WWW.WHEREARETHECHILDREN.CA

Starting in 2002, the LHF received an overwhelming number of requests from communities across Canada to host the Where are the Children? Healing the Legacy of the Residential Schools exhibition.  It was not possible to accommodate this demand, and as a result, the LHF and its partners decided to create a website that would make available the material and information contained in the exhibition.   

In March 2005, Phase 1 of www.wherearethechildren.ca made the photographs from the Where are the Children? exhibition available online and allowed users to navigate their way through a virtual reconstruction of the Mohawk Institute in Brantford, ON.  

Phase 2 of the website was launched in 2007 with a new interactive component that enabled visitors to sit at a desk equipped with a virtual textbook, dictionary, map and timeline.  Targeted to students aged 12 to 18, the objective of Phase 2 was to present material on the legacy of Canada’s Residential School System in an engaging, youth-oriented, interactive format involving the creation of original text and graphics.  

The LHF set about developing the third phase of the website in 2008.  Built on the model and success of Phases 1 and 2, it offers grade-specific learning and interactive tools on the history and legacy of residential schools. Users entering the site will find themselves sitting at a desk with a suite of tools and resources around them that can easily be accessed to learn about residential schools. These tools include: grade-specific textbooks; teacher’s guide and lesson plans; an interactive map and timeline; an interactive study guide which uses assets such as videos, photographs, and audio narration; and a virtual tour of the Where are the Children? exhibition.  

The website has become an important companion piece to the Where are the Children? Healing the Legacy of the Residential Schools exhibition and has assisted in promoting a new understanding of the experience of attending residential school.  This online educational resource receives an average of 28,000 hits per month.