In 2027, the testimonial records of nearly 40,000 residential school survivors are set to be destroyed. This is the story of the small group of people who took on the Canadian government to preserve these documents, despite the country’s continued efforts to hide them.
In 2008, after decades of residential school survivors advocating and speaking out, Canada launched the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to reckon with the country’s genocidal legacy towards Indigenous populations—the first of its kind in an established democracy. Prior to the Commission, thousands of survivors had shared their experiences with the government to receive compensation for their suffering, creating a powerful archive of accountability and moving the country towards healing.
As the work of the Commission came to a close, a group of lawyers working on behalf of the Canadian government mobilized to have the records destroyed for reasons of privacy. What followed was an epic, under-told battle to witness and safeguard this vital historical record.
In this powerful account, Ry Moran, former director of the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission, provides unprecedented access into a fight for the preservation of our country’s memories, and the complicated reality of reckoning with a difficult past.
