Every Child Matters Banner for National Truth and Reconciliation Day.Print or use on virtual bulletin boards or Powerpoint presentations.

Missing children and the existence of unmarked burial sites at Residential Schools across Canada have been well-known for decades among Indigenous communities. However, Canadians are still grappling with the truths about Residential Schools, spurring long-overdue conversations inside and outside the classroom.

Remembering the Children, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation’s publication for students, offers a way to begin those conversations. It takes readers to a variety of Residential Schools across time and space, opening a door into a past that reverberates today, while also celebrating the resilience and resurgence of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples’ culture.

The publication Remembering the Children and this complementary educator’s guide
were designed to help students achieve the following goals:
• gain a more complex understanding of the history and reality of residential schools in Canada, recognizing that children who attended Residential
Schools, day schools, industrial schools and boarding schools had their own
unique experiences and that these experiences varied across the country and
across time
• gain an appreciation for Indigenous knowledge and the diversity of traditional
cultures, languages and teachings of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities
• understand the depth of loss that occurred as a result of the Residential
School system
• learn about contemporary people and organizations who are engaged in cultural revitalization efforts
• understand that they have an individual and collective role in reconciliation
Students and teachers all over Canada will be at different stages of learning. We hope
that the Remembering the Children publication and educator’s guide provide you
with content, resources, voices and ideas so that you can continue these important
conversations all year long.
With appreciation to all educators who are taking on this important work

This impactful work is based on the Life Story of Elder Mary Courchene during her time in Residential Schools that channels her story of truth, resistance, healing and the reclamation of identity, language, culture and community for herself and her family. We are incredibly proud of this work and are excited to share it with everyone.

We see this curriculum as a living document to be used throughout the school year to help students (and staff) better understand the impacts of Residential Schools. The hope is for classrooms to engage in multiple lessons over a period of time, versus the one-day event to honour Orange Shirt Day.

The curriculum is for middle and senior years level but many pieces can be used and adapted for early years. Elder Mary's story is one of resistance, healing and love. Her truth is a gift to all that will both preserve her story and honour her life's work as an educator and elder who has always so generously shared her story so that children, youth and adults can learn truth and walk the path of reconciliation. We recognize how impactful it will be for all schools across Manitoba and Canada, to have a resource such as this one, Resistance on the Giimooch (Giimooch in Anishinaabemowin means in secret).​