If you won a court case for horrendous abuse, what would you demand? Money? Indigenous peoples in Canada asked for a chance to tell their stories of residential schools to the nation, to teach others about a part of our history that often doesn’t get much space in the history textbooks. (If you’re American, you’re not off the hook. Our countries share a very similar story about residential schools.)
The last national event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is set to begin in Edmonton. But if you can’t make it to Edmonton, there are still many ways that you and your congregation can interact with this history-making (or history-revealing) event.
1. Watch the livestream (March 27-30).
2. Use one of our prayers, litanies, or sermons in your worship service. Tell the story through worship.
3. Read the stories of the winners of our TRC contest. Start here.
4. Find out which residential school was closest to where you now live and learn more about it. (For Canadians, find a map here: http://tinyurl.com/reslschoolsmap)
5. Watch We Were Children or host a screening of this powerful movie, based on the testimonies of two residential school survivors.
6. Get your congregation or small group to watch this 5-minute video and get thinking…
7. Read about why the TRC matters to the CRC.
8. Pray for healing—for survivors, for their children and grandchildren, for the Church, for our countries. May the hard work of restoring relationships be fruitful.
9. Share why you believe that the pain of residential schools affects both indigenous peoples and other North Americans still today. Tweet using the #drinkdownstream hashtag.
10. Read or watch the CRC’s Expression of Reconciliation.
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