Residential schools need to be marked appropriately

September 27, 2015. The new education lead for the National Centre of Truth and Reconciliation and Alberta educator Charlene Bearhead says the
federal government must work with the communities to determine how best to commemorate the 139 former residential schools. Bearhead says the only former residential school that is commemorated as part of a nationally
designated historic site is the Lac La Biche Mission school, which received its status in 1989. The plaque reads: “Church, convent and residential school ministered to the needs of the Métis community and the Cree and Dene of the area. The Mission also played a role in aiding the local people to make the
transition from a hunting to an agrarian way of life.” Bearhead says the plaque is a sign of colonialism and as such is “contrary to anything that would be healing or reconciliatory.” Marking the schools was included among the 94 actions steps outlined by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The National Commemorative Marker Project, led by the Assembly of First Nations and Aboriginal Healing Foundation, hopes to place a marker at every former residential school site across the country.