The Centre works with Survivors, Intergenerational Survivors and Indigenous community partners to support the recording of oral testimonies related to experiences with the Indian Residential School System and its colonial legacies.
How it Works
The recording of testimonies is undertaken by the Centre’s OTP team and is aligned with Indigenous knowledge and methodologies, and stringent moral and ethical grounding.
Before recordings are made, the OTP team engages with interested community and individual partners to establish guidelines specific to those partners’ needs. This includes establishing clear understandings around ownership, stewardship, access, storage and other Indigenous data sovereignty considerations. Participants are provided with options for the different ways testimonies will be stored, presented and accessed (including how and by whom they will be accessed).
The approach takes into account unique community protocols and is supplemented at the university level by ethical review and support by UBC’s Behavioural Research Ethics Board.
When recording begins, the Centre ensures that proper supports are available, including access to wellness materials and the presence of support workers. For example, the Centre has a formal agreement with the Indian Residential School Survivors Society for the provision of cultural and health supports for OTP. Still, the Centre appreciates that individuals and communities may have different preferences regarding supports. Therefore, before recording any testimony, the OTP team will discuss with communities and individuals what supports are appropriate.
How to Participate
If you are interested in having your individual testimony recorded, or are a community wishing to dialogue around a testimony gathering initiative for the people in your community, please email oral.testimony@ubc.ca or phone (604) 822-9221.