Human rights museum chooses Vancouver to launch digital residential school initiative
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights has chosen Vancouver to unveil the next step in an art project offering a hard look at the atrocities inflicted upon Indigenous children at residential schools.
The Witness Blanket is a large installation, with a permanent home at the CMHR in Winnipeg, which aims to bridge Canada’s dark past with a brighter future.
“My father is a residential school survivor. He went to both Sechelt and St. Mary’s in Mission. I grew up knowing very little bit about what that meant,” said master carver Carey Newman, the man responsible for the Witness Blanket. “He’s a person who spent, like many other survivors, a lot of time protecting me and protecting future generations from having to feel what he felt.”
As this country tries to confront and reconcile the atrocities of colonialism, Newman, whose traditional name is Hayalthkin’geme, is one of the voices leading the conversation.
He and his team travelled from coast to coast to gather hundreds of objects from former residential school sites and interview survivors.
“When you go out into community and you ask people to participate in a project like this, you have to be really sensitive about the question that you’re asking because just bringing up the subject can be triggering,” said Newman about talking to people about the physical, emotional and sexual abuse endured at residential schools. "It's traumatic stuff."
Telus has contributed $1 million to help Newman and CMHR launch a website with a digital version of the Witness Blanket, which they unveiled in downtown Vancouver on Monday.
“I hope that for those who didn’t know very much about this history, that they learn a little bit. I hope that they find an object on the blanket that connects with them in a personal way,” Newman said.
The website is designed so users can zoom in and examine each of the hundreds of objects that make up the blanket and click on them to learn more.
In the very centre of the blanket, there is a door which once stood at the entrance to the infirmary at St. Michael's Residential School in Alert Bay.
The digital Witness Blanket also includes video interviews with survivors who say St. Michael’s was the scene of horrific abuse against numerous boys and girls.
"Those were bad experiences, fighting that guy off,” survivor Edwin Newman said about his experience with one abusive staff member. “And then they promoted him to be the vice-principal."
The website also has resources for educators to help future generations understand what happened.
“Of course that’s a huge part of our Canadian identity, especially now as we think about it. We have a complex history. How do we move forward?” said CMHR CEO Isha Kahn. “We know that by building some momentum around understanding where we come from, that’s how we’ll find our path forward in this country.”
By documenting their stories, the Witness Blanket can reduce the onus on survivors to constantly talk about the abuse they endured – which can be re-traumatizing.
“We thought that this was such a great opportunity to make this more widely available than the physical blanket is,” said Newman about the digital version. “But also that it would draw some of that burden away from survivors who are asked to come and tell their story again and again and again. Maybe this will enable them to not have to do quite as much of that labour.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.