Truth & Reconciliation

IN THIS SECTION

The Land We’re On

With respect, we acknowledge that the land on which we learn, play, and work is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the xwməѲkwəyəm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səlílwəta/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

As a place of learning, York House School has a responsibility to educate students about Indigenous perspectives and resilience and the impacts of colonization, and to build relationships of reconciliation with Indigenous communities. We encourage students to question, examine, and engage in ongoing dialogue about history and the world we live in.

Learning & Unlearning

Staff, faculty, and students at York House are making ongoing efforts to learn and unlearn, with goals to indigenize and decolonize our teaching and learning.

Our Goals in Truth & Reconciliation:

Indigenize

Decolonize

We work to incorporate First Peoples Principles of Learning (FPPL) into our curriculum and programming, adding Indigenous lenses and content to deepen our understanding of and connections with Indigenous communities. This means we are intentional with our approach to include Indigenous voices, traditions, cultural knowledge, and ways of teaching and learning.

We are actively unlearning the misconceptions, misrepresentations, prejudices, and discriminatory practices against Indigenous peoples and cultures as a result of colonialism. We examine histories and traditions to reflect on historical wrongs, and look inward at our educational practices to transition to a more inclusive and pluralistic approach to learning and understanding the past, present, and future.

Path to Truth & Reconciliation

York House School is committed to making institutional changes in support of learning, empathy, and social justice. Our efforts in Truth & Reconciliation is guided by and directly responds to the Truth & Reconciliation Calls to Action (#62 Education for Reconciliation). We will continue to deepen Indigenous education at York House School across subjects and school events, and include Indigenous perspectives as we develop our practices.

a Snapshot of Recent Indigenous Learning at YHS

National Day for Truth & Reconciliation
Dedicated day for onsite and offsite Indigenous learning activities Orange Shirt Day and activities at Junior School
Red Dress Day
Learning activities through advisory groups to commemorate Red Dress Day / National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S+)
Indigenous Workshops
Workshops with Indigenous Elders, speakers, and field experts in education, art, music, sports, and traditional indigenous herbal medicine Learning about edible and medicinal plants with Indigenous Métis herbalist and educator, LoriAnn Bird Lacrosse and drama workshops with Sam Steward of the Squamish Nation
Land Acknowledgement
Students in Junior and Senior Schools learn and work on creating personal land acknowledgements for projects, assemblies, and events Students, teachers, and staff are asked to consider the significance of making a land acknowledgement in relation to the projects, events, or topics at hand Images of personal land acknowledgement expressed through art by student Delphine '26. Grade 1 class created their personal land acknowledgement together.
Little School Learning Gardens
The FPPL is embedded in students’ multidisciplinary inquiry at the Little School gardens. By learning in and with the environment, students explore concepts of place-based knowledge, intergenerational connections, and the vital role of community responsibility. Read more here
First Peoples Principles of Learning Across Subjects
Some of the ways subjects have incorporated the FPPL: English and Modern Languages Indigenous storytelling practice to share stories and ancestry with each other Connecting to Indigenous voices through storybooks across curriculum and through novels such as Motorcycles and Sweetgrass. Including Indigenous voices and lenses such as Creation Stories and Thomas King's Massey Lecture Series (audio) in literary studies, exploring topics such as comparing Christian and Indigenous faiths. Social Studies Examine Indigenous law versus Aboriginal law, and review some landmark Supreme Court of Canada cases. Grade 1 land acknowledgement project The Arts and ADST Inquiry into Indigenous composers and pieces Exploration of Ribbon Skirts, their origin, symbolism, and the National Ribbon Skirt Day Exploration of Métis Beadwork Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week Math and Sciences Our Little School and Junior School learning gardens Grade 3 Native Garden project Outdoor Education and PHE Integrating inquiry-based learning and FPPL, Junior School students participate in a variety of outdoor learning. From forest and mountain days to inquiry such as garden projects and salmon projects, students and teachers explore, reflect, experience, and relate to the knowledge gained from outdoor learning. Outdoor Education at the Senior School level continues to challenge students to learn, collaborate, and connect with Indigenous communities through outdoor excursions, cultural activities, and by learning outdoor skills.
Indigenous Learning Group
A learning group consisting of faculty and staff meets regularly to explore opportunities for intentional actions in indigenizing and decolonizing our learning and practices as educators and staff in and out of the classroom.

