Fragments of Truth: Residential Schools and the Challenge of Reconciliation in Canada

The Canadian government established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 2008 to review the history of the residential school system, which killed and injured many Indigenous children. Naomi Angel's book "Fragments of Truth" analyzes the visual culture of reconciliation and memory in relation to this history, showing how the TRC served as a mechanism for Indigenous communities to claim agency over their memories and the ongoing costs of colonial oppression.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 28 October 2022
Publisher: Duke University Press

In 2008, the Canadian government established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to review the history of the residential school system, a brutal colonial project that caused the deaths and injuries of numerous Indigenous children and left a legacy of trauma and pain. In Fragments of Truth, Naomi Angel examines the visual culture of reconciliation and memory in relation to this complex and painful history. Through her analysis of archival photographs from the residential school system, representations of the schools in popular media and literature, and testimonies from TRC proceedings, Angel traces how the TRC served as a mechanism through which memory, trauma, and visuality became apparent. She demonstrates how many Indigenous communities were able to use the TRC process as a way to reclaim agency over their memories of the schools. Furthermore, Angel highlights the ongoing costs of transforming settler states into modern nations by offering a unique optic through which to survey the long history of colonial oppression of Canada's Indigenous populations.

In 2008, the Canadian government established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to review the history of the residential school system, a brutal colonial project that caused the deaths and injuries of numerous Indigenous children and left a legacy of trauma and pain.

In Fragments of Truth, Naomi Angel examines the visual culture of reconciliation and memory in relation to this complex and painful history. Through her analysis of archival photographs from the residential school system, representations of the schools in popular media and literature, and testimonies from TRC proceedings, Angel traces how the TRC served as a mechanism through which memory, trauma, and visuality became apparent. She demonstrates how many Indigenous communities were able to use the TRC process as a way to reclaim agency over their memories of the schools. Furthermore, Angel highlights the ongoing costs of transforming settler states into modern nations by offering a unique optic through which to survey the long history of colonial oppression of Canada's Indigenous populations.

In 2008, the Canadian government established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to review the history of the residential school system, a brutal colonial project that caused the deaths and injuries of numerous Indigenous children and left a legacy of trauma and pain.

In Fragments of Truth, Naomi Angel examines the visual culture of reconciliation and memory in relation to this complex and painful history. Through her analysis of archival photographs from the residential school system, representations of the schools in popular media and literature, and testimonies from TRC proceedings, Angel traces how the TRC served as a mechanism through which memory, trauma, and visuality became apparent. She demonstrates how many Indigenous communities were able to use the TRC process as a way to reclaim agency over their memories of the schools. Furthermore, Angel highlights the ongoing costs of transforming settler states into modern nations by offering a unique optic through which to survey the long history of colonial oppression of Canada's Indigenous populations.

Weight: 340g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781478018575