About
Learn the Truth; Practice Reconciliation.
This keepsake represents a past that must never be forgotten, and a better future we can all build together.
The Residential Schools Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day for anyone experiencing pain or distress or thoughts of past abuse. Please call 1-866-925-4419.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada says that reconciliation “is a process of healing relationships that requires public truth sharing, apology, and commemoration that acknowledge and redress past harms.” It is in this spirit that we have worked with Residential, Day and Boarding school Survivors and First Nations, Inuit and Métis artists to create this Truth and Reconciliation Keepsake.
For a period of more than 150 years, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation children were taken from their families and communities to attend government-funded church-run residential schools. More than 150,000 children were taken away with a goal of destroying their culture and ways of life. Thousands never came home.
Neglect and abuse were widespread at these schools. Indigenous peoples are still living with the impacts of this harm. This Truth and Reconciliation Keepsake honours the Survivors and the children who never returned.
Continue your journey to Truth and Reconciliation by reading the full report: www.nctr.ca/records/reports
The beautiful and richly symbolic imagery, reflective of First Nations, Inuit and Métis teachings and traditional art forms demonstrate that these cultures remain vibrant in spite of the harms inflicted by the residential school era.
Its dual-sided design acknowledges the intergenerational impacts of Residential, Day and Boarding schools, and it invites reflection about the impact of those schools, the conditions that created them, and how people living in Canada can turn that reflection into acts of reconciliation.
All proceeds from the sale of the Truth and Reconciliation Keepsake will support the work of the Na-mi-quai-ni-mak Community Support Fund (Na-mi-quai-ni-mak is an Anishinaabemowin name meaning “I remember them”). Established by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, Na-mi-quai-ni-mak is a community fund that assists Survivors and their communities carry out healing, wellness, and commemoration activities. To learn more, visit https://nctr.ca/
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Special features
Features
The design of this keepsake was a cooperative effort led by three talented Indigenous artists representing First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities who worked together with Survivors to create an appropriate and thoughtful design marking the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
This dual-sided keepsake comes with a magnet attachment: choose the side you wish to display, position the keepsake on your clothing, then place the magnet on the other side of the fabric to hold it in place.
Specifications
Design & Artist
JD Hawk, Jason Sikoak, Leticia Spence
About the Truth and Reconciliation Keepsake design
On one side of the keepsake, the assertion “EVERY CHILD MATTERS” appears in English and French. To the left and right we see pairs of footprints, representing ancestors walking with younger generations. At the centre of it all, orange-coloured hand prints form the shape of the sun—the life-giving source of light and heat. Within the hands is the flame motif from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation logo, an acknowledgement of the spiritual flame that is born inside a person, while the hands are encircled by a border representing the radiating waves of the sun’s light and heat.
The other side of the keepsake is a collection of visual elements that form an expression of Indigenous cultures and perspectives, as designed by artists Leticia Spence (First Nations), Jason Sikoak (Inuit) and JD Hawk (Métis). Forming an open circle to represent the land and the experiences shared in the vastness of the natural world, the three groupings of visual elements surround a stylized representation of roots and berries that symbolize a spiritual connection to the land, and the sustenance it provides.
First Nations rights, culture and teachings are represented by the natural element of the sun and traditional teepee lodgings; a tikanagan (cradle board) held and supported by two people, as a symbol of connection and traditional family support across generations. This is also supported by symbols of water, and a stylized fireweed flower; and to the left, a triangular motif inspired by parfleche (a rawhide carrying bag) designs.
The Inuit perspective is represented by traditional tattoo line work that was taken away by colonialists and is now coming back as a sign of pride; the northern lights that symbolize Inuit Nunangat and reflect the beauty of the North; a brother and sister—a representation of those who were sent to residential schools—bravely facing the challenge that lies before them; and to the left, an ulu which is a traditional curved knife that is used in the North.
The Métis Nation is represented by the Métis sash that signifies connection—to nature, to the past, to each other; a beadwork flower representing resilience amid thorns that signify pain and suffering; the bison, a symbol of strength and determination, bravely facing east to confront the approaching colonizers; and to the left, the infinity symbol that represents the joining of two cultures, First Nations and European, and their permanent existence as a people.
Acknowledgement
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
This design represents…
The Truth and Reconciliation Keepsake honours the more than 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children who were taken from their families and forced to attend Residential, Day and Boarding Schools across Canada. It acknowledges the intergenerational impacts of the Residential, Day and Boarding School era, and it invites reflection on how Canadians can meet the challenge of reconciliation in our everyday lives.
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