Upcoming Event – The Politics and Poetics of Refugees
August 27, 2010
Check out the Politics and Poetics of Refugees, taking place from September 23-25, 2010 at NYU. For more information, click here.
Governor General Michaëlle Jean attends TRC
June 20, 2010
Governor General Michaëlle Jean arrives at the forks, and greets well-wishers with Katherine Morrisseau-Sinclair and Justice Murray Sinclair.
Governor General Michaëlle Jean showed her support for the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Winnipeg on Saturday. She attended the youth sharing circle where young people affected by the Indian Residential School system and those just learning of the system were given the opportunity to tell their stories. Many of the experiences were difficult to hear, and I can only imagine how difficult they were to tell.
Governor General Michaëlle Jean addresses the audience at the youth sharing circle on Saturday June 19th, 2010.
When she addressed the audience, Jean spoke of the need for unity. “What we are doing here today is about a re-foundation of this country. And it comes from confronting history together. It’s not about victims and oppressors. It’s about what we can achieve together.”
Day Two: IRS TRC National Gathering
June 18, 2010
Gus Higheagle (Dakota) riding into Oodena Circle at the Forks in Winnipeg.
Faced with tornado warnings and heavy rain, the second day of the IRS TRC national gathering pushed forward. Unfortunately, because of the weather, a few events had to be cancelled or postponed, resulting in some confusion.
Despite these issues, the ceremony welcoming the Unity Riders into the Oodena Circle went forward. The Unity Ride began in Virden, Manitoba last Friday and ended on Thursday in Winnipeg. It was made in honour of residential school survivors and to show unity between the First Nations in the prairies.
Like many aspects of the events at the IRS TRC’s first national gathering, the ceremony welcoming the riders included its fair share of contradictions. As some of the riders were presented with blankets in commemoration of their ride, a residential school survivor in the audience shouted his displeasure at being unable to give his testimony that day. The volume of people wanting to share in combination with poor weather has made it difficult for some to give their testimonies, particularly those that had hoped to share their experiences publicly as opposed to through one of the private means (through private statement giving or in writing.) Even those offering blessings at the IRS TRC’s events, including Elder Albert Taylor who gave the blessing for the Unity Riders, mentioned their concerns regarding the promises and implications of the commission.
These tensions will undoubtedly continue through the next few days of the event, and throughout the reconciliation process in general. They are reminders that processes of reconciliation are laden with contradictions and discomfort. And I would like to think that these tensions reveal not only the difficulties of this process, but the opportunities as well.
IRS TRC Commissioner Wilton Littlechild on horseback with the Unity Riders
Some local coverage of the Unity Ride: the Brandon Sun and the Winnipeg Sun.
Images from the IRS TRC’s first national gathering
June 17, 2010
The first day of the IRS TRC’s first national gathering was long. It started at sunrise for the lighting of the sacred fire ceremony and ended just before midnight with amazing musical performances from Buffy St. Marie and Blue Rodeo, among others.
The first day’s events were a reminder of how much there is to work through, about the challenges facing the process of reconciliation, as well as the hope that comes with embarking on this path. I am continually humbled by the strength of the survivors and others who have told their stories (and by those who have not), and their families. I hope to write more about the event, but for now, here are a few of images from the first day of the national gathering in Winnipeg.
After the lighting of the sacred fire. It will continue to burn throughout the event.
Four directions drum calling including the four nations: red, yellow, black, white. The above drummers are originally from Mozambique and Sudan.
Chief Robert Joseph giving an inspirational speech during the welcome ceremony.
A few of the estimated 20,000 people who attending the free evening concert. Amazing.
An image of Blue Rodeo, Buffy Sainte-Marie and surprise guest, Elijah Harper, holding his feather. A great moment.
IRS TRC National Gathering – Information
May 23, 2010
Information regarding the IRS TRC’s first national gathering is now available online here.
