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- Sep 30, 2011
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It has been a long process, but the Anglican Church of Canada will submit today its digital records relating to Indian Residential Schools—over 300,00 pages of documents—to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
For General Synod archivist Nancy Hurn, who co-ordinated the seven-year digitization process, it has been a journey filled with hard work. It has also, however, been a rewarding one.
“I’ve been an archivist for 30 years,” said Hurn, “and this is predominantly the first time that I have looked at historical records that have such an impact on people’s current lives.”
Between 1820 and 1969, the Anglican church operated 35 residential schools across Canada, and as part of the 2007 Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, it was required to provide the TRC with all information related to the residential schools held in its archives.
This was the task Hurn and the church archivists faced: finding all the relevant documents, and making copies available for the TRC. Approximately half of the digitized records came from the General Synod archives in Toronto, which also held records from the Arctic and Keewatin dioceses. The rest of the records came from the archives of 30 dioceses across Canada, including those that did not have residential schools within their boundaries. The documents Hurn and the other archivists compiled will be held at the National Research Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NRCTC) at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.
Hurn said her feelings about the work have evolved over the course of the process.
“In the first few years, during the litigation and alternate dispute resolution period, I was working late nights trying to really understand the school and the staff, to research the records—it was pretty intense and disturbing and stressful,” she said.
However, once the settlement agreement was established, things began to change. “It felt like we could actually do something that would make a contribution that might help the survivors understand their experience,” she explained. “Doing everything we could to make sure they were getting the compensation they were due was important…It was just a piece of what the church needed to do.” Former students and their families, academic researchers and media have full access to the church’s schools-related documents.
Church submits residential school records to TRC
And this is the website
University of Manitoba - National Research Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
For General Synod archivist Nancy Hurn, who co-ordinated the seven-year digitization process, it has been a journey filled with hard work. It has also, however, been a rewarding one.
“I’ve been an archivist for 30 years,” said Hurn, “and this is predominantly the first time that I have looked at historical records that have such an impact on people’s current lives.”
Between 1820 and 1969, the Anglican church operated 35 residential schools across Canada, and as part of the 2007 Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, it was required to provide the TRC with all information related to the residential schools held in its archives.
This was the task Hurn and the church archivists faced: finding all the relevant documents, and making copies available for the TRC. Approximately half of the digitized records came from the General Synod archives in Toronto, which also held records from the Arctic and Keewatin dioceses. The rest of the records came from the archives of 30 dioceses across Canada, including those that did not have residential schools within their boundaries. The documents Hurn and the other archivists compiled will be held at the National Research Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NRCTC) at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.
Hurn said her feelings about the work have evolved over the course of the process.
“In the first few years, during the litigation and alternate dispute resolution period, I was working late nights trying to really understand the school and the staff, to research the records—it was pretty intense and disturbing and stressful,” she said.
However, once the settlement agreement was established, things began to change. “It felt like we could actually do something that would make a contribution that might help the survivors understand their experience,” she explained. “Doing everything we could to make sure they were getting the compensation they were due was important…It was just a piece of what the church needed to do.” Former students and their families, academic researchers and media have full access to the church’s schools-related documents.
Church submits residential school records to TRC
And this is the website
University of Manitoba - National Research Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
