Funding will support community engagement initiatives for burial investigations at the former Shingwauk Residential School

SAULT STE. MARIE — The Ontario government is providing $200,000 to the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association (CSAA) to support their ongoing work at the site of the former Shingwauk Residential School and engaging with impacted communities.

Together with Algoma University and the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre, the CSAA will use the funding to develop and implement an engagement strategy with the 85 Indigenous communities impacted by the Shingwauk Residential Schools. This includes engagement with Garden River First Nation, on whose traditional territory the Shingwauk site is located. This work will focus on the development and implementation of cultural and communications protocols that will help guide the ongoing activities being undertaken by the CSAA.

“Our government knows that the process of identifying, investigating, protecting, and commemorating Indian Residential School burials, including at the site of the former Shingwauk Residential School, will take a significant amount of time, care, and sensitivity,” said Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs. “Above all, we must ensure this work is Indigenous led and conducted in accordance with the wishes of Survivors, affected families and communities in a manner that honours both the Survivors and the Children that did not make it home.” 

As Ontario continues to advance meaningful reconciliation and address the intergenerational traumas caused by the Residential School system, the province is working to support Indigenous partners and communities in undertaking the full range of the work ahead.

QUOTE

“This support from the Ontario government helps ensure that the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association has the necessary supports to help guide the work being done at the previous Shingwauk Residential School site in accordance with both wise practices and the wishes of the Survivor community. This work will take quite some time, and we look forward to working with all of the impacted communities to ensure the work happens in a good way.”

Irene Barbeau, President
Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association

QUICK FACTS

• The Shingwauk Indian Residential School operated in Sault Ste. Marie from 1874 through 1970. 
• The Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association is a non-political group composed of Shingwauk survivors that was created in 1981 to support survivors in their healing and reconciliation.
• The Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association have been working actively for over four decades to ensure that the truths related to the Shingwauk Indian Residential School are told. Through their efforts, 109 people in the graveyard site have been identified, including 72 who were students of Shingwauk. 
• Ontario’s funding is distinct from the operational funding being provided by Crown-Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada to support the CSAA and Algoma University’s research and fieldwork related to burial investigations at the former Shingwauk Residential School.
• Roughly 8,000 of Canada’s estimated 80,000 Indian Residential School Survivors lived in Ontario at the time of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement
• On October 29, 2021, the province announced an investment of more than $36 million in community-led mental health and addictions supports for Indigenous communities across the province, including supports for residential school Survivors and their families.
• On November 4, 2021, the Ontario government announced it was committing an additional $10 million in funding, beyond the original $10 million announcement in June 2021, to support the identification, investigation, protection and commemoration of Indian Residential School (IRS) burials across the Province.
• A National Residential School Crisis Line is available to provide support to former residential school students. You can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-Hour National Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419. There is also the Hope for Wellness Help Line at 1-855-242-3310, including an online chat function through their website.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Ontario Investing in Mental Health and Addictions Supports for Indigenous Communities
• Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program
• Residential Schools Missing Children – Community Support Funding
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action 71 to 76
• National Residential School Crisis Line
• Hope for Wellness Help Line

MEDIA CONTACTS

Curtis Lindsay 
Minister’s Office
437-240-7317
[email protected]

Flavia Mussio
Communications Branch
416-314-9455
[email protected]

Media Relations
Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association
[email protected]

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