Legacy of residential schools hits Twitter with #MyReconciliationIncludes
Kim Wheeler | CBC News | Posted: June 2, 2015 11:30 PM | Last Updated: June 2, 2015
Final Truth and Reconciliation Commission events spark outpouring on Twitter
Two days before the final event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission began in Ottawa on May 31, the hashtag #MyReconciliationIncludes took off on Twitter.
From grassroots activists to celebrities to non-indigenous people, users tweeted out what reconciliation looks like to them — and they are still tweeting today.
- Complete coverage of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final event
- Truth and Reconciliation report brings calls for action, not words
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission urges Canada to confront 'cultural genocide' of residential schools
On Tuesday, the TRC released a 360-plus page executive summary with 94 recommendations. It comes after the commission travelled the country, listening to six years of testimony from nearly 7,000 witnesses. The report provides stories from survivors, including tales of children taken from parents, siblings separated and abuse and neglect at residential schools.
Visual artist Christi Belcourt began the hashtag with:
It didn't take long before others began using Belcourt's hashtag to share what reconciliation looks like to them.
Even Justice Murray Sinclair, the chair of the TRC, tweeted about his personal reconciliation view.
Others acknowledged that the Inuit and Métis have been left out of the TRC process.
People talked about who and what the reconciliation process includes.
And the non-indigenous community responded.
There were also several pleas to never forget the legacy of residential schools in Canada.
What does your reconciliation look like? Tweet us at CBC_Aboriginal with the #MyReconciliationIncludes.