Statement Gathering

Your statement can take any form that you wish: written, audio, video, poetry, art, music, etc. There are no restrictions. If you wish, the NCTR will record your statement by a qualified Statement Gatherer.

About the Statements

The NCTR received thousands of hours of video and audio recordings produced by the TRC during its mandate. This footage was taken at various national and regional events and includes both public and private statements made by Survivors, Intergenerational Survivors, and former staff members.

Types of Audio-Visual Records at the NCTR

Private Statements

Private statements were provided to the TRC by Survivors, Intergenerational Survivors, and former residential school staff. They are not currently available to the general public, however those that gave a statement are welcome to contact the NCTR for a copy.

Sharing Circles

These circles provided an opportunity for individuals to share their residential school experiences. Members of the TRC’s Survivor Committee were present for many of the circles.

View the publicly available sharing circles

Sharing Panels

Sharing panels allowed speakers to share their statements directly with one of the Commissioners of the TRC.

View the publicly available sharing panels

Special Events

The NCTR cares for hundreds of special events. Special events refer to a wide range of events held by the TRC including expressions of reconciliation, calls to gather, honorary witness ceremonies, and performance art. The NCTR also preserves footage from other special events from other organizations.

View the publicly available special events

TRC Mini-Documentaries

The TRC produced more than 100 mini documentaries, or mini-docs, that recap key moments from the national events and regional hearings.

View the publicly available mini-docs

TRC National Events

The TRC estimates there were as many as 155,000 visits to the seven National Events, with over 9,000 residential school Survivors registered to attend. Many others attended but did not register).

In recognition of specific community needs, two regional events were also held: one in Victoria, the other in Whitehorse. The TRC also held 238 days of local hearings in 77 communities across the country. National Events featured many different activities including sharing circles, sharing panels, private statement gathering, film screenings, performances, gestures of reconciliation and a wide range of panel discussions. Combined, video records provide a rich diversity of accounts and testimony from a wide cross-section of indigenous and non-indigenous people.

Additional statements were gathered through Community Events including two special sessions at correctional institutions in Kenora, Ontario, and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

Health and cultural supports workers were present while the Commission gathered statements to provide counselling as needed.
A special project also ran to gather statements from former staff of residential schools. With the assistance of the church parties to the Settlement Agreement, the Commission conducted 96 separate interviews with former staff and the children of former staff.