Press Release – Listen, Hear Our Voices Funding Announcement

(OTTAWA, ON) January 15, 2020 – The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) has just received funding from Library and Archives Canada (LAC), to support the digitization and preservation project – Listen, Hear Our Voices. This project will allow us to convert into high-quality digital format, the collection of video testimonies of Residential School Survivors, of which we are stewards. This project will ensure that these Survivor stories and experiences are preserved in an oral story-telling format for future generations.

Since our organization began in 2000, the LHF’s collection of digital resources has always been at the heart of the organization. This unique library of audio and video Oral Testimonies by Residential School Survivors was gathered before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was mandated by the Canadian Government to do a similar process. The LHF “pre-TRC” testimonies continue to guide our work in educating and raising awareness about the intergenerational impacts of Residential Schools and the ongoing injustices Indigenous Peoples continue to face so that we can foster empathy, understanding, and inspire positive action in improving the issues facing Indigenous in Canada.

“We are excited that the Listen, Hear Our Voices project will once again allow us to work with Library and Archives Canada as they were our original partners in developing our first exhibition, Where are the Children? Healing the Legacy of the Residential Schools in 2002,” said Teresa Edwards, Executive Director and In-House Counsel. “I feel as though this brings us full-circle back to a positive and collaborative partnership that will result in the preservation of our Oral Traditions and history.”

This project is not only important to our organization but to all Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities across Canada, as these unique testimonies are an important part of the Reconciliation process. To celebrate the preservation of, and to welcome some of these new stories into the digital world, we will be holding an Elder-led ceremony at the Residential School History and Dialogue Centre in British Columbia and also in Ottawa, Ontario.

The LHF will continue to protect these testimonies so that this generation, and the next, can remember what happened, honour, understand, and ensure these things never happen again. As we continue to do this work, we know that it is the voices of the Survivors who will lead the way to mobilize Canadians to work towards ending discrimination and racism directed towards Indigenous Peoples.

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is a national, Indigenous-led, charitable organization that has been working to promote healing and Reconciliation in Canada for 20 years. The LHF’s goal is to educate and raise awareness about the history and existing intergenerational impacts of the Residential School System (RSS) and subsequent Sixties Scoop (SS) on Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) Survivors, their descendants, and their communities to promote healing. The LHF works to encourage people to address discrimination and injustices in order to contribute to the
equality, dignity, and respectful treatment of Indigenous Peoples and to foster Reconciliation.

For more information on the LHF and its exhibitions, including resources for educators, visit our exhibitions page

For media inquiries:
Teresa Edwards, B.A. JD.
Executive Director and In-House Legal Counsel
Legacy of Hope Foundation
Phone:  613-237-4806 Ext. 303 info@legacyofhope.ca