WELCOME

Welcome to the archived website of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. The Aboriginal Healing Foundation closed on September 30, 2014. This website is maintained by the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC) at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

To open many of the files available for download on this website, you will need to have a free software program called "Adobe Acrobat Reader" installed on your computer. For more information please see the Frequently Asked Questions.

AHF NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Updated December 17, 2014

Please note: On September 30, 2014, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation ceased operations.

Full Circle: the Aboriginal Healing Foundation & the unfinished work of hope, healing, & reconciliation.

The story of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, by Wayne K. Spear

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MEDIA ADVISORY (OTTAWA, September 29, 2014) – The Aboriginal Healing Foundation’s Board of Directors announced today the AHF has been dissolved, bringing an end to sixteen years of operation. "As Aboriginal people, we have every reason to be proud of what we’ve accomplished,” AHF President Georges Erasmus said this week. "The work of healing and reconciliation is by no means complete. But the past years show us what we can do by working together, and so I urge the public to support survivors by supporting this work of healing and reconciliation.” Read the press release here.

2014 Annual Report of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation
The latest Annual Report of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation is now available.

» Download the 2014 AHF Annual Report here.

AHF Releases New Study on Lateral Violence | July 7, 2014

The Aboriginal Healing Foundation's latest publication—Origins of Lateral Violence in Aboriginal Communities: A preliminary study of student-to-student abuse in residential schools—is the first to look at peer abuse in the residential schools. Drawing from the professional expertise of service providers who were interviewed for this work, Origins of Lateral Violence in Aboriginal Communities is intended to be a starting point for a discussion on a very sensitive topic. Download a PDF file of the report here. Version française disponible ici.

Walking With Our Sisters | Algoma U

"Walking With Our Sisters" is a travelling art exhibit for missing and murdered Indigenous women set to visit 31 different locations in North America over the next six years. The Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre (SRSC) and Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig (SKG) will be hosting "Walking With Our Sisters" (WWOS) at Algoma University from May 5th until May 18th.

Education guide aimed at educators, social workers, lawyers | Wawatay News
"The work of creating awareness goes on – this is one more way of telling Canadians about their history,” said Garnet Angeconeb, an Aboriginal Healing Foundation board member from Lac Seul who set up the website along with former CBC Radio journalist Ashley Wright, who now teaches journalism at Algonquin College and Carleton University." Read More.

(OTTAWA, Ontario, March 5, 2014) – The Assembly of First Nations and the Aboriginal Healing Foundation announced today the hosting of an Ottawa workshop from March 6-12 to create a commemorative marker for Indian residential schools. During opening ceremonies on March 6, AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo will address the artists.Download the press release here .

Announcing the National Commemorative Indian Residential School Marker Project

The objective of this project, a partnership between the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and the Assembly of First Nations, is to place a commemorative marker on the site of each of the schools operated under the Indian Residential School System – a joint church-government system which operated from 1892 to 1969. This project will assist communities who wish to place commemorative markers on the sites of the 139 former Indian residential schools recognized by the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, or IRSSA.

The National Commemorative Indian Residential School Marker Project was developed and managed by the Assembly of First Nations and the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. A total of 139 grants of $6,500 each are available, one for each school recognized under the IRSSA. Participants must complete activities related to this project by March 31, 2014.

Download the FAQ (PDF) from the AFN website: click here. | Visit the facebook page for this project: click here.

2014 Corporate Plan of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation
The latest and final Corporate Plan of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation is now available.

» Download the 2014 AHF Corporate Plan here.

Residential school settlement offers $3K education credits | CBC News
Thousands of people from across the north are now eligible to receive an education credit from the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement | Read the full article here

Exposing the dark legacy of residential schools | National Post
"We should know our history, even if it isn’t pretty. Compassionate students who can think critically will make Canada better. If we hope to live in peace, we need to know the truth about ourselves." | Read the full article here.

2013 Annual Report of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation
The latest Annual Report of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation is now available.

» Download the 2013 AHF Annual Report here.

2013 Corporate Plan of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation
The latest Corporate Plan of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation is now available. » Download the 2013 AHF Corporate Plan here. (Please contact the AHF office for a printed version of the corporate plan.)

"NWT, Nunavut to launch mandatory classes on residential schools" | The Canadian Press

"The course’s content has been provided by the Legacy of Hope Foundation, a group funded through money that came with the federal government’s apology for residential schools. It will include recorded interviews with those who went through them – including some who became leaders, such as former NWT premier Stephen Kakfwi." Read more.

The University of Winnipeg receives a grant of $500,000 to study the intergenerational impacts of Canada's Indian Residential Schools System | CBC News
The Aboriginal Healing Foundation has committed $500,000 to produce a digital storytelling project. Read more.

