Where are the Children?

Aboriginal Healing Foundation
A Message from Georges Erasmus, Chairman

Having been asked to provide some introductory words for Where are the Children? - Healing the Legacy of the Residential Schools, I reflected upon the meaning of such an undertaking. What did an exhibition of this type represent?

The project was launched at the National Archives of Canada. Dedicated to the service of the nation's identity, the Archives gathers what has been as an endowment to what will be. Because no legacy is enriched by counterfeit, this project represented an attempt to tell the true and painful story of a national institution committed, not to the preservation of a people, but to their forced assimilation.

Where are the Children? acknowledges that the era of silence is over. The resilience of Aboriginal people is evident in efforts to address the effects of unresolved trauma, thereby conferring upon future generations a renewed legacy of peace, strength, and well-being.

The exhibition has meant, and will mean, many things to many people.

Those who are Survivors of Indian residential school trauma will have painful recollections. Some have begun their healing, others are yet to begin. I acknowledge their strength - their determination to face the truth and to end the cycle of abuse. People of courage are the wealth of our nations. May this exhibit contribute to their healing.

Some will for the first time see what Survivors of residential school abuse have never forgotten: the face of a child whose identity is a number, whose culture is forbidden, and whose future is an institutional experiment. May this exhibit provision a greater understanding.

Meanwhile, the healing will continue. We will look beyond mere survival, toward the renewal of nations and the reconciliation of peoples.

A charity, "The Legacy of Hope Foundation," has been established to carry forward the work begun by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. The Legacy of Hope Foundation will focus upon healing, public awareness and education. The healing has just begun.

I thank the Survivors of residential school abuse who today are enriching both the present and future state of Aboriginal communities.

For their support, I thank also the National Archives, the National Library of Canada, Health Canada, and the Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution of Canada.

Masi.
Georges Erasmus,
Chairman,
Aboriginal Healing Foundation