On the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, one of the things we can do to honour the memory of children who suffered the atrocities of Canada’s residential school system, and its suvivors, is to read and learn more about what Indigenous people experienced, and how it continues to affect current generations.
It has been nine years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its report, and published the 94 Calls to Action meant to advance reconciliation. As we know, many of those CTAs remain unaddressed, or partially addressed.
We decided to do a search for quilts that were made as acts of reconciliation, and found several that you may be interested in learning more about. They may serve as inspiration for you or your guild to create a quilt, as an exercise in reconciliation, to help raise awareness of how the residential school system harmed, and continues to cause harm, Indigenous families and communities, and for donation to an organization that helps to heal those wounds.
VIEx Reconciliation Quilt
The Vancouver Island Exhibition (VIEx) website tells the story of a Reconciliation Quilt made in 2017, two years after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada released its 94 Calls to Action. It contains one block for every call to action.
With the help of a grant from the federal government, organizations in the Nanaimo, BC, area, including the Mid Island Metis Nation, Nanaimo Aboriginal Center, Tsawalk Scholl, and the VIEx, helped to make the quilt led by elder Sally Williams.
You can view each of the blocks on the VIEx site, alongside the specific call to action each block is designed to represent.
Call to Action 65—We call upon the federal government, through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, post-secondary institutions and educators, and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and its partner institutions, to establish a national research program with multi-year funding to advance understanding of reconciliation.
“Halifax quilters to donate their creations to residential school survivors”
This report from CBC Nova Scotia tells the story of quilters who gathered together on the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation in 2023 to work on quilts to donate to survivors of the residential schools. A local merchant, Sally Gaal of Sew With Vision, closed her shop that day and invited quilters in to sew the quilts. The goal was to complete three quilt tops made and ready to send to Quilts for Survivors. That organization collects blocks and tops from across Canada (and the world), and then quilts and binds the quilts to prepare them for gifting to survivors. Read the CBC story here.
The Halifax quilters worked with this panel depicting two children reunited after being separated in residential schools. From Northcott Fabrics, the panel is called The Journey Home, and designed by Karen Erickson. Northcott donates the net proceeds from the sale of the panel to the Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society and the Orange Shirt Society.
Virtual Quilt (Nipiqaqtugut Sanaugatigut)
If you would like a better understanding of what life is like for Inuit suffering the effects of forced relocation and residential schools, The Virtual Quilt book is an important read. It was created by Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, an organization that raises awareness and advocates for the needs of Inuit women.
The goal was to “give voice and expression to Inuit women’s unique experiences and lasting impacts of Residential Schools as a national Residential Schools commemoration initiative.”
Pauktuutit asked Inuit communities and individuals who wished to participate to create artworks, so that the art pieces and their stories could be shared. The creations include fabric art, beading, sculpture, embroidery, drawings, and many quilts and wall hangings, among other media.
View video stories from this project here. The book containing the stories of the art pieces can be downloaded from this link.
Our Quilted Banner
Truth and Reconciliation Community—Bobcaygeon created a quilted banner after reading the Report on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls. The group is focused on educating themselves and others about the need for reconciliation between settler and Indigenous communities, particularly in the Kawartha Lakes region of Ontario.
The Quilted Banner is just one of the projects this group has engaged in. You can about the inspiration for each of the blocks in this banner on their website, which includes a digital booklet containing all of the stories.
Our Quilted Banner—Made by members of Truth and Reconciliation Community—Bobcaygeon.
