OUR RECONCILIATION MANDATE
OUR MANDATE, IN BRIEF
Turtle Island Charity’s reconciliation mandate begins with truth before reconciliation: real partnership requires understanding history, sovereignty, and the ongoing effects of colonial systems — not just claiming the word. From there, our mandate is to work alongside Indigenous communities, not on their behalf, building culturally grounded pathways that let youth stay rooted in their culture, land, and identity while rising into education, wellness, and leadership. This means resourcing what communities already carry — their knowledge, resilience, and direction — rather than centering our own organization, and choosing allyship over saviourism at every step. Guided by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, we measure reconciliation not by the places we visit, but by the trust we build and the pathways that remain long after we do.
The Power of Play
Reaching for Reconciliation: One Game At A Time
Play is more than fun — it is how children explore, connect, build confidence and discover what is possible. Play transcends personal circumstances, helping young people recognize their strengths and reach their full potential.
Play is free, and playing is freedom. It is instinctive and lies at the heart of everything we do at Turtle Island Charity. By placing play at the centre of our programs, we make learning, cultural connection and personal growth joyful, welcoming and fun.
To understand where reconciliation begins, it helps to understand where the harm began.
Long before the Indian Act, European colonial powers had begun claiming Indigenous territories and imposing their own ideas of ownership, religion and authority. Beginning in 1497, these claims were supported by the Doctrine of Discovery, which was used to justify dispossession and the subjugation of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Nations shared knowledge that helped newcomers survive and entered nation-to-nation alliances and Peace and Friendship Treaties that did not surrender their lands or resources. Yet colonial governments repeatedly failed to honour these relationships. Colonial violence also included a documented attempt by British personnel to spread smallpox among Indigenous Peoples. When Canada was founded in 1867, it inherited and expanded these colonial beliefs, embedding them in laws and institutions designed to control Indigenous lands, cultures and lives. The Indian Act was therefore not the beginning of colonization, but the formal continuation of a much older system.
In 1876, a bill known in parliament as The Indian Act passed into law, imposing wide-reaching regulations on who or what could be considered “Indian.” In 1883, John Alexander Macdonald, first prime minister of Canada, authorized the creation of the first, government-operated residential schools. In 1920, Duncan Campbell Scott, Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs, mandated that all Indigenous children between the ages of 7 and 15 were required to attend a government residential school.
Some Canadians believe that 1876, or 1883, or perhaps even 1920, marked the beginning of the black chapter in Canadian history that was the Canadian residential school system. The truth is that the roots of this “civilizing mission” go back even further.
Indian Residential School, Sewing Class, Resolution, N.W.T
Credit: Library and Archives Canada/PA-043181
"The moment there exists a settlement which has any permanent character, then education in some form or another should be brought within reach of the children. This is not merely a matter of policy. It is that, of course, in the highest degree. It is a sacred duty."
Report on Industrial Schools for Indians and Half-breeds, Pg 11. March 14th, 1879.
The residential school system was an institution predicated upon the idea of cultural and ethnic superiority. Long-standing traditions, beliefs, and cultural practices were seen as obstacles to be brushed aside, as a child might toss away their toys as they grow into adulthood.
The separation of families lay at the core of the residential school system. The presence of family and community were considered to be inhibitions to the ultimate goal of assimilating Indigenous peoples into the greater populace. For generations, the residential school system employed family separation as a tool to isolate Indigenous children from their own communities, even going so far as to deny parents the right to see their children as punishment for perceived misbehavior.
"All the representatives of the five civilized nations declared their belief that the chief thing to attend to in dealing with the less civilized or wholly barbarous tribes, was to separate the children from the parents. As I have said, the Indian department in Washington have not much hope in regard to the adult Indians, but sanguine anticipations are cherished respecting the children."
Report on Industrial Schools for Indians and Half-breeds, Pg 7. March 14th, 1879.
These children were made to grow up in an environment in which expressions of their culture, heritage, and language were met with physical, verbal, and emotional abuse. Discipline was the tool by which the Canadian government sought to erase Indigenous identity: to “kill the indian in the child.” For many years, the Canadian government denied Indigenous children their right to a proper childhood, to instead be replaced with a strict schedule of religious instruction and subsistence farm labour.
And yet, in spite of their efforts, they failed. Were it not for the strength and resilience of Indigenous peoples, they may have even succeeded. In spite of institutional struggles, in spite of the scars the residential school system left behind, Indigenous peoples are still here. And in our new generations, we find the hope for a future in which Indigenous peoples can embrace their own culture and history without fear of reprisal or shame.
At Turtle Island Charity, we believe that the first step to realizing that future is to encourage play. Turtle Island Charity aims to create safe and fun environments for indigenous youth to be themselves — for kids to be kids, where they can reconnect with their own heritage and discover what makes them special in an easygoing, healthy environment.
Play — the exploration of identity, the discovery of things exciting and new, the testing of boundaries in a safe and welcoming environment — that is how children and youth learn. Not through the discipline of a closed fist, but through the invitation of an open hand.
That is where reconciliation begins for Turtle Island Charity.
Let Fun Inspire The Future
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We believe in building programs not for indigenous children, but with them — creating opportunities that inspire them to learn and grow at their own pace.
Community care begins within the community — because we understand that real learning starts at home, and that it takes a village to raise a child. That is where reconciliation begins for Turtle Island Charity.