Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre

UBC student Adina Williams spoke at the opening of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre in April. For more information about the centre, or to watch a webcast of the opening, visit aboriginal.ubc.ca/indian-residential-school-centre

“It’s a large problem that survivors [of Indian residential schools], as well as their families and communities, have to continue to validate their lived experiences. For me, as an Indigenous student, so often I have had to either be an expert on these topics, or challenge another person who wants to argue that it is time for us to move on, or to get over it. These are comments that so many of us here today are so used to hearing, and I believe that they’re based off racist and sterotypical assumptions that have been developed as a result of the lack of education that Canadians received on these parts of Canada’s colonial history. This is why the dialogue centre is not only a timely addition to the UBC campus, but it is also a necessary one. [It] will play such a critical role in closing these large knowledge gaps that have been ignored for far too long.” 
~ Adina Williams