New Paths Forward

 Picking up where I left off yesterday, there is a video with testimony and memories of residential school survivors, who testified before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the damage that residential schools did to their lives and their families. Entirely appropriate to include it as part of the exhibit, and it is heartbreaking.

Christi Belcourt created a stained glass window matching pair called Looking Ahead. One is here, while the other is at Parliament Hill. It is drawn out of the work of the Commission, and reminds us of the work that lies ahead.

This is the ceremonial headdress of Phil Fontaine, a former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, and a survivor of residential schools.

A century ago, tribes began to understand that it was through organization and political activism in the country that they could begin to effect change for the better.

This is the traditional dress of Autumn Pelletier, who has become a strong advocate for indigenous rights, both in Canada and around the world.

The Meech Lake Accord was an attempt by the federal government to update the Constitution. One of the reasons the Accord fell apart was the objections of a member of the legislative assembly of Manitoba, Elijah Harper, who on a point of principle refused to endorse it, as it did not address concerns of Aboriginal people. He was right.

The Oka Crisis was an armed standoff in 1990, between Mohawks and the police, Mounties, and army near the town of Oka in Quebec over development on disputed land. 

The partitioning of the Northwest Territories into two territories- the NWT and Nunavut- was a long process that saw Inuit government in the far north.

Examples of indigenous art round out this area.