Canadians from coast-to-coast have been shocked at the news coming from Kamloops this past week. The unmarked graves of 215 children have been discovered at the site of the Kamloops IRS, validating the memories of survivors and confirming the oral history they have passed down to their children and grandchildren and demonstrating once again that far from being “isolated cases”, the cruel mistreatment of child captives was too often the norm in Canada’s IRS era, rather than the exception.
In recent years, the Kamloops IRS and has been the focus of meaningful historical teaching both in BC and across Canada, and resources have been created that give educators the tools to address this incredibly disturbing chapter of Canada’s colonial history.
- The BCTF and BC’s Project of Heart – ebook – this amazing resource tells the hidden stories behind BC’s residential schools, and gives learners practical ways to include their new knowledge in meaningful gestures or reconcilation.
- Hidden history – links and resources prepared by the BCTF, including videos, presentations, online resourcesm and teacher’s kits.
To find out how your classroom or learning group can honour the memory of the children who died at the Kamloops IRS and at residential schools across Canada, Project of Heart has prepared a 6-step learning module that has been used by educators in thousands of classrooms from coast to coast. And to see how educators in your province or school board have worked with Project of Heart, there are links to provincial Project of Heart sites at the top of this page.
The Unit culminated in the designing of our 50 commemoration tiles and 6 survivor cards as well as a brief look at the current funding issues concerning Reserve Schools. The Students wrote letters to their local Member of Parliament, Jinny Sims, outlining their understanding of the current conditions at Reserve Schools such as the one on the Attawapiskat First Nations Reserve. Ms. Sims was so impressed by their concerns and will be meeting with the students in the new year before making a statement in the House of Commons; using their letters in her statement. The entire experience has been a phenomenal one for the students, the level of their inquiry and engagement was inspiring. As a student teacher the success of this unit was tremendous and has been replicated with other classes within the school already.