Canada Post has issued the first in a new series that seeks to increase public awareness of the September 30 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.  The first stamps feature stunning artwork from indigenous artists. 

“My people will sleep for 100 years, but when they awake it will be the artists who give them their spirit back.”  Métis leader, Louis Riel (1844-1885)

First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were snatched from their homes and forced, by the Canadian government, to attend Indian residential schools with the last school closing in 1997. For about 150 years, generations of children were traumatised, stripped of their identities and isolated from their communities and culture. Over 150,000 children were taken, with thousands dying far from home and family. Alone, isolated and denied the love of parents, grandparents and extended families, many of these children were dumped into unmarked graves and families not told what happened to them. Those that survived often could not speak their own language nor talk about the trauma they suffered.  They were disconnected from their own culture and became outsiders everywhere. 

For 150 years, lives were shattered, and they were set adrift in a society that either refused to understand the genocide that was occurring, turning a blind eye to what was happening or openly supporting it. But Indigenous communities never forgot their missing children. Nor the generations of traumatized who struggle to regain their lands and culture. National Reconciliation Day is part of the attempt to understand what happened and help Indigenous communities heal. 

4 stamp set issued for the September 30 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

The [National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation] educates Canadians on the profound injustices inflicted on First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation by the forced removal of children to attend residential schools and the widespread abuse suffered in those schools.

We preserve the record of these human rights abuses, and promote continued research and learning on the legacy of residential schools. Our goal is to honour Survivors and to foster reconciliation and healing on the foundation of truth telling.

TRC Website – NCTR

Canada Post created a video explaining both the series and the artwork. 

And this link …. well just go and read Understanding the Legacy of Residential Schools | ETFO Voice.  I relied heavily on material released by Canada Post for the information and quotes from the artists to tell the story behind the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.  

Jackie Traverse, First Nations artist (Lake St. Martin, Manitoba) – Anishinaabe, Ojibwe

“I can be inspired by ceremony, prayer, as well as kind and moving words. I love the culture of my people and this is where most of my inspiration comes from.” About (jackietraverse.com)

Jackie Traverse, First Nations artist (Lake St. Martin, Manitoba) – Anishinaabe, Ojibwe

“This image represents seeds of change. Here we have man and woman, the Elders, their children and their grandchildren. I’ve put the (unofficial) national flower, the bunchberry, in the centre to represent Canada, with the roots from the seeds reaching to the past. For all of us to experience a good harvest we need to share the sun, water and the land. This is how we bring forth good crops and ensure everyone has the harvest of tomorrow.” Stamps capture Indigenous artists’ visions for truth and reconciliation | Canada Post (canadapost-postescanada.ca)

Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona, Inuit artist – Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake), Nunavut

Kabloona’s work is inspired by the art of her grandmother, Victoria Mamnguqsualuk, and the colours and bold shapes of her great-grandmother, Jessie Oonark, and often incorporates traditional Inuit stories told through a modern, feminist lens. Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona | IAQ Profiles | Inuit Art Foundation

Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona, Inuit artist

Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona | IAQ Profiles | Inuit Art Foundation

“I believe each group within Canada has a different responsibility for reconciliation. For Indigenous People, our responsibility is to ourselves and to others within our communities: learning or passing on our language and culture that was attacked only one generation ago. I created a woman lighting a qulliq (QUL-liq), the traditional Inuit stone lamp used for heat and light to signify caretaking. This woman is carrying on in her culture as she has always done, taking care of herself and others and healing.” Stamps capture Indigenous artists’ visions for truth and reconciliation | Canada Post (canadapost-postescanada.ca)

Kim Gullion Stewart, Métis artist – Athabasca, Alberta (currently lives in Pinantan Lake, British Columbia)

I am interested in creating metaphorical meaning by connecting Métis cultural art forms (hide tanning, beading, quillwork) with contemporary art forms. In my art practice I investigate and search to uncover the depths of my Métis identity, to learn Métis knowledge systems that have been hidden, lost, or adapted as a survival mechanism. I am inspired by what Métis leader, Louis Riel (1844-1885) said, “My people will sleep for 100 years, but when they awake it will be the artists who give them their spirit back.” Artist’s Bio — Kim Gullion Stewart (kimstewartonline.ca)

Kim Gullion Stewart, Métis artist

“Flowers in Métis art remind people to live in a symbiotic way with land, waterways, ecosystems and one another. In this piece I have placed beaded flowers on top of contour lines representing the Rocky Mountains, twisty lines for rivers and dashes demarking political territories. While maps like this one are a two-dimensional record of historical process and places, they are incomplete until they include elements that are important to the people who are Indigenous on this continent.” Stamps capture Indigenous artists’ visions for truth and reconciliation | Canada Post (canadapost-postescanada.ca)

Blair Thomson, artist and graphic designer

Thomson designed this set as well as supplying the last graphic. Brand and graphic design studio in UK and Canada | Believe in 

Blair Thomson, artist and graphic designer

“A pair of bold hands are held over the eyes and human face. Intended to be cross-representative — those of Indigenous Peoples/Survivors, covering their face in sadness, pain, memories, and those of the settler, masking their view of reality and shame. Tears stream from between the fingers. The background further connects to the school windows, looking out and dreaming of home. The eyes looking out from behind the hands reinforce the message that settlers must ‘never look away again.’” Stamps capture Indigenous artists’ visions for truth and reconciliation | Canada Post (canadapost-postescanada.ca)

First Day Cover

First Day Cover for Truth and Reconciliation

First Day Cover for Truth and Reconciliation back of cover

FDCs will be postmarked in Brantford, Ontario at the Mohawk Institute, home of the Haudenosaunee and Anishnaabeg, which was the site of the first Residential School in Canada in the early 1830s.

Here are a few more resources on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation:

WELCOME (orangeshirtday.org) – September 30 – Every Child Matters. 

The Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School operated in Brantford, Ontario from 1828 to 1970. It served as a boarding school for First Nations children from Six Nations, as well as other communities throughout Ontario and Quebec. It served as a key tool in the effort to assimilate First Nations children into European Christian society, and sever the continuity of culture from parent to child.

After closing in 1970, it reopened in 1972 as the Woodland Cultural Centre, a non-profit
organization that serves to preserve and promote First Nations culture and heritage.

Mohawk Institute Residential School Virtual Tour Now Available Online – Woodland Cultural Centre 

As search for unmarked graves continues, Mohawk residential school survivors demand records (wshu.org)

Home Page – Final Report | MMIWG (mmiwg-ffada.ca) – National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.