SJE1974H
This course considers, in part comparatively and internationally, the content and implications of Truth Commissions, especially Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in terms of delivering colonial reparations and redress. In June 2015, following six years of investigation and hearings across Canada, the TRC released its findings to the public. The findings were based largely on testimonies of over 6000 witnesses, mostly adult survivors of residential schools. The TRC concluded that the residential schools were based on a policy of "cultural genocide", enforced as part of the very foundation of the Canadian state and sustained for over a century. Canada's TRC documented crimes exclusively targeting children, and an attack on Indigenous sovereignty. It also identified education as an avenue for reconciliation.
The course in general addresses histories of settler colonialism in Canada, historically and at present. It also works in particular to make comparisons with other Truth Commissions and cases of apology and redress. Attention is paid to recommendations for social justice related, political, and educational reform and practice; as well as their implications for settler/indigenous relationships-building and -rejuvenation.
The readings in this course are drawn from Critical Indigenous Studies, History, as well as other disciplines. Films, guest speakers, and other source materials are used.