Decolonize our House names

Students and faculty stopped using the original YHS house names several years ago out of concern about their impact and out of respect for Indigenous communities. In 2021, York House School issued an apology to Indigenous peoples for misrepresenting their Indigenous names. York House also launched a House re-naming consultation and process to rename the school houses.

Statement of Apology (2021):
Beginning in the 1930s, York House School developed an important tradition that continues to shape student life: the House system. Students and faculty are organized into four Houses for the purpose of fostering school spirit through intramural sport and friendly competition. While the House system will remain an integral part of our school, we are changing the names of these Houses. Today, York House School is issuing this statement of apology to acknowledge that the school misrepresented Indigenous peoples with its House names. Associating House names with Indigenous peoples is inappropriate and will be formally discontinued at the school. The names that York House used until recently were imposed on Indigenous peoples by colonial settlers and are not the traditional names these First Nations use to self-identify. The names are considered disrespectful for the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, Nuu-chah-nulth, and Wyandot Nations. The House names also disregarded the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations upon whose traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands we live and learn. While the negative impacts of using these names may not have been known in the 1930s when the House names were adopted, we now know that using these names for sport and competition trivialized Indigenous nations, perpetuated stereotypes, and was disrespectful. For this, we apologize. As a place of learning, York House School has a responsibility to educate students about Indigenous perspectives and resilience and the impacts of colonization, and to build relationships of reconciliation with Indigenous communities. We encourage students to question, examine, and engage in ongoing dialogue about history and the world we live in. In keeping with this, students and faculty stopped using the House names several years ago out of concern about their impact and out of respect for Indigenous communities. York House School is committed to making institutional changes in support of learning, empathy, and social justice. We will continue to deepen Indigenous education at York House School, and include Indigenous perspectives as we develop our practices. Together, our community will explore the importance of this change in House names and begin a consultative process of generating new House names in the spring of 2021.

Statement of Apology (2021):

Beginning in the 1930s, York House School developed an important tradition that continues to shape student life: the House system. Students and faculty are organized into four Houses for the purpose of fostering school spirit through intramural sport and friendly competition. While the House system will remain an integral part of our school, we are changing the names of these Houses.

Today, York House School is issuing this statement of apology to acknowledge that the school misrepresented Indigenous peoples with its House names. Associating House names with Indigenous peoples is inappropriate and will be formally discontinued at the school. The names that York House used until recently were imposed on Indigenous peoples by colonial settlers and are not the traditional names these First Nations use to self-identify. The names are considered disrespectful for the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, Nuu-chah-nulth, and Wyandot Nations. The House names also disregarded the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations upon whose traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands we live and learn.

While the negative impacts of using these names may not have been known in the 1930s when the House names were adopted, we now know that using these names for sport and competition trivialized Indigenous nations, perpetuated stereotypes, and was disrespectful. For this, we apologize.

As a place of learning, York House School has a responsibility to educate students about Indigenous perspectives and resilience and the impacts of colonization, and to build relationships of reconciliation with Indigenous communities. We encourage students to question, examine, and engage in ongoing dialogue about history and the world we live in. In keeping with this, students and faculty stopped using the House names several years ago out of concern about their impact and out of respect for Indigenous communities. York House School is committed to making institutional changes in support of learning, empathy, and social justice.

We will continue to deepen Indigenous education at York House School, and include Indigenous perspectives as we develop our practices. Together, our community will explore the importance of this change in House names and begin a consultative process of generating new House names in the spring of 2021.

Our House Re-naming Process

Curated Book Lists on Indigenous Learning

Other Resources:

Ask a Question?

Truth & Reconciliation | York House School | Vancouver

Where do you want to explore?

Where do you want to explore?

Where do you want to explore?

Where do you want to explore?

Where do you want to explore?

Where do you want to explore?

Where do you want to explore?

Our Community

Truth & Reconciliation

IN THIS SECTION