Reclaiming Shingwauk Hall Behind the Scenes

Reclaiming Shingwauk Hall poster

Earlier this week, as part of the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre's ongoing webinar series I presented a Behind the Scenes look at the Reclaiming Shingwauk Hall exhibition space. My talk focused on the Survivor community based approach of the exhibition, challenges of installing an exhibit in a University hallway, and decisions around which photos to … Continue reading Reclaiming Shingwauk Hall Behind the Scenes

OER and Exploring Pressbooks

I recently starting working with Pressbooks as a way to develop an Open Educational Resource (OER) about residential schools and the history of the Shingwauk Indian Residential School in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. For folks not familiar will Pressbooks, it is a publishing platform that you easily create ebook and print-ready files for printing physical … Continue reading OER and Exploring Pressbooks

Reclaiming Shingwauk Hall

Reclaiming shingwauk Hall poster

A permanent exhibition project I have been working on since 2012 is finally coming into fruition.  The first part of the Reclaiming Shingwauk Hall exhibition will open on August 3, 2018 and is dedicated to the generations of Survivors who attended Indian Residential Schools across the country. Reclaiming Shingwauk Hall was developed and led by the … Continue reading Reclaiming Shingwauk Hall

Annual Reports of the Shingwauk and Wawanosh Homes

Our Indian Homes Annual Report cover page

I've recently been working with a batch of annual reports from the Shingwauk and Wawanosh Homes from 1877-1915.  The first part of these reports have been digitized, OCR'd and are now available to download as PDFs.   We're still working with the reports from 1899-1915, but hope to have those available to the public by the … Continue reading Annual Reports of the Shingwauk and Wawanosh Homes

Archival photographs in perspective: Indian residential school images of health

My latest article, "Archival photographs in perspective: Indian residential school images of health" is now out in the British Journal of Canadian Studies (volume 30, issue 2).  This article is part of a special issue edited by Evan J. Habkirk and Janice Forsyth focusing on health and the body at Canadian residential schools. Many thanks … Continue reading Archival photographs in perspective: Indian residential school images of health

Shingwauk Historical Site Tours

Since 2010 part of my job has included providing historical site tours focusing on the history of the Shingwauk and Wawanosh Indian Residential Schools that were located on the site which now houses Algoma University. In the past few years I have been giving between 80-100 tours to a range of audiences, including : K-12, … Continue reading Shingwauk Historical Site Tours

Sharing, Healing and Learning: Survivor Driven History

My latest piece "Sharing, Healing and Learning: Survivor Driven History at the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre" was recently published in Education Forum the magazine of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF). The article discusses the history of the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre (SRSC), the importance of shifting the historical narrative to the Survivor point … Continue reading Sharing, Healing and Learning: Survivor Driven History

Archives As Activism: The Case of Residential Schools

I'm on a podcast! Given my obsession with listening to podcasts it might not be surprising that I'm very excited to have been part of a podcast recording. Recently Scott Neigh of Talking Radical Radio interviewed Skylee-Storm Hogan and I about the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre, activism and archives, and more broadly about documenting social … Continue reading Archives As Activism: The Case of Residential Schools

Residential Schools and Present Day White Privilege

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to listen to residential school survivor Mike Cachagee speak to a group of 90 grade eight students.  Over the past couple of years I've worked with Mike on a regular basis through the educational programming undertaken at the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre.  Mike often comes in to speak … Continue reading Residential Schools and Present Day White Privilege

Tours of the Shingwauk and Wawanosh Residential Schools Site

The third peice I wrote last year for Canada's History is now up on their re-designed website.  My piece on "Tours of the Shingwauk and Wawanosh Residential Schools Site" talks briefly about the history of the Shingwauk and Wawanosh Indian Residential Schools, the range of historic site tours provided by the Shingwauk Indian Residential School, … Continue reading Tours of the Shingwauk and Wawanosh Residential Schools Site