New stamps feature artwork reflecting residential school legacy

To mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Canada Post has introduced a new series of stamps featuring artwork that reflects the painful history and enduring legacy of Canada’s residential school system.

Created in collaboration with the Survivors Circle of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), Canada Post says the stamps aim to honour the voices of Survivors and the stories they continue to share.

This latest release, the third in Canada Post’s Truth and Reconciliation series, was guided by the Survivors Circle to ensure the lived experiences of residential school Survivors remain central to the project. The stamps feature artwork by three distinguished Indigenous artists, all of whom are residential school Survivors: Robert Burke, Helen Iguptak, and Adrian Stimson.

According to Canada Post, the featured artists and their stories are:

  • Robert Burke: Burke’s artwork reflects his experiences at St. Joseph’s Residential School in the Northwest Territories, where he spent nearly a decade. His work addresses both personal challenges and broader social issues related to his Black Indigenous identity.
  • Helen Iguptak: An Inuk artist, Iguptak’s work is inspired by her time at Turquetil Hall in Nunavut, where she was forced to abandon her traditional clothing. Learning to make dolls from an older girl at the school, she continues this craft today, creating dolls dressed in traditional Inuit attire, preserving an essential part of Inuit culture.
  • Adrian Stimson: A Two-Spirit interdisciplinary artist from the Siksika Nation in Alberta, Stimson attended three residential schools, including Gordon’s Residential School in Saskatchewan. His work, deeply shaped by his experiences, explores themes of identity, survival, and resilience.

Canada Post explains that the stamp booklet cover features the Survivors’ Flag of the NCTR, a poignant symbol of remembrance. In a press release, the Crown corporation stated: “The stamps themselves are cancelled in Ottawa, the seat of the Canadian government, which enacted the policies that forcibly separated Indigenous children from their families, removing them from their land, languages, cultures, and spiritual practices through residential and day schools.”

Canada Post says a key feature of the stamps is a child’s handprint, symbolizing the thousands of Indigenous children taken to residential schools, many of whom never returned home.

Printed by Lowe-Martin, the stamps will be available online at canadapost.ca and at postal outlets across Canada starting on Sept. 27,  ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30. Canada Post expressed its gratitude to the Survivors Circle of the NCTR for their guidance throughout the creation process.

The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line offers 24-hour support to former residential school students and their families. For assistance, please call 1-866-925-4419.

 

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