Reconciliation

Send it with a Stamp wishes to acknowledge the land on which we reside, known as Ottawa, is the traditional territory of three Indigenous communities: the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk), the Omàmìwininìwag (Algonquin), and the Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ. In an effort to promote meaningful reconciliation, we will be donating 5% of all sales each September to local charities supporting First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people.

The lands that make up present-day Canada have been inhabited for millennia by Indigenous people. The First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people all have their own distinct history, languages, and culture. 

Canada has a dark history and on-going legacy surrounding church-run residential schools. These residential schools operated in Canada for over 150 years with the last one (The Gordon Residential School in Punnichy, Saskatchewan) closing in 1996.

Approximately 150,000 children were removed, often against their will, from their communities and forced to abandon their language, traditions, and cultural practices. Many of these children did not survive these schools due to their treatment and care. This school system was just one tool used to colonize the Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the harms they caused have had lasting and adverse effects.

Learn more:

• National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation: Reconciliation through Education
• National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation: Calls to Action
• Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada
• Historica Canada Education Portal: Indigenous History
• National Film Board: Indigenous Cinema
• Native Land
• Whose Land

The Survivor's Flag is meant to honour residential school Survivors and all those impacted by the residential school system. Each element of the flag was chosen by Survivors and represent the family, the children, the seeds below the ground, the tree of peace, the cedar branch, cosmic symbolism, the Métis sash, the eagle feather, and the Inuksuit.