Cree students at All Saints Indian Residential School, Lac La Ronge, Saskatchewan. Photo courtesy of Canadian Geographic.
Residential schools are the focus of a new project between Canadian Geographic and Google.
The research magazine and tech giant have coined the project as “Google Earth Voyager residential school story.” The project will attempt to show the location of each school in the 165 years that the government program ran.
In addition, the stories and history of each location will be found on the map as well, including testimonials and accounts of childhood loss and abuse.
“This is a harrowing tale but required learning on our journey towards reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous Peoples,” said Ellen Curtis, the director of Can Geo Education.
The project is purposed to be an educational resource across the nation.
“Our Google Earth Voyager residential school story provides a much-needed primer for elementary and secondary school students,” said Curtis.
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has also collaborated with Can Geo on the project.
Google has worked on similar “voyager” projects with institutions such as NASA and the BBC.