I am writing you in strong support of your proposal to adapt the exhibition Residential Schools" the Red Lake Story, which was shown last year at your museum, to an on-line virtual exhibit.

I know what a tremendous and helpful impact the exhibition had on visitors to Red Lake and, especially, to members of the Aboriginal communities you serve. Having hosted the Aboriginal Healing Foundation's 'Where Are the Children' exhibition at the University of British Columbia while I was director there, I also know more generally how important such exhibits. Creating a virtual exhibit is an ideal way to retain and extend the value of this project so that it can reach a great many more people and continue to serve as a point of reference for those who were able to see it in its physical form. I have no doubt that it will thus continue to play a profound role in the healing process not only for the victims of residential schooling, but also for their families, who continue to live with the damaging effects of this history, and for the wider public which seeks to understand this chapter of Canadian history

I can't think of a more important project for programs such as the Virtual Museum of Canada and I support your proposal in the strongest possible terms.

Sincerely,

Ruth Phillips

Canada Research Chair and Professor of Art History

Carleton University