Page 4 - Presbyterian Connection Fall 2025

4 FALL 2025
ConnectionP R E S B Y T E R I A N
presbyterian.ca
Residential School Denialism and
Why Christians Should Reject It
By Allyson Carr, Justice Ministries
September 30 marks Orange
Shirt Day, also known as National
Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
It is a day to honour Survivors
and intergenerational Survivors
of Canada’s Indian Residential
School System, run by the fed-
eral government and churches,
and to honour and remember
those children who never made it
home. The Presbyterian Church in
Canada was an active participant
in this intensely harmful system,
operating 12 residential schools.
The PCC has apologized for the
trauma and other harms the
schools caused to generations of
Indigenous children and families
and continues to commit itself to
the work of reconciliation.
Although reconciliation is often
concerned with more direct ways
of redress or healing, another im-
portant part of reconciliation is
rejecting forces seeking to deny
or downplay the harmful nature of
the schools. This denial or mini-
mization of harms perpetrated
through the schools is called resi-
dential school denialism.
Residential school denialism
seeks to undermine the founda-
tion of reconciliation. It minimizes
or rejects the historical record,
the accounts of Survivors and
the work of the Truth and Recon-
ciliation Commission of Canada.
It also ignores or downplays
other vital initiatives whose fo-
cus wasn’t the schools them-
selves, but which nevertheless
found links between the schools
and ongoing issues facing In-
digenous people today (such as
are detailed in the findings of the
National Inquiry into Missing and
Murdered Indigenous Women
and Girls). Such denialism re-
fuses to see or admit the truths
that are spelled out plainly even in
the church’s own archives. The
schools were systemically, not
incidentally, harmful. They were
intended to split up families and
force assimilation. Even without
any other abuse—and there was
plenty of other abuse—that was
fundamentally harmful on its own.
This October marks a year since
Kimberly Murray, Independent
Special Interlocutor for Missing
Children and Unmarked Graves
and Burial Sites associated with
Indian Residential Schools, re-
leased her final report. It included
42 Sacred Obligations providing
a framework for truth, account-
ability and healing. An important
theme in the Special Interlocutor’s
final report is how central the work
of truth, and truth-seeking, is to
healing and reconciliation. Be-
cause truth is such a major theme
in the report, the report also ad-
dresses how residential school
denialism manifests in Canada,
observing that it doesn’t outright
deny the residential school sys-
tem’s existence; rather, it rejects
or misrepresents basic facts
about the schools—denying that
they were tools of assimilation,
stating that abuses were minimal,
or making assertions such as that
the schools “did lots of good too.”
These falsehoods deny the reality
of the lasting harm the schools
caused, undermine truth and
reconciliation efforts and reinforce
persistent myths or prejudices
regarding Indigenous people.
Recommendations put forward
by both the National Indigenous
Ministries Council and the Life
and Mission Agency at the 2025
General Assembly, which were
adopted, encouraged Presbyte-
rians to read the final report the
Special Interlocutor released.
Christians are called
to hear—and to
tell—the truth
Denialism deepens the harms the
schools caused. It resists process-
es to establish and maintain an ac-
curate public record of injustices,
undermining public understanding
of why reconciliation is needed. It
downplays or excuses the intent of
the schools as tools of assimila-
tion, and diminishes or denies the
ongoing intergenerational impacts
of the schools. These actions and
attitudes create additional harm
not only through their denial of
truth, but also because they con-
tribute to a narrative that reconcili-
ation isn’t important or necessary.
That narrative increases polariza-
tion within Canadian society and
across Indigenous–settler rela-
tions, while undermining efforts to
establish necessary healing sup-
ports for Survivors and intergen-
erational Survivors.
In the preface of her final report,
the Special Interlocutor wrote:
“Collectively, Canadians can no
longer be bystanders in recon-
ciliation… A mature and healthy
democracy is strengthened by its
willingness and ability to confront
the political, legal and moral fail-
ures of its own past and change
accordingly” (p. viii). The Inter-
locutor’s mention of a mature and
healthy democracy is an important
point to hear; nations and commu-
nities that cannot face and work to
redress where they, collectively,
have done significant harm are
likely to repeat those same mis-
takes. When truth is devalued in
one area it is not long before it is
devalued in other areas too. And
where truth continues to be de-
valued and denied, respect for
such foundational issues as ba-
sic human rights and democratic
processes wanes quickly. One
does not need to look far to see
examples of this today. Telling and
hearing the truth—even and espe-
cially when it is a difficult truth—is
a cornerstone of social cohesion
and justice.
That reason alone should be
enough to reject residential school
denialism, but Christians have an
additional reason, which is im-
portant to name here: the church
confessed in 1994 that what we,
the church, did at these schools
was a misrepresentation of Christ.
Acknowledging, not denying, that
the church’s actions were a mis-
representation of Christ is part of
faithful witness today. Simply put,
refusing to do so continues to
misrepresent Christ in this world.
One of the five fundamental
commitments the PCC made in
its 2024 Apology for colonization
and residential schools is: “We
will listen to and tell the truth about
the past.” Sometimes, listening to
and telling truth is difficult, but the
Reformed tradition has a history
of acknowledging that sometimes
the church does wrong—and that
it is always in need of reform (Liv-
ing Faith 7.1.6). We are better wit-
nesses to the love Christ showed
to the world when we face the
harms we, individually or collec-
tively, have been part of and work
to repair them.
What can you do?
• Participate in local events
for the National Day for Truth
and Reconciliation.
• Read the reports and listen
to Survivor accounts.
• Learn about residential
schools the PCC operated
at presbyterianarchives.ca/
narrative-history.
• Consider supporting the
Honouring the Children fund:
presbyterian.ca/honouring-
the-children-fund.
• Learn more about the
church’s work for reconcili-
ation and find resources at
presbyterian.ca/indigenous-
justice.
FREE LEADERSHIP
WEBINARS AVAILABLE
Topics include funding
opportunities, building a
healthy and sustainable
worshipping community,
the candidacy process,
money matters, and so
much more!
Ecumenical Church Statements
on the Crisis in Palestine and Israel
The Presbyterian Church in Canada joins in prayer for the people of Palestine and
Israel as they face war, danger and uncertainty. As the crisis in the region continues
to unfold, the PCC has compiled links to statements issued from the Middle Eastern
Council of Churches, the Priests of the Churches of Taybeh-Ramallah/Palestine,
KAIROS Canada, and the World Council of Churches. A prayer and links to donate to
support relief efforts are also available.
Visit presbyterian.ca/just-and-lasting-peace.
presbyterian.ca/webinars