(Ottawa, ON) – August 6, 2025 – The Legacy of Hope Foundation is pleased to announce the release of our first episode in an 8-part series on the Federal Indian Day School System with Dr. Jackson Pind. Dr. Pind is a mixed-settler Anishinaabe scholar and assistant professor of Indigenous methodologies at Trent University. Dr. Pind is a leading scholar and researcher on the Day School System and sits down with our host, Gordon Spence, to provide an overview of the Day School System in Canada, his involvement in a digital mapping project, and the legacy of late Elder Dr. Raymond Mason.

Dr. Pind’s journey to specializing in the Federal Day School System stemmed from the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Report in 2015. As awareness of the Residential School System grew, Jackson felt the push to uncover the truth of the Federal Day School System.  This led to his research and co-creation of a highly accessible digital mapping project, which links relevant Library and Archives Canada files to the 699 Day Schools in Canada.

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In this interview, Dr. Pind shares powerful examples that can help listeners understand how the Federal Day School System is part of Canada’s broader colonial education project. He shares how this system continued to disconnect Indigenous Peoples from their traditional territories, languages, and cultures, and intentionally devalued the education of Indigenous children through legislation, nominal funding, poor quality facilities, and disincentivized quality educators from teaching at these schools.

This special podcast series is made possible with funding from the Indigenous Screen Office. Under the umbrella of the Roots and Hoots Podcast, this series features Indigenous scholars, historians, Survivors, and knowledge keepers from across Canada to hear their first-hand accounts, perspectives, and knowledge of the Federal Indian Day School System.

The LHF is a national, Indigenous-led, charitable organization that has been working to promote healing and Reconciliation in Canada for over 25 years. The LHF’s goal is to educate Canadians about the history and existing intergenerational impacts of the Residential and Day School Systems and subsequent Child Welfare System on Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) Survivors, their descendants, and their communities to address discrimination against Indigenous Peoples, and to promote hope and healing in Canada. The LHF works to encourage Canadians to address discrimination and injustice to contribute to the equity, dignity, and respectful treatment of Indigenous Peoples.

The LHF has 30 educational exhibitions that promote awareness of Indigenous history, which are free to borrow, and we are working on making exhibitions available online. LHF also has curricula for K-12 and for adults, along with Activity Guides, Workshops, and Training, two Podcast series, all aimed at educating Canadians about Indigenous history and the shared history of Residential and Day Schools, the Child Welfare System, and other colonial acts of oppression. The LHF works to develop empathy and understanding to eliminate ongoing racism against Indigenous Peoples and to foster Reconciliation in Canada.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Teresa Edwards, B.A., LL.B / J.D.
Executive Director and In-House Legal Counsel
Legacy of Hope Foundation
tedwards@legacyofhope.ca