Museums, and all arts, culture, and heritage spaces, have a critical role to play in confronting residential school denialism.

This post is the first of a series of resources the BC Museums Association is developing to support our sector in being prepared to address residential school denialism in all forms – from online comments, to in-person questions, to internal misinformation.

In response to Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc’s announcement of the location of 215 potential unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in 2021, there has been a renewed effort to subvert, manipulate, or outright deny the role of residential schools in the genocide of Indigenous peoples in the lands now known as Canada. Like other forms of mis- and disinformation, residential school denialists seek to undermine society’s understanding of the truth in order to further their own destructive political and social beliefs.

As Dr. Niigaan Sinclair and Dr. Sean Carleton state in their op-ed Residential School Denialism Is on the Rise. What to Know, “Denialism is a barrier to reconciliation… The TRC was clear that reconciliation is not an Indigenous burden but a Canadian responsibility — and an opportunity to build stronger relations with Indigenous peoples.” Non-Indigenous Canadians have a responsibility to confront denialism and as heritage and museum professionals, we have the power to inform public conversations about the past, giving us an obligation to take action.

What is Residential School Denialism?

Residential school denialism, like other forms of genocide denial, can take many forms. Regarding Holocaust denial, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum writes, “The denial of the Holocaust and genocide take many forms, from simply ignoring obvious facts by manipulating the sources, through minimizing the dimensions of genocide, to trivializing and rationalizing genocide by analogy and claiming that it is an acceptable example of the kinds of things that happen in wartime.” 

Similarly, residential school denialism is a spectrum that ranges from minimizing, to doubt, to outright denial. Denialist talking points or misinformation can insidiously influence people who would not identify as a “residential school denier.” For this reason, it can be difficult to quantify the number of deniers in Canada. Since the closing of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2015, and more recently in response to increasing public discussions about the destruction caused by residential schools, deniers have been more vocal. Many have spoken up in recent opposition to, and impatience for, the ongoing work of Indigenous communities, the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, and other involved parties completing research work in relation to residential school gravesites. 

It is similarly challenging to definitively describe the forms denialism can take. Dr. Justice and Dr. Carleton have written a good resource offering strategies for identifying and confronting denialism. The article cites the 2015 final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, stating “too many Canadians know little or nothing about the deep historical roots’ of the ongoing issues stemming from settler colonialism generally and residential schooling specifically.” This lack of historical knowledge, combined with the positive images that the church and government have for many Canadians, can often lead to the “positive” framing of residential schools. 

As Dr. Justice and Dr. Carleton argue, denialism is not exclusively the outright denial of the existence of residential schools, but rather “the rejection or misrepresentation of basic facts about residential schools.” This can take the form of rhetoric tricks like hyper-focusing on narrow definitions of genocide to contest the idea that genocide is applicable to Canada, drawing false comparisons between boarding schools or orphanages and residential schools, focusing on the “new skills” and “education” offered by residential schools, accusing their opponents of ignoring “all the good things” associated with the schools, suggesting that historians must offer a “balanced” or “apolitical” assessment of residential schools, or attempting to justify residential schools by saying such actions were normal “for the times.” Each of these tactics attempts to subvert the truth and rewrite history to make it more favourable to settler colonialism.

About the Special Interlocutor’s Interim Report

Unmarked gravesites have reignited national awareness of the destruction caused by residential schools and therefore have been a target for denialists. To support Indigenous communities and the government in the work to identify, research and protect unmarked gravesites, the Federal Justice Minister appointed Kimberly Murray as Special Interlocutor in June 2022. Murray’s role is to identify barriers to the work, the legal changes needed and to make recommendations for a new federal legal framework to ensure the respectful and culturally appropriate treatment of unmarked graves and burial sites of children associated with former residential schools (Office of the Special Interlocutor). Her June 2023 Interim Report includes findings on the increase of residential school denialism in Canada and offers recommendations for addressing denialism, including a significant increase in public education. 

In the Special Interlocutors interim report, two community assessments of communications and reactions from the public stand out and are relevant to discussions of the damage of denialism: Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc and Cowessess First Nation. The report noted that in both communities, information was leaked to the media before a communications plan could be developed and this led to miscommunications in the media that fueled denialism and pain among the communities. 

This report reflects a theme expressed by Dr. Sinclair and Dr. Carleton in their recent publication; that all Canadians have a role to play in standing up to the rising tide of denialism. Indigenous communities from coast-to-coast-to-coast have spent decades telling the truth in courtrooms, in Truth and Reconciliation Commission testimonies, in community documentation, and within their families. They are working to heal and find answers. Combatting residential school denialism is our responsibility as settler Canadians, as heritage workers, and as members of the broader community. 

What you can do

Indigenous communities and advocates agree that responding to denialism is the responsibility of all Canadians. Everyone from museum volunteers, to public-facing staff, to managers/boards have tangible actions they can take to address and reject residential school denialism. Here are a few initial steps that arts, culture, and heritage workers/volunteers can take:

Keep in mind that well-intentioned discussions with persons firmly rooted in denialism will not likely change their minds, and you need to take care of yourself and your colleagues both mentally and physically. Instigating a debate can escalate into defensiveness or aggression, and your personal safety is a priority.

If you have feedback about this article or would like BCMA to develop specific resources, policies, or training materials to support effective responses to residential school denialism, please email us.

Thank you to the BCMA Indigenous Advisory Committee for their feedback and trust in the development of this article!