Greater understanding a goal of new exhibit

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A powerful photography exhibit on display at the Provincial Museum of Alberta is offering more than just a look back at the residential school experience. Organizers are hoping that people who see the exhibit will leave with a better understanding of what the young people who attended the schools went through.

Where Are The Children? Healing the Legacy of the Residential Schools opened at the museum on May 7 and runs to Aug. 2. It is a travelling exhibit co-produced by the Legacy of Hope Foundation and the Aboriginal Healing Foundation.

The exhibit is comprised of a collection of black and white photographs, most of which came from the National Archives of Canada, that show the environment in which the students lived and learned.

"Our biggest thing is education and awareness," said Angie Bruce, development manager with the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. "We're hoping that it brings about a greater understanding of the residential school experience and gets people starting to talk and starting to question, because that's the first step that they need to start taking on the path of reconciliation and healing."

Bruce said the exhibit has been getting great feedback in all the venues in which it has appeared.

"A lot of people who didn't realize the residential schools existed, as well as survivors who have seen it, commented that it helped them put into words what their experiences have been."

Alison Parry, the Aboriginal liaison officer at the Provincial Museum of Alberta, saw the exhibit when it was at Wanuskewin Heritage Park in Saskatchewan.

"When you look at the photos you have to be able to put yourself in that situation," said Parry. "I think you would have to be a very cold person not to seek more information after seeing it."

Jane Woodward, acting executive director of the Canadian Native Friendship Centre in Edmonton, said this is a great exhibit that will help people deal with any issues they may have concerning residential schools.

"Sometimes if you can't reach people through the printed word, and people aren't exposed to people who have had that kind of experience, then I think you can reach them through pictures,"she said. Woodward is the third generation in her family to have gone through a residential school.

"Just one picture of all these little kids, and their little shaven heads-'cause everyone was afraid of lice-and their little suits, and their little European-style clothing and these little brown faces peaking out at you. That in itself tells the story."

Bruce said the exhibit sprung from a youth gathering in Edmonton in March 2001.

The youth didn't have an understanding of what the residential school experience really was. So this exhibit was developed.

"What got me was the faces of the children. It really hit home. The despair and the blank faces, almost like there was no hope," she said.

Susan Berry, curator of ethnology at the Provincial Museum of Alberta, said the exhibit should attract a great deal of interest and she's hoping that this will encourage people to talk about this issue.

"I think it's great that the museum is able to be one of the venues," said Berry. "I hope it encourages people to really think about residential schools, about what happened there, about the impact they've had and about the need for all of us to consider this history and to confront it, to acknowledge it, to talk about it and to work towards moving forward."

Carrielynn Lamouche, who is part of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation board of directors, said that she was really impressed with the way the exhibit has been put together.

"It's sensitive and respectful. I really hope that this exhibit fosters a compassion when people look at Aboriginal individuals," said Lamouche. "I have never heard anything negative about it (the exhibit). The feedback that I've gotten was that it was done in such a good way that it has acknowledged individuals, both who survived andwho didn't, and it's done it in a respectful way, but an accurate way."