A short statement by The Presbyterian Church in Canada in response to findings by Tseshaht First Nation related to verified student deaths and possible unmarked graves on the grounds of the former site of the Alberni Residential School in British Columbia.
This half-hour video gives a brief overview of The Presbyterian Church in Canada’s role in colonization and Residential Schools. It is intended as an educational tool to help people understand the ways in which racism and colonial attitudes shaped the church’s mission, with devastating consequences.
The PCC has established a new fund to honour of the children who were lost at residential schools and all people living with the consequences of that legacy.
In response to the devastating confirmation of unmarked graves on the grounds of former residential schools in Canada, a statement was published, in consultation with the National Indigenous Ministry Council, and signed by the current and previous Moderator of General Assembly. It speaks, through repentance and lament and in humility, for the lives of all the children who were lost and makes many commitments for the church to act upon.
The Presbyterian Church in Canada has issued a statement of repentance and commitment to action, aware of our responsibility with regard to the sin of colonialism and operation of Indian Residential Schools.
The following are answers to some of the questions people are asking about the unmarked graves found at the Kamloops Indian Residential School. Church staff are also available to answer any further questions. For more information, please contact Allyson Carr in Justice Ministries. Read the PCC’s initial statement and prayer [...]
The Presbyterian Church in Canada grieves with Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, who has released news that the unidentified graves of 215 children have been found on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, as well as all those who lost family, friends or community members to Indian Residential Schools—for whom this news brings devastating pain, trauma and loss.
Dr. Allyson Carr, Associate Secretary of Justice Ministries, has written on the death of Joyce Echaquan, an Indigenous woman in a hospital in Quebec, and the racist words that were spoken to her by the hospital workers she was in the care of—words which illuminate the unacceptable and condemnable behaviour that is often permitted in our society as a result of systemic racism.
This reflection by the moderator speaks to the importance of participating in Orange Shirt Day on September 30 to remember and honour the Indigenous children who attended Indian Residential Schools, and reflects on the PCC’s involvement in the Residential School System and its inter-generational impacts on Indigenous children today.
Why Work To Decolonize? is a study resource produced in collaboration between the PCC’s National Indigenous Ministries Council and the Life and Mission Agency (Justice Ministries) that engages the overall themes of the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
