Reflecting on Our Journey: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 2025
A message from Andrew Callicum, Director, Indigenous Priorities, United Way British Columbia
As we approach this year’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, I find myself reflecting on what we’ve learned and what we must still face as a society. This day serves as a solemn reminder of the painful legacy of residential schools and an opportunity to honour the resilience of Survivors, their families, and communities.
The late Senator Murray Sinclair reminded us that “the road we travel is equal in importance to the destination we seek. There are no shortcuts. When it comes to truth and reconciliation, we are forced to go the distance.” For United Way British Columbia, that isn’t a slogan. It’s a plain reminder that the work is long, alive in living memory, and asks us to stay with it across generations.
Confronting Difficult Truths at Former Residential School Sites
I want to acknowledge the findings that communities have recently shared from their archival research and ground surveys at former residential school sites and thank them for the important work they are doing. The past year has brought several significant revelations from former residential school sites across British Columbia. While deeply painful to uncover, these findings are essential steps toward truth and meaningful reconciliation. Recent discoveries included:
shíshálh Nation: 41 additional potential unmarked graves at former St. Augustine’s Residential School (total: 81 potential graves)
Penelakut Tribe: 342 potential unmarked graves identified through ground-penetrating radar at former Kuper Island Residential School, with documentation showing 171 deaths at the institution
Nadleh Whut’en First Nation: Preliminary findings at Lejac through their “Nez Keh Hubuk’uznootah” (“Let’s look for our children”) project
Williams Lake First Nation: At least 55 children died or disappeared at St. Joseph’s Mission—more than triple the number previously recorded
Understanding Historical Exclusion and Its Legacy
The residential school system was designed to systematically exclude Indigenous parents, aunties, uncles, grandparents, and leaders from decisions concerning their children and communities. This deliberate separation created intergenerational trauma that continues to affect Indigenous families today. The system aimed to dismantle Indigenous governance systems and disrupt the vital intergenerational transmission of culture, language, and knowledge that forms the foundation of healthy communities.
This historical exclusion was not accidental. It was part of a calculated policy of assimilation that sought to replace Indigenous ways of knowing and being with colonial frameworks. The consequences of this systemic exclusion are evident in the ongoing disparities faced by Indigenous communities, but so too is the remarkable resilience and determination of Indigenous Peoples to reclaim their rightful place as decision-makers in matters that affect them.
Moving Toward Community-Led Solutions
What we’re learning through our work at United Way BC is that supporting Indigenous self-determination represents an essential pathway toward meaningful reconciliation. Self-determination means the inherent right of Indigenous Peoples to govern themselves and control all aspects of their own affairs; the ability to define their own priorities and lead their own solutions. This principle is fundamental to equitable partnerships, enabling communities to design and implement approaches for matters affecting them.
We’ve structured our approach around the Four A’s: Awareness, Acknowledgement, Atonement, and Action. Through these, United Way BC seeks opportunities to support Indigenous decision-making for programs and initiatives that affect their communities. This has meant ensuring equitable opportunities for Indigenous organizations in our granting streams, including Indigenous people in our grant review panels, and establishing a committee of Elders to help guide our work.
Learning From What Communities Know
The discoveries at former residential school sites remind us that truth must precede reconciliation. Communities have carried these truths in their oral histories, in the testimonies passed down through families, and in the knowledge that has been there all along. As shíshálh Nation Chief Lenora Joe stated when announcing their recent findings: “We didn’t need the GPR to prove this happened; we always had enough proof to know.”
Supporting Indigenous communities in their truth-finding work means recognizing that they are the experts on their own experiences. It means following their leadership rather than directing it, and ensuring that investigations and healing processes unfold according to community protocols and timelines.
The Path Forward
As we commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, all of us at United Way BC recognize that supporting Indigenous self-determination requires ongoing commitment, humility, and a willingness to examine our own practices. The work involves continuously listening to Indigenous partners and following their guidance.
We remain committed to walking this path together, honouring the truth, and supporting healing in our communities. As many allied organizations navigate their place in the overall work in service to reconciliation, we have found that one of the most helpful actions we can take as an organization currently is to support events and initiatives focused on community healing.
At the Lejac Reunion in Prince George this past June, it was a tremendous honour and privilege to witness the powerful healing potential that bringing survivors and their families together has. My own father went to residential school, and he rarely spoke of it around me as a child. In hindsight, I can recognize the hallmarks of the impacts that the experience had on him, but I never had the chance to hear his story before he passed. I didn’t have much opportunity to heal along with him like I saw happening in Prince George at the Lejac Reunion, but it was healing in and of itself to be in such close proximity to other families that were in a healing journey together.
The continued discoveries at former residential school sites serve as stark reminders that we’re still in the early stages of understanding the full scope of what happened, and the onus is on all of us to find respectful ways to support the work where we can. The journey is long, but as Senator Sinclair reminded us, every step matters, and there are no shortcuts to building the respectful relationships our future depends on.