Please note: this session has been postponed to April 14, 2026.
Join us on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, from 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM (PT), for “’My Name is Charlene’: Perseverance and Poise in an Era of Truth, Reconciliation, Anger & Rage.” In this Indigenous Speakers Series session, we will have a conversation with Chief Charlene Belleau of the Esk’etemc First Nation, who helped lay the foundations for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2008–2015). Her work supported the Commission’s mandate to document the history and legacy of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools, guide reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, and foster healing and wellness in First Nation communities. In this session, you will hear from a powerful voice for reconciliation and transformative change on what it means to lead communities in confronting truth and building relationships across differences.
Topic | ‘My Name is Charlene’: Perseverance and Poise in an Era of Truth, Reconciliation, Anger & Rage
Date: Tuesday, April, 14th, 2026
Time: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM (PT)
Live Stream & Recording | Register to receive the webcast link or access to the recording after the event.
All REDI events are open to the public unless otherwise noted.
Speaker Bio
Chief Charlene Belleau
- Esk’etemc First Nation,
Proud Mother & Grandmother; - The Governor General of Canada | King Charles III Coronation Medal – 2025;
- Senior Investigator informing the documentary Sugarcane – 2024, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary & winner of the Best Documentary Feature, 2024 Sundance Film Festival;
- Appointed Liaison representing former survivors of the Indian Residential School experience in BC | Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and burial sites associated with Indian Residential Schools – 2022;
- The Governor General of Canada | Meritorious Service Cross – 2018;
- Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal – 2013;
- Senior Negotiator | Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement – 2007;
- Principal Lead informing the publication Victims of Benevolence: Discipline and Death at the Williams Lake Indian Residential School, 1891–1920 by Elizabeth Furniss, Cariboo Tribal Council, 1992.
Chief Charlene Belleau’s Bio
Charlene has been a strong advocate for former Indian Residential School students for over thirty-five years.
The atrocities of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools began to be exposed through the coordination of the First National Conference on Indian Residential Schools in Vancouver, BC in 1989. Highlights included the release of research on the impacts of St. Joseph’s Mission IRS and a book “Victims of Benevolence” that outlines the tragic story of SJM, more profoundly Charlene’s own uncle, Augustine Allan, committing suicide and being buried somewhere at SJM.
The late 1980s saw many former IRS SJM warriors step forward and hold priests, including former Bishop O’Connor, to account in the criminal courts for sexual abuse of children. Due to the trauma associated with high-profile criminal trials, Charlene, with the support of BC leadership, established the Provincial Indian Residential School Project, now known as the BC IRSSS.
Charlene coordinated engagement of former SJM IRS students in key inquiries into IRS, including the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in 1996, which highlighted the abuses at Canada’s Indian Residential Schools. A community-based IRS Inquiry on the impacts of SJM on Esk’etemc was held in 1997, where we heard first-hand testimony on flogging and various forms of abuse at SJM from Elders. Charlene facilitated the Law Commission of Canada’s work on IRS in 1997 to begin addressing the redress required by Canada for former IRS students. The 1998 Canada’s Statement of Reconciliation was the beginning of a long process of retribution by Canada.
In 1999, an Esk’etemc community-based Alternative Dispute Resolution process for the settlement of SJM was completed. Individual and family community healing were at the forefront of this important work. Additional community-based protocols with the RCMP and Ministry of Attorney General provided an opportunity to address intergenerational trauma and sexual abuse stemming from SJM IRS.
Charlene served at the local, provincial, and national levels on IRS. While with the Assembly of First Nations, she was part of the team that negotiated the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, of which the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a priority for Charlene.
Charlene served three terms as Kukpi7 (Chief) of Esk’etemc and several years on Council. Dealing with IRS trauma has always been, and continues to be, the cornerstone of Charlene’s work to create healthier and safer families and nations. She is a strong matriarch and advocate for Indigenous women and girls, especially those impacted by the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), the future of Indigenous peoples.
Charlene is mother to three children and Kye7e (Gramma) to three beautiful grandchildren: Easton, Edward, and Setètkw’e.
Description
Written by Derek K Thompson – Čaabať Bookwilla | Suhiltun , Director, Indigenous Engagement
I first heard Charlene Belleau speak at a conference when I was a young man, and she asserted with an intensity of purpose: “My name is Charlene, and like the rest of you here, I don’t want to live with the anger and rage resulting from the Indian Residential Schools.” I admired her perseverance and poise, and she set me on a trajectory of self-examination into my experiences growing up with parents who survived the Indian Residential School system in Canada.
Charlene helped to create the very foundations for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2008–2015) to carry out its mandate to document the history and legacy of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools and to guide reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. She has helped establish many of the healing and wellness processes that we see in our own First Nations communities and has consistently been a force of inspiration for our people in coming to terms with each other.
Charlene continues to lead, to inspire, and to demand transformative change in an era of truth and reconciliation. She remains unapologetic in standing up for our people. She continues to do the difficult work—the work of unearthing the many ugly truths buried in Canada’s past, the work of inspiring change in spite of the daunting challenges of reconciliation—and she continues in a spirit of perseverance and poise.
We are honoured and grateful to welcome Charlene Belleau to the Indigenous Speakers Series for this important and inspiring conversation. Together, we will talk about the need and urgency for all of us to continue the work of reckoning with the truth and reconciling in the present day, and work to ensure that we establish a strong foundation where Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples can work together to reset the relationship between us with the best of our intentions.
Moderator
Derek K Thompson – Čaabať Bookwilla | Suhiltun, Director, Indigenous Engagement
What Will I Learn?
You will gain a unique perspective on what it means to lead transformative change in relation to the processes of truth and reconciliation.
Continue Learning
“The time to make things happen is now. The time to seek out our individual and shared power is now.”
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