The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada says that reconciliation “is a process of healing relationships that requires public truth sharing, apology, and commemoration that acknowledge and redress past harms.” It is in this spirit that we have worked with Residential, Day and Boarding school Survivors and First Nations, Inuit and Métis artists to create this Truth and Reconciliation Keepsake.

For a period of more than 150 years, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation children were taken from their families and communities to attend government-funded church-run residential schools.

More than 150,000 children were taken away with a goal of destroying their culture and ways of life. Thousands never came home.

Neglect and abuse were widespread at these schools. Indigenous peoples are still living with the impacts of this harm. This Truth and Reconciliation Keepsake honours the Survivors and the children who never returned.

On one side of the keepsake, the assertion “EVERY CHILD MATTERS” appears in English and French. To the left and right we see pairs of footprints, representing ancestors walking with younger generations. At the centre of it all, orange-coloured hand prints form the shape of the sun—the life-giving source of light and heat. Within the hands is the flame motif from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation logo, an acknowledgement of the spiritual flame that is born inside a person, while the hands are encircled by a border representing the radiating waves of the sun’s light and heat.

The other side of the keepsake is a collection of visual elements that form an expression of Indigenous cultures and perspectives, as designed by artists Leticia Spence (First Nations), Jason Sikoak (Inuit) and JD Hawk (Métis). Forming an open circle to represent the land and the experiences shared in the vastness of the natural world, the three groupings of visual elements surround a stylized representation of roots and berries that symbolize a spiritual connection to the land, and the sustenance it provides.

All net proceeds will support the work of the Na-mi-quai-ni-mak Community Support Fund.

Product # 245851

Truth and Reconciliation Keepsake Coin