The Creative School x Lincoln Alexander School of Law
x Yellowhead Institute
Indian Residential School Records Project
Preserving the documented truth of abuse, deaths, and disappearances of children at Indian Residential Schools, and working with Survivors, their families, and communities to decide how this documentary history should be managed.
In 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that an archive of more than 38,000 records of Survivor testimony gathered as part of the 2006 Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement (IRSSA) can be destroyed after September 19, 2027.
While living Survivors can opt to preserve their records, many remain unaware of this, or of the imminent deadline to do so, and there is no provision for family members to preserve records of those who have passed.
The Indian Residential School Records (IRSR) Project, led by Connie Walker (Okanese First Nation) and Kimberly Murray (Kanehsatà:ke Mohawk Nation), aims to preserve the documented truth of abuse, deaths, and disappearances of children at Indian Residential Schools, and work with Survivors, their families, and communities to decide how this documentary history should be managed.
This project aims to raise awareness about the fast-approaching deadline that will lead to the permanent destruction of tens of thousands of Survivor testimonies about the worst atrocities of Indian Residential Schools. The IRSR will also create a new archive of lawsuits filed by Survivors prior to the IRSSA in order to further understand and document the scale of abuse at specific schools. Decisions about the collection, protection, use, and sharing of this material will be guided by Survivors, their families, and Indigenous communities.
“To the Commission, "reconciliation" is about establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in this country. For that to happen, there has to be awareness of the past, acknowledgement of the harm that has been inflicted, atonement for the causes, and action to change behaviour.”
- Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada [2015], Vol. 6, p. 3
Project Purpose & Goals
The pending destruction of the Survivor testimony that was collected through the IRSSA IAP process would mean the loss of the most comprehensive existing archive of Survivor testimony. Over 38,000 Survivors participated in the IAP process, almost six times the amount of truths shared with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
While individual Survivors can request a copy of their records or consent to have them archived at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), less than 100 Survivors out of the 38,000 IAP claimants have done so. Many Survivors remain unaware of this option to archive their records, or of the imminent deadline to do so, and there is no provision for family members to preserve records of those who have passed. We feel it is essential that Survivors and their families know about the choices they can make about their records, and that it’s important that more is done to inform everyone, from Survivors, families, to Canadians, of this pending destruction of records.
In addition to engaging with Survivors, families, and communities on this topic, we are also developing a podcast on the IAP and the court case that led to the 2017 Supreme Court of Canada decision to destroy the IAP records.
Before the IAP, thousands of Survivors filed lawsuits suing the government and churches over abuse in Indian Residential Schools. The IRSR project believes that collecting, analyzing, and archiving the pre-settlement Statement of Claims is vital to protecting the truth about Indian Residential Schools. These records hold information critical to uncovering the lived experience of Survivors and the scale of abuses at Indian Residential Schools. The records may also include identifying information regarding missing and disappeared children.
Through this process, we aim to work collaboratively with Survivors, their families, and communities to ensure they can have true agency over how this new archive is managed. By bringing together information from these pre-IRRSA lawsuits, there may also be the possibility to share important findings back to families and communities, including patterns and scale of abuse, the identities of accused adult perpetrators, and information on deaths and disappearances of children across the institutions.
Ultimately, this project seeks to empower Survivors and Indigenous communities to determine if, and how their truths are protected and preserved.
Get in Touch
If you have information or records you would like to share with the IRSR team, or if you have questions about the project, please email project lead, Connie Walker at connie.walker@torontomu.ca.
For general inquiries about Yellowhead Institute, please email info@yellowheadinstitute.org.
For Survivors and family members:
Learn about the choices available for your IAP Records
Survivors have four options for IAP/ADR Records, including preserving them at the NCTR, receiving a copy of the records, or preserving them and receiving a copy or allowing them to be destroyed after Sept 19, 2027
- Visit the NCTR IAP/ADR Records page or contact the NCTR here.
- Visit the My Records, My Choice site.
