There’s a new way to learn about residential schools and hear stories from survivors.
A three part podcast series titled Residential Schools was launched by Historica Canada earlier this week.
The podcast is hosted by Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais.
“Right now there’s a lot of tension in our country, lot of political things that are kind of ripping people apart and I think that if we were more empathetic and understand the history of what’s happened in this country, that maybe people would get along better and maybe understand each other, put each other in each other’s shoes,” said Desjarlais about what she wants people to take away from the podcast.
The show aims to honour the stories of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit survivors, their families and communities.
The residential schools podcast is funded by the government of Canada.
Desjarlais wants people to better understand Canada’s residential schools history.
She also added that the podcast is very intimate and emotional and brings a different aspect than television or reading it.
“You’re hearing just their voices so you’re imagining what they went through in your mind you know it’s very intimate and very real. I think it really allows for the listener to put themselves in that situation to hear what they went through.”
The first episode is now available featuring University of Manitoba’s Professor Niigaanwewidam Sinclair who describes the effects that residential schools have on First Nations peoples.
Survivors Riley Burns and Ed Bitternose also recount their experiences at Gordon’s Indian Residential School in Punnichy Saskatchewan.
Episode two recounting Métis will air March 10th and the third episode featuring Inuit experiences will release March 17th
