Call to Action 76: The Protection Of Residential School Cemeteries

Emily Morin

About The Author

I would like to remain anonymous for this post. I was born in 2000, and grew up in Espanola,

Ontario. I briefly studied English in Ottawa, and now I’m in Cambrian’s Graphic Design program.

I like to read fiction, write poetry, and paint digitally. I love music, gardening, and my cat, Janis.

In the future I’d like to start my own business, and maybe support myself with some of my own

art.

I chose Truth and Reconciliation as an elective because I think it’s important to learn as much as

I can about Indigenous issues. Growing up, my school curriculum didn’t include anything about

the Residential School System, so I knew nothing about it until I decided to start looking into it

myself. Truth and Reconciliation seemed like it would be an interesting and thought-provoking

class. I haven’t been disappointed so far!

Call To Action 76

The Call to Action that I’ve selected is Call To Action 76. Call to Action 76 is as follows:

“We call upon the parties engaged in the work of documenting, maintaining,

commemorating, and protecting residential school cemeteries to adopt strategies in

accordance with the following principles:

i. The Aboriginal community most affected shall lead the development of such

strategies.

ii. Information shall be sought from residential school Survivors and other

Knowledge Keepers in the development of such strategies.

iii. Aboriginal protocols shall be respected before any potentially invasive technical

inspection and investigation of a cemetery site.”

What this Call to Action means is that the people in charge of documenting, maintaining,

commemorating the Residential School cemeteries are responsible for consulting

Residential School survivors and Indigenous Knowledge Keepers in order to make sure

that any actions they take coincide with indigenous practices and culture. This Call to

Action honours the children laid to rest in the cemetery by protecting Residential School

cemeteries from invasive inspections and investigations that may disturb the graves.

This Call to action is important to me personally, as I am a fairly spiritual person and

take the importance of respecting cemeteries very seriously. I often visit the cemetery in

my hometown to visit my grandmother’s grave, and pay respect to those who came

before me.

Call to Action 76 is relevant to everyone, because grief is a universal experience.

Everyone has experienced loss, and everyone deserves to be able to grieve properly,

and heal from those losses. The children who passed away in the Residential School

System deserve to be at peace in their final resting place, and their living relatives

deserve the assurance that they are being honoured and respected in accordance with

their culture.

A large part of the colonization of Canada included the destruction of Indigenous culture.

The Residential School System silenced the Indigenous language, and snuffed out

Indigenous beliefs. This Call to Action reinstates Indigenous beliefs, and allows

survivors the opportunity to properly grieve, and make sure that the strategies taken by

those in charge of the cemetery are respectful to its inhabitants.

On Beyond the 94, Call to Action 76 is considered “In progress - Projects proposed”.

There are some organizations currently focused on protecting Residential School

Cemeteries.

Celebrating Good Work

Unfortunately, there hasn’t really been any progress with Call to Action 76 that has been

documented. The government is currently working to talk to Indigenous communities and decide

a strategy to approach the preservation and protection of Residential School cemeteries in a

way that respects Indigenous culture, but no solid efforts have been made yet. Undocumented,

I’m sure that there are plenty of Indigenous people still holding on to the memory of their lost

relatives, and honouring them personally in their own ways, as people do.

Call for More

Now that you’ve learned about Call to Action 76, I encourage you to think about what you’ve

read. What do you do to honor those that you’ve lost? And what can you do to pay your

respects to the Indigenous people who were here before us?

In order to learn more, you can visit these links:

To read more about the TRC’s Calls to Action:

http://www.trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf

More Information on Calls to Action 71-76:

https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1524504992259/1557512149981

References: http://www.trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf

https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1524494530110/1557511412801 https://www.rcaanc-

cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1524504992259/1557512149981