Truth and Reconciliation Week in September is a powerful opportunity for remembering the impact of the residential school system and coming together in the spirit of hope, Truth and Reconciliation. Across the District, during this week and throughout the year, there are many activities and learning opportunities.
Rob Smyth is the District Principal of Indigenous Education:
There’s tremendous work happening in schools to acknowledge the wrongs in our shared history in Canada.”
Smyth said one example in many schools in the District is the hosting of dinners for Indigenous families, recognizing that this can be a challenging time of year that may surface trauma.
“So, at a time where it may be very difficult for families, our schools are building opportunities to welcome them, to embrace the families, and to make them feel safe in the space.”
At Burnaby Central Secondary, which also hosted a family dinner, students in the District’s Professional Cook program prepared special snacks for their peers who are Indigenous.
Gena Sanderson from the Mamalilikulla Nation is a matriarch and Knowledge Keeper on the Indigenous Education team. She and Smyth joined students in presenting at the September Burnaby Board of Education Meeting.
At the meeting, Sanderson shared her own story of the residential school system’s lasting impact on her family.
“I’m the first Survivor who has not gone to residential school. As a little girl, I had no idea why my dad never came to school. He never came to a Christmas concert, he never came to a parent-teacher interview – he always had a reason for not coming, and I just kind of accepted it. It wasn’t until I was in my 30s or 40s that I started making the connection that he went to day school and it wasn’t a pleasant time for him.”
Students who are part of the District’s Film and Broadcast program interviewed Sanderson to capture her story for a video they are creating about Truth and Reconciliation. Some of the participating students joined Sanderson and Smyth at the Board Meeting to talk about the project.
Burnaby South Secondary student Nia Liu explained why she wanted to be a part of creating the video:
“I’ve been in China for most of my life and I’d never heard anything about Truth and Reconciliation. When I arrived, I had the opportunity to learn about the history of everything that has happened on these lands. I felt that there must be something I could do to help contribute to the efforts of Truth and Reconciliation.”
For Smyth, projects that originate with non-Indigenous youth – such as the one initiated by Film and Broadcast students – represent an important shift.
“It’s really powerful because in many years before, people are looking to the Indigenous Education team and saying, ‘what are we going to do?’ It’s shifting, that’s changing, and the non-Indigenous students and staff are stepping up to do the work. That’s helping to strengthen the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and that’s what Reconciliation is about.”
Scroll down to see more examples of learning in action across the Burnaby School District.
Posted September 2024