Three education projects about Indian residential schools are designed to deepen Canadians' knowledge about their impact and get First Nations people to share their experiences with each other.

Where are the Children? and 100 Years of Loss: The Residential School System in Canada were both installed at Algoma University's George Leach Centre during Shingwauk 2012 Gathering and Conference over the long weekend.

"There is a general level of awareness that a residential school system existed at some point in history, but many people don't realize the magnitude of that," said Tina Cooper-Bolam, director of legacy projects for Aboriginal Healing Foundation.  

More than 150,000 aboriginal children were sent to residential schools from the mid 1800s to the late 1990s.

The 100 Years of Loss education kit, meant for students in grades 9 to 12, was piloted in Halifax in 2011 before its launch last winter.

It includes six lesson plans, teacher's guide, DVD and a wall-mounted timeline. The kit is free for secondary educators who teach related subjects such as history and law.

It contains 12 to 25 hours of teaching material and a 200-page book.

"There is a lot of information there," said Cooper-Boram.

Members of the general public who want their own copy may be asked to make a donation. Each contribution of $250 covers the cost of a new kit.  

Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre staff were trained by Aboriginal Healing Foundation during the reunion. They will be able to prepare high school teachers in the Sault Ste. Marie area to use the education kit.

Several hundred teachers across Canada have already been trained and 1,100 kits distributed to schools. To see so many kits in circulation is encouraging for Cooper-Boram. It's a welcome change from a status quo she sees as disturbing.  

"It's astonishing that someone can go through high school having learned nothing about this history (of residential schools) especially considering the fact that it has had such an impact on the lives of aboriginal peoples and is one of the causes of so many issues that aboriginal peoples are faced with today," she said.

The 100 Years of Loss exhibition has toured about 10 communities, including Halifax, Fredericton, Victoria and Saskatoon, since its launch in 2011. The display, which Cooper-Boram says gives residential school survivors "an opportunity to share their story," heads to University of Manitoba next followed by stops in Iqaluit, Yellowknife and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The exhibition is designed for events at high schools that focus on

residential schools and aboriginal awareness.

A second photo exhibition, Where are the Children?, is available for aboriginal communities. It features archival photos of residential schools taken from more than a dozen collections across Canada.

The exhibition began in 2003 following a youth conference organized by Aboriginal Healing Foundation two years earlier.

Students thought "the story of residential schools needed to be shared," said Cooper-Boram.

"There wasn't enough dialogue happening in their own communities about what had happened."

They decided such a collection of images "would be a good way to start a conversation."

The exhibition, curated by Jeff Thomas of Six Nations Reserve, "is really a place where people can share their experiences in a safe setting," said Cooper-Boram.  

She encourages Canadians to support programs that help residential school survivors heal from an education system designed to strip their identity as First Nations people.

"Communities have a capacity to heal themselves if they have the resources to heal themselves," said Cooper-Boram.

"I think there's a lot of hope in that."

Anyone interested in hosting either photo exhibition can contact Legacy of Hope Foundation at 877-553-7177 or go online at www.legacyofhope.ca

b.kelly@sunmedia.ca