Residential Schools and Reconciliation

Orange Shirt Day

Orange Shirt Day is held annually on September 30 in Canada to bring people together to honour and remember the sacrifices of residential school survivors and their families. For this session of RBCM@Home (Kids), join residential school survivor Eddy Charlie and friend Kristin Spray as they share some of the difficult history of intergenerational harm caused by residential schools and the paths toward healing.

Shayli Robinson

Shayli talks about the impact of residential schools on her family. This video was created for the Royal BC Museum 2017 Family: Bonds and Belonging exhibition. Credit: RBCM

St. George’s Indian Residential School

For more information about this film visit the BC Archives Collection Search.

Lytton, BC, ca. 1936. Filmed by Vancouver filmmaker Alfred E. Booth (1892-1977). Credit: BCA AAAA0901 Excerpt from Call Number V1995:01-001.01

Kamloops Indian Residential School

For more information about this film visit the BC Archives Collection Search.

Kamloops, BC, ca. 1937. Filmed by Vancouver filmmaker Alfred E. Booth (1892-1977). Credit: BCA AAAA1034 . Excerpt From Call Number: V1995:01/013.01

Language Champion: Renee Sampson

Watch Language Champion Renee Sampson, from WSÁNEĆ (Saanich), speak about her indigenous language. Credit: Video by RBCM

Webster! Sophie Pierre Interview 1986

Jack Webster interviews Sophie Pierre in 1986. Pierre was the elected chief of St Mary's Indian Band for 26 years. At the time of this interview, she had been chief for nine years. They discuss Aboriginal land claims, the Indian Act, language and cultural survival. Pierre was appointed Chief Commissioner of the BC Treaty Commission, given the Order of British Columbia and awarded the Governor General's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012, which recognizes the achievements of outstanding Canadians. Today, Sophie Pierre is one of the most accomplished and recognized Indigenous leaders in the Canada.

If Webster were interviewing Sophie Pierre today what do you think he would ask her? How many of his questions might he phrase differently, or not ask at all? Learn more about indigenous languages in Our Living Languages. Credit: RBCM/BCA, AAAA7750, courtesy British Columbia Television

Carving Program

Visitors to the Royal BC Museum have been able to witness a First Nations cultural tradition in action: an on-site pole carving, in partnership with the BC Ministry of Health and sponsored by TimberWest. Tsawout First Nation master carvers Tom and Perry LaFortune have been answering questions and talking about their artwork as they carve the Crossing Cultures and Healing pole. From This Week in History Season 7 Episode 2.

This Week in History - Season 8 Episode 13: The Indigenous Repatriation Handbook

Royal BC Museum repatriation specialist, Lou-ann Neel, is one of the authors of a newly published in-depth guide for communities and museums: the Indigenous Repatriation Handbook. This first-of-its-kind resource was sparked by a recommendation from a repatriation symposium, hosted by the Royal BC Museum in 2017. Credit: RBCM