“Resonating Reconciliation” is a project that engages community radio to help reconcile all Canadians with the history of Indian Residential Schools, to help build grassroots skills among community-based broadcasters in respectful reporting on the ongoing legacy of Indian Residential Schools, and provide a lasting record of survivors’ experiences.
It does this by funding 40 community radio stations across Canada to each produce a 30-minute radio documentary on the legacy of Indian Residential Schools in their community, with additional funding to recruit and provide training to local Aboriginal volunteers, producers, and trainees.
This work also includes: (a) running a national Public Service Announcement (PSA) campaign featuring the voices and stories of survivors; putting on five Red Jam Slams across the country, featuring Indigenous artists performing work related to reconciliation; (b) producing 12 PSA’s with facts and stories about the project to be played by all Resonating Reconciliation participating stations; (c) creating lasting online resources to help stations better cover the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the legacy of Indian Residential Schools and their local Indigenous communities; and (d) recruiting at least six Residential School survivors to oversee and guide this work.
The application was also supported by the Indian Residential School Survivors Society and is partnering with the Red Jam Slam Society to put on five performance art slams across Canada where First Nations’ artists come together to perform and tell yet more stories.
The grant is a program of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada has funded and is administering the work as part of the Commission’s mandate to acknowledge Residential School experiences, impacts, and consequences and create a lasting historical record with a focus on the lived experiences of former students and their families.
The project is also funding the production of resources and workshops on how community radio stations can better cover the legacy of Indian Residential Schools throughout their programming.
So far, there have been 26 stations that have produced 50 documentaries by Indigenous people across Canada. To see more click on the tab, “Documentaries” and “Producer Bios”.
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