Here are some highlights as listed on the IRS TRC’s website:
Day One
*Lighting of Sacred Fire Ceremony, Pipe Ceremony and Four Direction Drum Calling
*Opening Remarks from Commissioners and Survivor Committee Representative
*Churches hosting Reception for Survivors
*Sharing Circle with Commissioners, dignitaries and survivors
*screening of ‘Older Than America’ with director Georgina Lightning in attendance
*Musical Performances
See Agenda
Day Two
*Prairie Perspectives on Indian Residential Schools, an academic conference
*Unity Ride enters site of Forks
*‘Untitled’ World Premiere of new play by Ian Ross
*Inuit showcase of Drum dancing and Throat singing
*Readings of works by Authors, including Scotia Bank Giller Prize winner Joseph Boyden
See Agenda
Day Three
*Metis Jamboree
*screening of ‘Muffins for Granny’ with director Nadia Mclaren in attendance
*Musical Performances
See Agenda
Day Four
*Red Rider Skateboarding Team demo with DJ
*Powwow
See Agenda
Also, the IRS TRC website has had a bit of a makeover. See the two versions of the site below. Notably the logo is different, and the newer site makes use of more archival imagery.
Old version:
New version:
On Wednesday, April 27, 2010, the Indian Residential School Truth and Reconciliation Commission (IRS TRC) spoke at the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) in New York. Justice Murray Sinclair, Chief Wilton Littlechild and Marie Wilson spoke about the work of the Commission, its progress so far, and some of the challenges that lie ahead.
I had the opportunity to ask a question regarding something I had wondered about for some time. In the first footnote of the IRS TRC mandate, there is a reference to “the Aboriginal principle of witnessing.” I wasn’t sure what this meant, and was glad to have the opportunity to ask the Commission during the Q and A after their talk. They explained that, having inherited the mandate from the previous Commission, they too had been unsure about the meaning behind this footnote. Justice Sinclair explained that although the meaning of the footnote is debatable, Aboriginal principles of witnessing often entail a component of responsibility for maintaining the integrity and longevity of an event. In traditional ceremonies, like namings for example, the witness is called upon to remember the event, maintaining its history into the future. This principle of witnessing is particularly important for cultures that use oral traditions. In the context of the IRS TRC, the Commissioners explained that the circle of awareness will grow larger through witnessing.
The Commission went on to discuss the first national gathering in Winnipeg (June 16-19, 2010) and announced that the following gathering will take place in June 2011 in Inuvik.
Above image: Justice Sinclair (in mid-speech), between Chief Wilton Littlechild (left) and Marie Wilson (right) at the International Center for Transitional Justice.
If people have thoughts on the Aboriginal principle of witnessing, I’d love to learn more about the concepts and experiences it involves.
UPDATE: This post has been re-published up on the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) website. See it here, or check out the ICTJ’s resources on processes of transitional justice around the world.
“I believe that in the indeterminacy of drawing – the contingent way that images arrive in the work – lies some kind of model of how we live out lives. The activity of drawing is a way of trying to understand who we are and how we operate in the world.”
- William Kentridge
An exhibit of William Kentridge’s work is currently on display at MOMA in New York until May 17, 2010. I went to see it the other day with my friend Lauren and am now completely enamored with his work. Before visiting the exhibit, I knew a bit about the artist, mostly through his work on an amazing play called Ubu and the Truth Commission, but didn’t have a sense of his range and diversity. For the most part, Kentridge, a South African artist, deals with the realities of living in an apartheid and post-apartheid state. He engages issues of oppression, resistance, hatred, love and desire through several mediums including drawing, film, printmaking, collage, and theatrical performance. Go see it!
The image above: William Kentridge. Drawing from Stereoscope 1998-99. Charcoal, pastel, and colored pencil on paper. For more on Kentridge at MOMA click here or for a review, click here.
April 8th, 2010 – IRS TRC Open House
April 2, 2010
The IRS TRC is holding an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony at their new offices in Winnipeg. The event is open to the public. See the invitation below:
INVITATION
Open House and Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
Thursday, April 8, 2010
11:30AM – 3PM
1500-360 Main St., Winnipeg, MB.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
will host an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday
April 8, 2010, to officially open the TRC’s offices at
1500-360 Main St., Winnipeg, MB.
