NCTR co-hosting engagement sessions for residential school survivors in Treaty 6 Territory

By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

(ANNews) – The Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations and National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) are co-hosting a series of engagement sessions for residential school survivors in Alberta. 

The events are scheduled for March 11 at the Edmonton Double Tree hotel, March 16 at Red Deer Casino and March 19 at Hotel Dene in Cold Lake. 

The Edmonton event is intended for members of Alexander First Nation, Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, Enoch Cree Nation and Paul First Nation. The Red Deer gathering is for members of Louis Bull Tribe, Samson Cree Nation, Montana First Nation, Ermineskin Cree Nation, Sunchild First Nation and O’Chiese First Nation. The Cold Lake session is for Beaver Lake Cree Nation, Cold Lake First Nations, Frog Lake First Nation, Heart Lake First Nation, Kehewin Cree Nation, Whitefish Lake First Nation band members. 

In a statement to Alberta Native News, an NCTR spokesperson said that the organization hosts in-person gatherings for residential school survivors across the country, in addition to webinars, to keep them up to date with the latest developments. 

“Our goal is to provide information and updates pertaining to the ongoing work we are doing to locate and identify missing children and unmarked burials through our Missing Children and Unmarked Burials Initiative and give the opportunity to provide us with feedback,” the statement read. 

The NCTR also seeks to update survivors on the development of its “burial site repository,” an interactive, searchable map of burial sites across Canada that is still in development. 

“The repository will serve as an online tool for Survivors, families, communities, and researchers to store private burial site data and create their own interactive maps. We are aiming to launch this in the near future,” said the NCTR spokesperson. 

The centre’s work on burial sites fulfill Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action 72 and 73. 

Call to Action 72 calls on the federal government to provide funding to the NCTR so it can “develop and maintain the National Residential School Student Death Register established by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.”

Calls to Action 73 calls on the “federal government to work with churches, Aboriginal communities, and former residential school students to establish and maintain an online registry of residential school cemeteries, including plot maps showing the location of deceased residential school children.”

The NCTR plans on collaborating with First Nations to facilitate “further engagement sessions in the coming months.”