{"id":2248,"date":"2026-09-21T18:43:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T18:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nych.ca\/cms\/?post_type=news&#038;p=2248"},"modified":"2026-09-21T18:43:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T18:43:22","slug":"truth-before-reconciliation-understanding-residential-school-denialism-with-dr-niigaan-sinclair","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/nych.ca\/cms\/news\/truth-before-reconciliation-understanding-residential-school-denialism-with-dr-niigaan-sinclair\/","title":{"rendered":"Truth Before Reconciliation: Understanding Residential School Denialism with Dr. Niigaan Sinclair"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ytAttributedStringLinkInheritColor\" dir=\"auto\">On September 8, 2026, North York Community House (NYCH) in partnership with Toronto South West Local Immigration Partnership, hosted a virtual webinar featuring Dr. Niigaanwewidam Sinclair, an Anishinaabe scholar, professor, writer, and public commentator. This conversation explored Residential School denialism \u2014 how it operates, why it persists, and what is at stake when denial shapes public understanding of Canada\u2019s history. During the session, Dr. Sinclair discussed: <\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"ytAttributedStringListGroup\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<li><span class=\"ytAttributedStringLinkInheritColor\" dir=\"auto\">What Residential School denialism is and the different forms it can take. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"ytAttributedStringLinkInheritColor\" dir=\"auto\">How denialism can dismiss or minimize the experiences of Survivors. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"ytAttributedStringLinkInheritColor\" dir=\"auto\">How the history and causes of child deaths at Residential Schools can be distorted or downplayed. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"ytAttributedStringLinkInheritColor\" dir=\"auto\">How narratives that portray the Residential School system as beneficial or benevolent contribute to denialism. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"ytAttributedStringLinkInheritColor\" dir=\"auto\">Why understanding historical evidence is important to meaningful Truth and Reconciliation. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"ytAttributedStringLinkInheritColor\" dir=\"auto\">The impacts of Residential School denialism on Indigenous Peoples and communities. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"ytAttributedStringLinkInheritColor\" dir=\"auto\"> Dr. Niigaanwewidam Sinclair is Anishinaabe from Peguis First Nation and a professor in the Department of Indigenous Studies at the University of Manitoba. He is an award-winning writer, editor, and public commentator. His book Winip\u00eak: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre received the 2024 Governor General\u2019s Literary Award for Nonfiction. He is also a two-time recipient of the Columnist of the Year award for his work with the Winnipeg Free Press.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"ytAttributedStringLinkInheritColor\" dir=\"auto\"><em>Content note:<\/em> This webinar discusses Residential Schools, the deaths of Indigenous children, colonialism, and the ongoing impacts of these histories on Indigenous Peoples and communities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Truth Before Reconciliation: Understanding Residential School Denialism with Dr. Niigaan Sinclair\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QsQ5Qj67PN0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Watch this conversation about Residential School denialism &#8211; how it operates, why it persists, and what is at stake when denial shapes public understanding of Canada&#8217;s history. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2249,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[45,24,98],"class_list":["post-2248","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-resources","category-truth-and-reconciliation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nych.ca\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nych.ca\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nych.ca\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nych.ca\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nych.ca\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nych.ca\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}