen to the stories of others.”
James Trepanier
James Trepanier joined the Museum in 2013, and was part of the exhibition team for the Canadian History Hall, which opened in 2017. He led the development of content related to diversity and human rights, 20th century social and political history, the history and legacy of Indian residential schools, and early 20th century growth and social reform.
Read full bio of James Trepanier
