Reconciling Written and Oral Histories Into Understanding Canada's Residential School Policies

Abstract

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada has highlighted the diverse ways of understanding the past by combining written historical records of the Residential Schools with personal oral testimony of what students experienced. 1 This model blended opposing ways of understanding the past into a truth-seeking document which has informed Canadians about the institutions that tried to get rid of Indigenous culture. 2 As historians, we must include both historical perspectives when writing about the past in order to develop richer historical narratives. Only a handful of the 150,000 survivors of the Residential School system were provided the opportunity to testify during the official hearings, so many of their stories have not been heard. Moreover, the work involved in organizing the class-action lawsuit that arose, gathering survivor testimonies of those involved in what was later termed the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement have not been chronicled. The experiences of one of these survivors, Raymond Mason, will be the primary source informing this paper, triangulated with others' narratives and the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Report. Biography of Raymond MasonRaymond Mason, from Peguis First Nation in northern Manitoba, Canada, is an individual whose story reveals much about the character and determination of Indigenous survivors of Canada's Residential School system. Mason was taken at the age of six and experienced horrific physical, mental and sexual abuse at three different schools in Manitoba.