University of Guelph-Humber

Trigger warning: This story explores extremely difficult subject matter, such as residential schools, trauma, and loss. Resources are available at the Student Wellness & Accessibility Centre.

In 2024, Indigenous parents and communities are still experiencing the deep, painful loss and trauma of the Canadian government taking their children away. 

While the days of residential schools in Canada are over, the country’s foster care system currently has an over-representation of Indigenous children due to colonialism and the dehumanization of Indigenous Peoples, with that resulting trauma manifesting in poverty, addictions, and high incarceration rates.This continues the cycle of intergenerational trauma, as kids are ripped away from their families and experience the severing of their cultural connection (they’re often placed in non-Indigenous households).

Until recent years, provinces issued “birth alerts,” which disproportionately impacted Indigenous mothers. This means a social worker would flag an expectant mother to hospital staff who they deem at risk for harming their infant, thus taking away their child when born – many times simply because the mother was once in foster care herself. According to Statistics Canada, while Indigenous children account for only 7.7% of all children under 15 in the country, they make up 53.8% of children in foster care.

As we reconcile Canada’s treatment of Indigenous Peoples, it’s important to understand and reflect on the intergenerational effects stemming from the horrific legacy of residential schools and the present experiences of Indigenous Peoples as children filter through the foster care system because that harm is far from over.

“For the parents, the experience of losing their children is a similar feeling as what happened during the residential schools and the Sixties Scoop,” University of Guelph-Humber (UofGH) Early Childhood Studies Chair Dr. Nikki Martyn said. She added that currently, there are more Indigenous children in foster care than there were in residential schools.

Leading up to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, UofGH had the opportunity to welcome Knowledge Keeper Tabitha Shurgold to the Humber Arboretum, as well as hear from Nancy Rowe in a pre-recorded video, as they gifted students and staff with a sense of awareness and education about the issue of Indigenous children in foster care. Through the “So They Can Go Home Moccasin Project,” Shurgold hosted a workshop for UofGH where participants hand-made traditional moccasins for Indigenous children in the child welfare system. Moccasins have varying significance to numerous Nations.

As foster children are often removed from their living situation with nothing but the clothes on their backs, they receive a kit with supplies. The moccasins crafted during the workshop would be added to the kits for Indigenous children, so they can one day find their way back home to their communities – the ones they were forcibly removed from.

“Hearing Nancy and Tabitha, and physically making something that will fit a baby child's feet, who you know needs to come home, is really powerful,” third-year Early Childhood Studies student Emma Simms said, who participated in the workshop. “Everyone should have this as common knowledge and it's really upsetting that we don't.” 

Simms added that attending this workshop brought the situation to life because it’s more than just a topic discussed on the news or social media – it’s many Indigenous Peoples’ reality. Fourth-year Early Childhood Studies student Sabrina Huynh shared this sentiment, believing that “it's crucial to keep the traditions and teachings alive and pass it on to the next generations.”

For fourth-year Early Childhood Studies student Maria Massaro, partaking in this experience was significant because she felt it gave her a chance to learn about and uplift Indigenous communities beyond posting on social media. “I always felt like I wasn't able to do anything because what is reposting a [social media] post do?” she said.

Additionally, an immersive art exhibit called “Echoes in Orange: Remembering the Children,” set up until Oct. 4 in the school’s art gallery, commemorates the children lost to residential schools.

“This year, Echoes in Orange serves as both a memorial and a space for collective healing. The orange rocks symbolize the over 10,000 children whose bodies have been found in unmarked graves,” Dr. Martyn said. “This project is personal to me, not only as a way to honour the children who never came home, but as a reminder that we all carry responsibility in ensuring a safer, more loving world for children today and in the future.”

This powerful exhibit features symbolic elements, such as painted orange rocks representing children’s lives, the sound of a heartbeat, and screens with evocative statistics about residential schools, and it invites reflection on the lingering impact of this tragic chapter in Canadian history and on the importance of reconciliation.

 “The heartbeat that resonates through the space is a reminder of the life and vitality that was stolen from these children, while the environment surrounding us calls for reflection, acknowledgement, and reconciliation,” she added. “The butterflies within the installation represent transformation—the possibility of healing and renewal, even after so much has been lost.”

Students and staff also partook in the IGNITE Walk for Reconciliation, put on by the UofGH and Humber Polytechnic student union. This served as an opportunity for the school communities to unite and reflect on the lasting effect of residential schools, and to support survivors. 

"What I glean is how much I don't know and that truly, for me, when we think about [Indigenous Peoples’] sharing, their learnings and teachings, it truly is an experience,” Vice-Provost Melanie Spence-Ariemma said, reflecting on her participation in the moccasin workshop.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, is on Sept. 30, 2024.

To learn more about Truth and Reconciliation or to find services for Indigenous students on campus, we encourage you to click these links:

Canada’s 94 Truth and Reconciliation calls to action

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Ontario 

Statistics Canada data on Indigenous children in foster care

Family Caring and Sharing Society

Humber Indigenous Education and Engagement