The Oral History Centre is pleased to promote the official Nindibaajimomin website. The website is the fruition of a long running project supported by the Oral History Centre and funded by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation that brings forth the voices of inter generational survivors of residential schools. The Oral History Centre assisted in two phases of this three year long project, ininiwag dibaajimowag: First Nations Men’s Digital Stories on the Inter-generational Experiences of Residential Schools and indibaajimomin: The Intergenerational Digital Storytelling on the Legacy of Residential Schools, both of which are available on our website as well as the new Nindibaajimomin website. The skills, technology and expertise the Oral History Centre provided helped participants narrate, record and publish their digital stories online.

The Nindibaajimomin website also contains a toolkit intended for users to be able to create their own digital story. Many of the toolkits elements were created with the participation and knowledge of Oral History Centre staff members Kent Davies and Chris Hopgood who assisted the process with technical training and workshop assistance.. Oral History Centre Co-Director Nolan Reily offers his thoughts on the completion of this important collaboration.

The legacy of residential schools in Canada is a tragic one. Evidence presented to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada continues to expose the psychological, cultural, and social effect of this oppressive schooling on the students of those institutions. The multi-generational impact of the residential school system is less well known, but those impacts are perhaps no less significant for the second generation- the children of survivours- than it was for the actual residents of the schools. Inter-generational Experience of Residential Schools, a collaboration of the Oral History Centre, the Department of Indigenous Studies and the Aboriginal community, with crucial and generous support from the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, investigated the long term impact of residential schools over multi-generations.

 

The Oral History Centre housed the project in its facility and provided administrative oversight to Inter- generational Experience of Residential Schools project. Extensive technical and research consultation and access to multi-media equipment and software were provided by the OHC throughout the life of the project. Roberta Stout and Wendy McNab, the project’s primary researchers, conducted an excellent research programme that begins to shed light on the deep psychological, cultural and social scars of the legacy of residential schooling on the children of the survivours of those schools. The digital stories told and created by those children attest to the profound impact of residential schools on Aboriginal communities. These stories must be heard and viewed not just by Aboriginal peoples but by all Canadians, if there is to be any hope for a resolution to this disturbing legacy of abuse and assimilation. The educational tool kits developed as part of this project and distributed to communities across the country represent an important step in revealing the inter-generation effect of residential schools and, hopefully, will provide at least a small step towards promoting understanding and healing for individuals and communities. The OHC is grateful for the funding provided by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and congratulates Roberta Stout, Wendy McNab, and participating members from First Nations and Metis communities on the successful completion of this important collaboration.