Canada's Residential School Story Launches on Google Earth Voyager

OTTAWA, Dec. 11, 2017­ /CNW/ - Residential schools for First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were first established in 1831 and ran for 165 years until 1996. This system had one goal: to forcibly assimilate Canada's Indigenous Peoples into the non-Indigenous population. Canadian Geographic Education (Can Geo Education), the first Canadian organization to produce Google Earth Voyager content, has worked closely with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) of the University of Manitoba to create an educational tool that will help students learn about this dark chapter in Canadian history.

Cree students at their desks with their teacher in a classroom, All Saints Indian Residential School, Lac La Ronge, Saskatchewan, March 1945 (CNW Group/Royal Canadian Geographical Society)

"This is a harrowing tale but required learning on our journey towards reconciliation with Canada's Indigenous Peoples," says Ellen Curtis, Director of Can Geo Education. "Our Google Earth Voyager residential school story provides a much needed primer for elementary and secondary school students. "

Told through a geographic lens, the Google Earth Voyager residential school story shows students where each school is located on a map of Canada, and often providing an overhead view of the school itself. The story explains why the schools were built, what attending a residential school was like for Indigenous children, the effects of the system on students, and how residential school survivors are working to move forward. The poignant testimonials of residential school survivors, providing detailed accounts of their abuse inside this educational system, will have an indelible impact on readers. These honest accounts of childhood loss and abuse will hopefully help students to break down any learned prejudices and build understanding that will aid in the reconciliation process.

"The Google Earth's Voyageur residential school story is an extremely important tool that encourages discussion in a way that compliments the learning styles of today's students," says Ry Moran, Director of the NCTR. "This is exactly what we need for a tough topic like the residential school story, if reconciliation is to begin."

This tale about Canada's residential schools is the latest installment in Google Earth's Voyager series. Google has been working with prestigious partners, such as NASA, BBC, and now, Can Geo Education, to bring storytelling functionality to its popular Google Earth mapping service. Over the past four years, Google has also supported the refresh materials to ensure they dovetail with current trends in geography teaching. Just this past summer, Google worked with Can Geo Education to provide professional development training for teachers on the use of popular geographic tools, such as Google Maps, Google Street View and Google Expeditions. Working with Google is just one of the ways Can Geo Education is helping to develop 21^st century geographic skills among Canadians to maintain our nation's reputation as a geography powerhouse. 

SOURCE Royal Canadian Geographical Society

Media information: Deborah Chapman, Communications Manager, Royal Canadian Geographical Society, O (613) 613-745-4629 ext. 160, C [phone], Email: [email protected]