Survivor Truths: The Art of Reconciliation

One of the primary objectives of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the TRC, was to, quote, “witness, support, promote, and facilitate truth and reconciliation events at both the national and community levels.” To facilitate this work, 47 people across Canada were asked to stand as Honorary Witnesses.

These people, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, represented a broad spectrum of Canadians, from former prime ministers and governor generals to teachers, actors, activists, and community leaders.

The term “witness” among First Nations, Métis, and Inuit is a person who is asked to remember an event or history. An important part of witnessing is sharing what they have seen and heard and felt with their own people when they return home.

When I accepted the role of Honorary Witness, I saw it as part of my life and responsibility as a Canadian to learn about residential schools and find a place for my voice in how, as a country, we reconcile with this history. Being a witness is not a process or pathway to becoming an expert. Rather, it’s a commitment to an ongoing process of learning in a humble way, where any knowledge we obtain is not ours. It has been created to be shared.

A part of witnessing is finding a way to amplify or carry forward knowledge we gain through feelings that emerge through listening and watching. These are feelings of sadness, rage, embarrassment, shock, ignorance, humility. Bearing witness carries the responsibility to forward knowledge we have been given through Survivor oral testimony or through our deep consideration and appreciation for the artworks and their makers.

When I consider children’s art in these ways, they don’t exist only as records of past childhoods. Witnessing moves us away from seeing artworks as objects that only translate individuals’ pasts to seeing artworks as objects that can transform our present and future relationships.

Meaningful change comes from within us when we find the courage to learn or unlearn difficult knowledge and then share it. The role of an educator is that of a witness, not an expert. As witnesses to the legacy of residential schools, the children’s artworks, the Survivors truths, we commit to our ongoing education. Educators are not asked to be the voice of Survivors or their families. Educators are asked to come to the discussion with students in a humble way to share what they have come to understand with others through their lens of experiences.

Recall, the TRC called on people across Canada to witness and they purposefully asked people from all different professional and cultural backgrounds because there’s no one way to understand truth.

The value of the educators is their sharing of their courage and humility in this way, encouraging others to find their voice and place in this work as and place in this work as Canadians. The small conversations instigated by educators within the classroom setting have the potential to spark bright changes outside of the school.