NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area, Sahtu Settlement Area, Dehcho Region, North Slave Region, South Slave Region, Qikiqtaaluk Region

Objective(s): 1) to share the stories of residential school survivors; 2) to provide context for their experiences through related archival research; and, 3) to develop materials and resources that reflect and respect the diverse experiences of recreation while at residential school, hostels, and federal Indian day schools.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No. 5769. The objectives of this research are: to share the stories of residential school survivors; to provide context for their experiences through related archival research; and to develop materials and resources that reflect and respect their diverse experiences of recreation while at residential school, hostels, and federal Indian day schools. The content for the exhibit and the website, as well as for the related resources and academic publications, will primarily come from the interviews with residential school survivors. The researchers will also be reviewing historical documents including photographs, reports, and yearbooks from residential schools, hostels, and Indian day schools across the territory. Together, the interviews and historical research will help to understand how recreation was a part of the residential school, hostel, and day school experience, and also the significance of recreation for residential school, hostel, and day school students. If a survivor decides to participate in the project, an interviewer and a videographer will travel to their community to interview them. The interview will be approximately one hour long. The survivor will be provided with a list of possible interview questions ahead of time. The interviews will be recorded using a video camera and an audio recorder. We will make a transcript of each interview. The interviewee will have an opportunity to edit the transcript of their interview. The participants will be given copies of the video and the final transcript to keep. Participants will be offered a $250 honorarium. This honorarium covers learning about the project, reviewing the interview questions, preparing for the interview, signing consent forms, the interview itself, and reviewing and editing transcripts (once). If quotations or clips from an interview are used in the exhibit, on the website, or in other project materials, the interviewee will be contacted first to make sure they are okay with the quotations/clips and how they will be used. If an interviewee allows use of a quotation/clip from their interview, but changes their mind, it will be removed from the exhibit materials and the website. This option will be communicated to all participants. A website will be created to include more information about what was learned during the interviews and historical research, and educational resources for teachers and parents who want to share the project with children and young people. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from: February 9 - December 31, 2024