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The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) started working in 2008. It was a result of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA). The IRSSA recognized the suffering and trauma experienced by Indigenous students at residential schools. It also provided financial compensation (money) to the students. The TRC performed many tasks. It created a national research centre. It collected documents from churches and government. It held events where students told their stories. Also, it did research about residential schools and issued a final report. (See also  Reconciliation in Canada.)

The Penner Report was a report prepared by the Special Committee of the House of Commons on Indian Self-Government. It was issued in November 1983. Named after committee chairman Keith Penner, the report made a series of recommendations. These recommendations promoted the concept of self-governing First Nations. First Nations, in this legal context, are classified as status Indians under the Indian Act.

Citizens Plus, also known as the Red Paper, was a report presented to the federal government on 4 June 1970. It was prepared under the leadership of Harold Cardinal and the Indian Association of Alberta. It was a response to the 1969 White Paper. The authors believed the White Paper offered a dire view of the future for Indigenous peoples.

John Brant (Ahyonwaeghs), Kanyen’kehà:ka (Mohawk) Grand Chief, Indian Superintendent (born 27 September 1794 near Brantford, ON; died 27 August 1832 near Brantford, ON). John Brant was the son of Joseph Brant, Kanyen’kehà:ka (Mohawk) chieftain and the first Indigenous person to receive a commission in the British Army, as a captain in 1757. Brant was also the nephew of Robert Johnson Kerr, who was the son of Major General Sir William Johnson and brother-in-law of Joseph Brant.

Abraham “Abe” Okpik,OC, Inuit community leader (born 12 January 1929 in the Mackenzie Delta area, Northwest Territories; died 10 July 1997 in Iqaluit, Nunavut). He was instrumental in Project Surname, a movement to replace the identification numbers assigned to the Inuit in Northern Canada with surnames. He was also the first Inuk to sit on what is now the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories. In the mid-1970s, Okpik left a lasting mark on the Inuit language as he worked with other linguists to simplify the Inuit writing system. Okpik is remembered for his efforts in protecting and promoting Inuit language and culture.

Alexander Kennedy Isbister, Métis schoolmaster, explorer, lawyer (born June 1822 in Cumberland House, Rupert's Land, [now in SK]; died 28 May 1883 in London, England). Isbister explored the Mackenzie River basin in northwestern Canada (from 1838 to 1842) while employed by the Hudson's Bay Company. However, he is best known as a champion of Métis rights and as a distinguished educator and author.

Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow was a document that set out land claim grievances in Yukon and recommended an approach to settlement. The Council of Yukon Indians, the organization that authored the document, presented it to then Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau in Ottawa on 14 February 1973. The document told the story of traditional Indigenous ways in the territory. It chronicles ways in which life changed with the arrival of the “Whiteman.” It identifies some of the contemporary challenges the local First Nations faced at the time. Additionally, it proposes solutions and offers a roadmap forward. Finally, it sets out a vision for the future that sees control and authority for decision-making returned to the First Nations of the territory. Fifty years later, it continues to be a guiding force for First Nation and non-First Nation Yukoners. It promotes “walking together down the same road.” In other words, it suggests participating equitably as partners in the fabric and governance of Yukon society.

From 1941 to 1978, the Government of Canada issued personal identifying numbers to all Inuit, then referred to as Eskimos, in Canada’s Arctic. The Eskimo Identification system was implemented to identify and register individuals for administrative purposes, such as taking censuses. Each Inuk was given a small leather or pressed fibre disc with a number on it, referred to as their disc number. Ultimately, disc numbers were required for any government interaction, such as keeping track of hunting, trapping, medical services, education, housing, family allowance and getting food and supplies. The system was unique to the Inuit. No other Canadian was required to have a number to access basic services or monitor their actions.

The word reconciliation is used a lot in Canada. It is closely tied with Indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples were harmed in many ways in the past. Children were abused in residential schools. Their languages and cultures were taken from them (see Genocide and Indigenous Peoples in Canada). The key goal of reconciliation is to heal the wounds of the past and make reparations for these wounds. Reconciliation also includes making a better future. In Canada, the process of reconciliation has only recently started. The process will continue for a long time.

This article is a plain-language summary of Reconciliation in Canada. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry, Reconciliation in Canada.

The term “Sixties Scoop” refers to the large numbers of Indigenous children who were taken from their homes (scooped) throughout the 1960s. Most of these children were adopted by non-Indigenous families in Canada and the United States. The “Sixties Scoop” has left a lasting legacy on the children, families and communities involved.

This article is a plain-language summary of Sixties Scoop. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry, Sixties Scoop.