October 24 and 25, 2012 | Creating a New Legacy

A conference on Aboriginal Mental Health and Wellness, entitled Creating a New Legacy, will take place October 24 and 25 in Brandon, Manitoba. Hosted by the Aboriginal Mental Health & Wellness Committee, the conference will feature keynote addresses by: Justice Murray Sinclair, Dr. Cornelia Wieman, Dr. Barry Lavallee, and Mr. Bill Mussell. Click here to download the poster (PDF file).

Healing and Reconciliation Through Education | Local 2 News (Sault Star)

At the three-day Shingwauk 2012 Gathering & Conference, Richard Kistabish and Trina Bolam provided a detailed overview of the Legacy of Hope & Aboriginal Healing Foundation's "100 Years of Loss" exhibit and curriculum tool, the "100 Years of Loss" Edu-Kit …. Read story here.

Art in Healing Cover GIF July 23, 2012 | "HEALING THROUGH CREATIVE ARTS"
What happens when art, music, dance, storytelling, and other creative arts become a part of community-based Aboriginal healing programs? This report describes the results of a study by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation in the use of creative arts in healing programs. Download the PDF file here.

June 14, 2012 | "Northern students to learn residential school legacy" — CBC.
After a successful pilot program this spring, some high school students in Nunavut and the N.W.T. will learn the legacy of Canada’s residential school system as part of their fall curriculum .... Read more.

May 9, 2012 | Speaking My Truth — Order Yours Today, Free of Charge.
Veteran broadcast journalist and host of The Next Chapter on CBC Radio, Shelagh Rogers, joins editors Mike DeGagné and Jonathan Dewar to present selected texts from Aboriginal Healing Foundation’s three-volume series Truth and Reconciliation. These texts reflect upon the lived and living experiences and legacies of residential schools and, more broadly, reconciliation in Canada. Speaking My Truth: Reflections on Reconciliation and Residential Schools is now available. English, French and Inuktitut versions can be ordered directly from this website, free of charge. | Click here to download Shelagh Rogers' CBC interview with Mike DeGagné, broadcast June 4, 2012 on her program "The Next Chapter."

May 9, 2012 | "We are pleased to announce our 2012 Assembly of First Nations and Aboriginal Healing Foundation Golf Tournament, in support of the First Nations Rights Fund and the Legacy of Hope Foundation. Click here to download the tournament package (PDF file). Click here, or on the image above, to download the poster.

A "blow to improving aboriginal health" | Caroline Tait, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix – April 13, 2012

"The promise and optimism of the late 1990s - that aboriginal people across the country could come together under the umbrella of their own health, healing and wellness agencies - is gone."

The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program (Health Canada)
"The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program provides mental health and emotional support services to former Indian Residential School students and their families before, during and after their participation in Settlement Agreement processes, including the Common Experience Payments and the Independent Assessment Process, and those participating in Truth and Reconciliation Commission events and Commemoration activities." Click here to view a list of Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program Regional Offices.

Fact Sheet – Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement – March 28, 2012
Click here to read the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement fact sheet at Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

"Residential school education is needed" – March 16, 2012
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Interim Report [clicking on link will initiate download of the PDF report from external link at www.trc.ca].

Corporate Plan 2012 Cover English 2012-2015 Corporate Plan of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation
The latest Corporate Plan of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation is now available for download or in hardcopy. Please contact the AHF office for a printed version of the corporate plan.
» Download the PDF file in English

Hay River promoting equality with Pride – August 17, 2011 "... according to documentation published by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation in 2007. It stated that studies on the general population noted an 'increased risk of suicidal behaviour in homosexual and bisexual youth,' while the same attention was not paid to sexual orientation among their aboriginal counterparts."

MEDIA RELEASE – July 7, 2011
"The Aboriginal Healing Foundation Board of Directors today announced that Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association and Algoma University will become the beneficiaries of the Gail Guthrie Valaskakis Memorial Resource Centre ...." » Download the PDF press release. » Visit the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre.

GARNET ANGECONEB'S LEGACY RECOGNIZED – Wawatay News
About 100 people showed up to surprise Lac Seul’s Garnet Angeconeb at a celebratory gala in his honour June 11 in Sioux Lookout. The gala featured a number of presentations and quite a range of stories from family and friends. Many talked about his professional life in communications and his involvement in the residential school survivor movement ... more

"That’s right, the best read you may come across this summer is free." New book looks at reconciliation by way of cultural diversity — a review of Cultivating Canada, by Ezra Winton (Art Threat).

