A new national foundation dedicated to supporting Survivors of Canada’s Indian Boarding Homes Program has officially opened in Saskatoon.
The grand opening of the Hitgwin! Qaumata Miyopimâtisiwin Foundation, also known as the Indian Boarding Homes Program Foundation, was held Tuesday with Survivors, board members, staff and dignitaries in attendance.
The foundation was created to support Indigenous people affected by the federally operated Indian Boarding Homes Program, which ran from 1952 to 1992. During that time, an estimated 40,000 Indigenous children and youth were placed in non-Indigenous boarding homes across Canada.
Many Survivors experienced the loss of language and culture, isolation from their families and communities, and various forms of abuse. While the program was intended to provide access to education, many students were denied schooling and instead subjected to forced labour and other mistreatment.
Chief Executive Officer Lisa Paul said the opening marks an important step in honouring Survivors’ experiences and moving beyond the foundation’s development stage.
“Our goal is to create programs and deliver resources that will directly support Survivors and their descendants in a way that is rooted in dignity, culture and community,” Paul said.
The foundation will provide grants, scholarships and bursaries while promoting education, healing, cultural revitalization and reconciliation for Survivors, descendants and communities impacted by the program.
The name Hitgwin! Qaumata Miyopimâtisiwin combines words from Nisga’a, Inuit and Cree languages and means “Rise, Shine, and Live a Good Life.”