There is a type of historical dishonesty that doesn’t take the form of blatant lies. It comes softly, speaking in a language of balance and subtlety, posing logical queries and evoking memories. This is how residential school denialism functions in Canada, and it has been doing so for years, frequently in plain sight.
The evidence was overwhelming when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission published its final report in 2015. Over five million documents. More than seven thousand survivors’ testimonies. The Indian Residential School system was described as genocide in six volumes. “Without truth, justice is not served, healing cannot happen, and there can be no genuine reconciliation,” the commissioners stated bluntly about what had to happen next. It didn’t seem like a line that needed to be repeated.
The fact that residential school denialism rarely entails denying the existence of the schools is what sets it apart and makes it important to comprehend. It is rare for denialists to assert that there were no children, no structures, and no forced family separations. Rather, they take a more nuanced and possibly more pernicious action. They selectively present certain facts.
They reduce known harms. They make reference to the purported “good intentions” of state and religious authorities. The 2017 Senate speech by former Senator Lynn Beyak, which defended the system as well-intentioned, became a sort of public flashpoint for this strategy. It serves as an illustration of how denialism can find a home in reputable institutions by disguising itself in terms of historical complexity and balance.
Historians, educators, survivors, archivists, archaeologists, and researchers Sean Carleton and Niigaan Sinclair have been documenting and challenging these patterns. Truth Before Reconciliation, their upcoming collection, looks at denialists’ claims as well as how they work, which Carleton characterizes as a discursive tactic meant to uphold privilege and thwart attempts at accountability. One thing becomes clear when you look at the 100 letters of support that Beyak received and posted on her Senate website: denialism is neither random nor fringe. Particularly with regard to settler innocence and Indigenous deficiency, it has networks, rhetoric, and common presumptions.
It’s difficult to ignore how much of this has its roots in image management. Humanitarian rhetoric was used for generations to promote residential schools to the general public. The official record was meticulously assembled, with mission reports highlighting civilizing objectives and pictures of kids wearing uniforms. Some Canadians still use those carefully chosen photos as their main point of reference, including family members of employees who worked at these establishments. A family narrative or a national narrative that they were brought up to believe must be confronted in order to face the fuller record. Denialism is not justified by this. However, it does account for a portion of its emotional fuel.
The damage is concrete. Indigenous communities and survivors have stated unequivocally that denialism exacerbates the initial harm. It is harmful in and of itself to be disregarded or to have your experience downplayed in op-eds, social media posts, and Senate speeches. Even though the Senate recently voted against making residential school denialism a crime, there is a reason why the discussion has gained momentum in some quarters.
Right now, the cultural issue seems more pressing than the legal one. Canada is engaged in a battle for public memory, and the strategies employed to undermine the truth are well-known. These strategies include selective citation, misrepresentation, and the preference for anecdotal evidence over written proof. They have been found in other historical denialist movements. The context is important. Although this issue isn’t exclusive to Canada, it is manifesting itself in a particularly Canadian manner on top of a colonial framework that is still in place in many ways.
It’s not a catchphrase to put truth before reconciliation. It is a prerequisite. Unfortunately, it’s still a work in progress.