MEDIA RELEASE – March 21, 2011
"Today, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation releases the third and final volume in a series dedicated to reconciliation. Cultivating Canada: Reconciliation through the Lens of Cultural Diversity presents essays by Canadians outside the traditional settler communities of English and French. President Georges Erasmus expressed his hope that "this broad, inclusive approach will draw Canadians of many backgrounds and circumstance into the current reconciliation discussion.” » Download the PDF press release. » Download the publication.

Cultivating Canada Toronto Launch

Thursday, May 26, 2011 — The Aboriginal Healing Foundation announces the Toronto Launch ofCultivating Canada: Reconciliation through the Lens of Cultural Diversity | Please join us at 7 pm in the Lambert Room (Room 187), Ontario College of Art & Design, 100 McCaul Street in Toronto.

Fredericton Launch

Tuesday, May 31, 2011 — The Aboriginal Healing Foundation and Congress 2011 Announce the Fredericton Launch ofCultivating Canada: Reconciliation through the Lens of Cultural Diversity | Complimentary copies of the book will be available at the Arsenal Pulp Press bookfair booth from May 27 to May 31 and the UNB booth June 1 to 3. More details here.

Podium

Friday, April 8, 2011 — Launch with Readings from Cultivating Canada: Reconciliation through the Lens of Cultural Diversity | Simon Fraser University, Harbour Centre 515 W Hastings St Vancouver, Room 1600. More details here.

MP3 Podcast

March 25, 2011 – CBC: The Morning Edition
"The Aboriginal Healing Foundation is closing its doors. Find out what this means for residential school survivors." Interview with AHF Executive Director, Michael DeGagné. » Listen to the broadcast. (External link to CBC podcast.)

Podium

From darkness of heart to the heart of forgiveness: Beyond sexual victimhood
March 28, 2011 at 7:00pm, Saint Paul University on 223 Main Street in Ottawa presents "From darkness of heart to the heart of forgiveness: Beyond sexual victimhood." AHF Board Member Garnet Angeconeb will join David Frank (Director, Ahousaht Holistic Centre) and Michael D. O’Brien (Internationally-acclaimed author and artist) for this event. There is no admission charge. » Download the poster. » Read the speech.

On March 2, 2011, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation President, Georges Erasmus, delivered the keynote address at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's conference "Sharing Truth — Creating a National Research Centre on Residential Schools" in Vancouver, BC. » Read the speech. » Watch the video.

MEDIA ADVISORY – March 31, 2010 The Aboriginal Healing Foundation Releases Publication — " The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement’s Common Experience Payment and Healing: A Qualitative Study Exploring Impacts on Recipients . " This is a follow-up to the 2007 AHF report, "Lump Sum Compensation Payments Research Project." » Download the Publication PDF file » Download the Press Release PDF file

MEDIA RELEASE – March 5, 2010
"No Funds Committed to Aboriginal Healing Foundation in Canada’s 2010 Federal Budget." Today, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation (AHF) Board of Directors acknowledged Canada’s decision not to provide funds to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation in the 2010 Federal Budget. This decision by the Federal Government means that a nation-wide network of one hundred and thirty-four community-based healing initiatives will no longer have AHF support after March 31, 2010, when current funds run out. » Download the PDF file

NEW - Evaluation of Community-Based Healing Initiatives
Supported Through the Aboriginal Healing Foundation
The following report presents the findings of an evaluation undertaken by DPRA Canada in association with T.K Gussman Associates, on behalf of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, of the community-based initiatives of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation (AHF) for the period April 2007 to May 2009. » Download the PDF file

2010-2015 Corporate Plan of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation
The latest Corporate Plan of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation is now available for download or in hardcopy. Please contact the AHF office for a printed version of the corporate plan.
» Download the PDF file in English » Download the PDF file in Inuktitut

NEW - Healing Words | Volume 6 Number 2
Healing Words is a free publication of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. Dedicated exclusively to Indian residential school stories and to sharing resources for healing, this newsletter is your place to share your thoughts and experiences related to residential school — including hostels, industrial schools, boarding schools, and day schools. Send your stories, poems, letters, etc. to Healing Words . Add your name to our mailing list by e-mailing us your complete mailing address. PLEASE NOTE: this is not an electronic mailing list. If you'd rather view the newsletters electronically, visit out Newsletters page. » Download the PDF file

A Legacy of Excellence - The Institute On Governance Full Report
» Download the PDF file

The Institute On Governance (IOG) best practices study of the
Aboriginal Healing Foundation’s (AHF) Board
» Download the PDF file

To open many of the files available for download on this website, you will need to have a free software program called "Adobe Acrobat Reader" on your computer. For information on this software program, and the PDF file format, please see the Frequently Asked Questions section of our site.