We would be delighted if representatives from your office would join Chair Justice Murray Sinclair and Commissioners Marie Wilson and Chief Wilton Littlechild as well as municipal and provincial dignitaries as we ‘cut the-ribbon’ to our Winnipeg Headquarters. The proceedings will begin at 11:30AM. The open house will be an opportunity for you to visit our Winnipeg facility, chat with the Commissioners, TRC staff, and learn what we have planned for the coming weeks and months.
A light lunch will be served starting at 12:00 (Noon).
I heart North Bay: Part II
March 9, 2010
One of the central issues in any truth and reconciliation commission is that of the relationship between visibility and invisibility. Often, these commissions focus on a previously denied, suppressed, or obscured history and seeks to bring this past into the present. In the Canadian context, the way survivors of the Indian Residential Schools share their experiences will take many shapes and forms. In addition to testimonies and narratives, people will tell their stories by contributing to a new visual archive as well.
At the recent conference in North Bay, several Nipissing First Nation community members came forward to discuss their experiences and the legacies of the Indian Residential School system. Some of these speakers made the issue of the residential schools visible in different ways.
Chief Marianna Couchie spoke of her father’s experience at the Garnier Indian Residential School. She had made a special t-shirt printed with her father’s assigned number and initials of the school. She explained that he was at times only referred to by his number: 76.
Doreen Bellaire also spoke of the legacy of the schools. She held up a collage of materials left behind by her mother, Delina Commanda, a woman she described as incredibly strong. Delina attended the Industrial Residential School for Indian Girls in Spanish, Ontario. The collage was compiled from her mother’s writing, photos, a set of keys, and buttons among other mementos.
Thank you to Marianna and Doreen for allowing me to share their stories and images at tracingmemory.com. And thank you to all those people at the conference who shared their experiences.
I heart North Bay: Part I
March 8, 2010
I’ve just returned to New York from North Bay, Ontario where I attended Nipissing University’s conference on Truth, Reconciliation and the Residential Schools. The organizers put together a great program that involved both the academic community and the Nipissing First Nations community. I presented a short paper entitled: The Limits of Testimony: Contextualizing Truth and Reconciliation in Canada.
Because the IRS TRC is still in its early stages, the paper focused on a comparative analysis. In particular, I focused on one specific, puzzling testimony, given to the South African TRC in 1996 by Mrs. Konile, whose son was killed by apartheid security forces in 1986. A recent book has been published about this testimony, co-authored by Antjie Krog (an Afrikaner poet and journalist), Nosisi Mpolweni (Xhosa lecturer and linguist) and Kopano Ratele (psychologist). The book is entitled There Was This Goat: Investigating the Truth Commission Testimony of Notrose Nobomvu Konile and the authors spend the bulk of the book discussing one particular testimony, given by Mrs. Konile. This testimony was difficult to understand for many reasons – it did not follow a linear trajectory, it mixed her dream life with her waking life, and made reference to cultural and traditional symbols that would have been difficult for outsiders of her culture to understand. Add to that that her testimony was translated from Xhosa to English and transcribed, and one begins to understand how difficult it may be to comprehend one not-so-simple testimony. The authors of There Was This Goat, which is a line from Mrs. Konile’s testimony, embark on a journey of understanding as they imagine conversations about this testimony and begin to discuss with Mrs. Konile her experience of losing her son, with the truth commission and its aftermath. In one section of the text, where the authors imagine a conversation between two black South Africans, one says to the other:
To fully understand our words you have to understand a whole history of fear, hiding, running, evading, and still trying to maintain a sense of dignity and a life worth something. To truly hear Mrs. Konile’s truth, and the truth of most of the black people who testified at the Truth Commission hearings, you have to work hard to understand it, you have to gain our trust. It’s not going to be given to you just like that, because you may turn and use it against us, as happened many, many times under apartheid (32).
By looking at Mrs. Konile’s testimony and the work of Krog, Mpolweni, and Ratele, my paper explored how testimony is something that must be actively engaged and understood within a much larger historical and cultural context. (I posted a few weeks ago about another of Antjie Krog’s books, Country of My Skull, and There Was This Goat is another excellent, engaging read about the politics of truth commissions.)
Thanks to the organizers and the Nipissing First Nations, who were so generous with sharing their experiences.
