of residences. The people who walked the 1200 kilometres from Cochrane, Ontario, to Winnipeg epitomized the determination of the former students and their families. In addition, over 400 volunteers contributed their time and energy to ensure the event's success.
Sharing Circles throughout the Winnipeg event provided participants with an opportunity to enter their experience into the public record, and to share it with others. Private statement-gathering opportunities were offered as well.
Representatives of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, United, and Presbyterian churches held a luncheon for former students immediately after the official opening. At the close of each day, a Gestures of Reconciliation event was held at a large gathering tent.
One of the key public education activities was "Prairie Perspectives on Indian Residential Schools," a one-day conference sponsored by the University of Manitoba Centre for Human Rights Research Planning Initiative. It brought together prairie-based researchers, politicians, academics, and researchers who made presentations on the schools and their legacy. An evening panel discussion explored the international impact of truth and reconciliation commissions.
In a more informal way, learning took place in a series of tents where various aspects of the residential school experience were explored.
- The Learning Tent presented Commission-produced educational materials. Church and government archivists made photographs of Manitoba and northwestern Ontario residential schools available to former students.
- In the Interfaith Tent church representatives and Aboriginal people discussed reconciliation efforts in their communities.
- The Athletes Tent highlighted Aboriginal contributions to amateur and professional sport.
- The Inuit Tent showcased Inuit art and entertainment, and depicted the residential school experience from the Inuit perspective.
- The Métis Tent reflected the experience of residential schools in cultural activities such as music, dance, photographs, documents, and video.
- The Legacy of Hope's photo exhibit Where are the children depicted the national residential school experience. (The Legacy of Hope is a national Aboriginal charitable organization dedicated to raising awareness and understanding of the legacy of residential schools.)
Two outdoor concerts featured a wide range of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal musicians. Performers included Buffy Sainte-Marie, Susan Aglukark, Inez, and Blue Rodeo. Other cultural events included:
- a film festival featuring films such as Older than America, a film about the residential school experience by Georgina Lightning, recipient of the 2010 White House Project Epic Award for Emerging Artist
- an exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery of We Are Sorry, a work by Cathy Busby that contrasts the formal apologies issued to Aboriginal peoples by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
- the world première of the play Fabric of the Sky by Ian Ross
- an evening of readings by Aboriginal writers Beatrice Culleton Mosionier, Rosanna Deerchild, Joseph Boyden, Basil Johnston, and Richard Van Camp.
On the final day, Governor General Michaëlle Jean presided over a special Youth Forum, where Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth shared their perspectives on their understanding of residential schools. She enjoined the young people present "to confront history together." The event concluded with a vibrant pow-wow and closing ceremonies witnessed by hundreds of people.
The Northern National Event, Inuvik, Northwest Territories, June 28–July 1, 2011
The theme of the Northern National Event was It's about Courage—A National Journey Home. The event was held in Inuvik from June 28 to July 1, 2011, in the Northwest Territories. Located in the Beaufort Sea, Mackenzie Delta, Inuvik is a cultural crossroads, with overlapping homelands of the Inuvialuit (Inuit) and Gwichin (Dene), as well as significant Métis and non-Aboriginal populations throughout the Mackenzie Valley to the south, and the Yukon to the southwest.
The event attracted over 2500 people in a community that normally has a population of approximately 3500. In addition, viewers from across Canada and ten countries observed the proceedings via live webcast.
Former residential school students make up a large percentage of the population of northern Quebec (Nunavik), the Yukon, and the Northwest and Nunavut territories. In fact, Canada's North has the highest ratio of residential school survivors per capita. Until the mid-1990s, Aboriginal children across the North still were being taken from their homes and sent to residential schools away from their families.
Due to the vast geography of the North, and to reach as many survivors as possible, the Commission introduced pre-event hearings. Leading up to the Inuvik event, the Commis-
