77. We call upon provincial, territorial, municipal, and community archives to work collaboratively with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to identify and collect copies of all records relevant to the history and legacy of the residential school system, and to provide these to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
In order for reconciliation to occur, an essential step is that the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation obtain documents about records related to the history and legacy of residential schools. As there are so many individual stories that have unanswered questions remaining, it is very important that the government and community documents are acquired.
This will give communities and individuals a chance to find truth about loved ones. Also, one of the main goals of the TRC is to provide documents relating to the severity of abuse that occurred at residential schools and how they have had a lasting impact on generations of Aboriginal people. By providing specific cases, it gives opens the door for further discussions about the impacts residential schools had on Indigenous individuals, families, communities and culture.
Further Reading:
Aboriginal Research, Social Scientists and Humanities Research Council
Compiled by: Nicole Elie