WINNIPEG, MB –The University of Winnipeg is supporting the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s first national event that begins today, Wednesday, June 16, 2010 at the Forks and will run until June 19, 2010. UWinnipeg’s faculty, staff and students are actively supporting many aspects of this important and historic gathering.
Axworthy Speaks at Traditional Call to Gather
UWinnipeg President & Vice-Chancellor Lloyd Axworthy has been invited to speak at the Traditional Call to Gather on Thursday, June 17, 2010 (at 5:00 pm) to share the University’s initiatives as we work toward helping to restore and rebuild the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples, and to help promote truth, healing and reconciliation for individuals, families and communities. At this event Dr. Axworthy will announce two new scholarships that honour residential school survivors and their descendents.
Gifting a Healing Quilt
UWinnipeg’s Women’s and Gender Studies and Aboriginal Governance departments will also present a healing quilt on Thursday, June 17, 2010 (at 5:00 pm) to the TRC Commissioners at the Traditional Call to Gather. This collaborative endeavor has engaged students in a dialogue on the legacy of Residential Schools in Canada through both course work and art that has resulted in a quilt that will remember the legacy of Residential Schools and their impact on all Canadians and honour the survivors. Many of the students created quilt blocks that have now been compiled into a stunning piece of art by quilter Andrea McCluskey, coordinator of the University’s Aboriginal Student Services Centre. This project, led by Professors Roewan Crowe, Lorena Fontaine, and Fiona Green has contributed to the important conversation about reconciliation that is necessary to educate Canadians about the legacy of Residential Schools.
UWinnipeg Accommodations
UWinnipeg is honoured to be providing accommodation for 146 residential school survivors from Ontario and Northern Manitoba who are staying on campus while they are participating in the national event. The University hosted a welcoming breakfast for the survivors on campus on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 from 8:30 am to 9:30 am in Convocation Hall.
UWinnipeg’s Diversity Foods is pleased to have won the contract to provide lunches to the thousands of survivors as well as performers attending the event at the Forks.
The University is also developing an oral history legacy project with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s event in Winnipeg is the first of seven national events that will be held over the next five years. Subsequent events will take place in Alberta, British Columbia, the Maritimes, Northern Canada, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. The national events are part of the TRC mandate and are intended to engage and educate the Canadian public about the Indian Residential School system. They will honour those whose lives were touched by residential schools and give those individuals an opportunity to present statements to the TRC.
