CANADA
Winnipeg Free Press
By: Mary Agnes Welch
CANADA’S Truth and Reconciliation Commission has three million documents dealing with the disastrous legacy of Indian residential schools, and five million more are on the way.
What the commission doesn’t have is money to build a promised national residential schools research archive.
In a long ceremony packed with politicians and aboriginal dignitaries Friday, the commission and the University of Manitoba signed an agreement to set up the national research centre, which will see the university take on the massive job of reviewing, organizing and digitizing millions of residential school records. That includes government and church documents, 6,000 oral histories taken from residential school survivors and their families, artifacts and photos.
Most of the records are still held by Library and Archives Canada. Only now, after a court battle, are they being prepared to be given to the commission and the university.
So far, there is no secure source of funding for a startup research centre, expected to be housed in existing space on campus. The U of M has committed space and funding for three positions, but additional funding is needed. Organizers hope it can come from the parties to the residential schools court settlement, including the federal government and Canada’s largest churches. They hope funding can be secured by the time the commission winds up in a year.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.