Photo: Truth and Reconciliation / Screenshot of Webpage for Lunch and Learns
By Somya Lohia
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Shootin’ the Breeze
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation invites Canadians to spend the week before Sept. 30 learning, listening and reflecting during Truth and Reconciliation Week.
A five-day online series runs Sept. 21 to 25, and is open to anyone wanting to learn more about the history and legacy of residential schools ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Each day brings a lunch-and-learn webinar with survivors, Indigenous leaders, artists, elders and other knowledge keepers speaking. The webinars run about an hour, ending with a question period between the moderator and guests.
The webinars start at 11 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, with a noon start on Thursday. There are two sessions on Tuesday, with the first at 9 a.m. All sessions offer simultaneous English and French interpretation, along with American Sign Language interpretation.
Organizers say the sessions take on misconceptions about Canada’s colonial history and the experiences of Indigenous Peoples.
Registration is free at trw-svr.nctr.ca/lunch-and-learns. Webinar space is limited to 5,000 participants, but sessions are also streamed to YouTube for anyone who can’t get a spot.
Topics include protecting survivor truths, economic reconciliation, Indigenous-newcomer solidarity, residential school denialism and ways to identify and challenge misinformation about the residential school system, organizers say.
Another session focuses on Indigenous leadership and the experiences shaping Indigenous futures, including discussions of residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, First Nations child rights and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit movement.
The week closes with a session on Indigenous youth perspectives on health and well-being, exploring holistic approaches to wellness and the challenges faced by youth living with the impacts of residential schools and related systems.
The centre also keeps a free online library of recorded sessions with survivors, Indigenous artists and athletes, available year-round to anyone who registers.
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation recognizes the history and multi-generational effects of residential schools and honours survivors, their families and communities.
The centre’s national commemoration, Remembering the Children, is broadcast live Sept. 30 at 10 a.m. from Parliament Hill. No registration is needed to watch or attend in person.
Support is available 24 hours a day through the Residential School Survivor Support Line at 1-866-925-4419. First Nations, Inuit and Métis people can also reach the Hope for Wellness Help Line at 1-855-242-3310 or online at hopeforwellness.ca.