Uploaded October 2023 | Updated September 2026, 7 hours ago
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) will sponsor a free lecture this month on Canada’s controversial residential school system, which was comprised of government-sponsored religious schools established to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture.
In her talk, The Canadian Legacy of Indian Residential Schools: A personal narrative, Dr. Georgina Martin will discuss the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that was established by Canada’s federal government in 2008 to investigate the harms inflicted upon Indigenous people by the residential schools and their assimilation policies.
The TRC opened the door for residential school survivors to tell their stories and share their truth, Martin wrote.
“Reconciliation is meant to establish and maintain trusting relationships. I will provide a historical overview and where we are in the relationship.”The residential school system officially operated from the 1880s into the closing decades of the 20th century. The system forcibly separated children from their families for extended periods of time and forbade them to acknowledge their Indigenous heritage and culture or to speak their own languages, according to the University of British Columbia.
All lectures will be held in-person at noon (Alaska time) at the Walter Soboleff Building in Juneau. SHI will also live stream the series on its YouTube and save the talks on its channel immediately after. Viewers are encouraged to pose questions in-person and online.
Learn more about Sealaska Heritage here: sealaskaheritage.org
facebook.com/SHInstitute
instagram.com/shinstitute
twitter.com/SHInstitute
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) will sponsor a free lecture this month on Canada’s controversial residential school system, which was comprised of government-sponsored religious schools established to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture.
In her talk, The Canadian Legacy of Indian Residential Schools: A personal narrative, Dr. Georgina Martin will discuss the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that was established by Canada’s federal government in 2008 to investigate the harms inflicted upon Indigenous people by the residential schools and their assimilation policies.
The TRC opened the door for residential school survivors to tell their stories and share their truth, Martin wrote.
“Reconciliation is meant to establish and maintain trusting relationships. I will provide a historical overview and where we are in the relationship.”The residential school system officially operated from the 1880s into the closing decades of the 20th century. The system forcibly separated children from their families for extended periods of time and forbade them to acknowledge their Indigenous heritage and culture or to speak their own languages, according to the University of British Columbia.
All lectures will be held in-person at noon (Alaska time) at the Walter Soboleff Building in Juneau. SHI will also live stream the series on its YouTube and save the talks on its channel immediately after. Viewers are encouraged to pose questions in-person and online.
Learn more about Sealaska Heritage here: sealaskaheritage.org
facebook.com/SHInstitute
instagram.com/shinstitute
twitter.com/SHInstitute
