YELLOWKNIFE (July 3, 2012) –  Jackson Lafferty, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, offered a gift during the Expressions of Reconciliation ceremony at the recent Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) national gathering in Saskatoon.

The ceremony gives individuals, organizations, and representatives of the parties to the Residential Schools Settlement Agreement the opportunity to make statements, presentations, or apologies directly to survivors. 

“I have attended the Truth and Reconciliation gatherings since the beginning,” said Minister Lafferty. “This most recent gathering in Saskatoon was especially noteworthy for me; I had the opportunity to speak at the Expressions of Reconciliation ceremony and present the Commission with a gift reflecting the Northwest Territories’ commitment to the important work the TRC is doing.”

The Minister presented a pair of hand-crafted Dene children’s slippers, created by a Tlicho residential school survivor.  The slippers are symbolic of the strong Aboriginal cultures of the NWT that survived residential schools, and the steps the North is taking on a path to healing, reconciliation, and a hopeful future.  The Minister and the TRC Commissioners simultaneously placed the slippers in the TRC Bentwood Box, which reflects the strength and resilience of residential school survivors and their descendants, and honours those survivors who are no longer living.  The box travels with the TRC to all seven National Events throughout Canada. At the end of the TRC’s mandate, all of the offerings in the box will be housed in the National Research Centre.

For more information on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, visit www.trc.ca.

Contact:

Jacqueline McKinnon
Manager | Public Affairs | Education, Culture and Employment
Phone:  (867) 920-6222
Email:  jacqueline_mckinnon@gov.nt.ca