Keepsake coin honours residential school survivors

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This article was published 22/09/2022 (1166 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Royal Canadian Mint has created a keepsake, in collaboration with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, to remember the victims of residential schools.

The keepsake, released a week before the second National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30, is coin-sized and includes artwork of handprints, a Métis sash, tattoo line work and a cradle board. “Every Child Matters” is embossed in English and French on one side.

It was designed by Letitia Spence, Jason Sikoak and JD Hawk, who are First Nations, Inuit and Métis artists respectively. The focus was to include all three perspectives.

All net proceeds from the sale of the keepsake, which costs $9.95, will go to a fund that provides grants to Indigenous communities and non-profit organizations.

The collaboration is particularly meaningful, said National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation executive director Stephanie Scott, because it acknowledges truth.

“More than that, it does so through the voices and the vision and the survivors themselves.”

The design of the keepsake was guided by Indigenous groups, including the Orange Shirt Society.

One of those survivors, Eugene Arcand, was joined by fellow survivors as they received a round of applause at Thursday’s unveiling.

The keepsake is the result of a “steep learning curve” for the Mint, he said.

“We never thought we’d see what we’re seeing in our lifetimes. Most of us never thought we’d live this long,” he said. “But we’re here, and we’re here to share the truth with you.”

Arcand, who is Cree from Muskeg Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan, spent nine years at the St. Michael Indian Residential School in Duck Lake and two years at the St. Paul’s Lebret Students Residence, both in Saskatchewan. He is part of the NCTR’s survivors circle, which works to ensure the opinions of residential school survivors are part of the centre’s programming. The process of helping to design the keepsake, he said, involved uncovering painful truths and healing.

“I hope other agencies would take the same strides that the Royal Canadian Mint has, and those strides are based on truth, they’re based on teaching one another, and being honest with one another.”

The keepsake was worked on by more than 1,000 Mint employees, president and CEO Marie Lemay said.

“Our hope is that Canadians will wear this keepsake, and it will be a signal of their willingness to walk the path to reconciliation,” she said. “On top of that, it will fund very, very important initiatives. So my personal hope is that every Canadian will be wearing that keepsake with pride.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca