‘Profound act of truth and reconciliation’

Gathered under the newly unveiled logo of École Mazina-Giizhik, students of all ages told a crowd what they’ve learned about their school’s namesake on Wednesday.

They spoke about how athletic and studious Murray Sinclair was when he was their age, his groundbreaking career in law and his legacy as chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“He listened and listened and listened some more,” one girl told more than 300 people who showed up for an evening naming ceremony at 355 des Hivernants Blvd. in Sage Creek.

The Louis Riel School Division’s newest building pays tribute to Sinclair’s spirit name, an Anishinaabemowin phrase that translates to “The One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky.”

“This spirit name reminds us that stories matter. That truth must be spoken clearly. That the sky holds memory, guidance and hope,” superintendent Christian Michalik said.

The kindergarten-to-Grade 8 school, which offers single-track French immersion, opened in September with a placeholder name — École Sage Creek Bonavista — out of respect for Anishinaabe ceremonial protocols.

The judge, senator and Anishinaabe leader died in 2024. He was 73.

“He would be so happy that we are listening to who he called ‘the smartest people in the world,’ which are children — he loved children,” his son, Niigaan Sinclair told the standing-room-only gymnasium.

Niigaan named four school leaders as honorary witnesses for the naming ceremony, as is customary in Cree and Anishinaabe tradition. Each of them received a TRC pin that belonged to Sinclair.

Sarah Fontaine-Sinclair spoke about her grandfather’s appreciation for languages and performed a song on the flute that was inspired by his love of rock music.

Numerous speakers referenced one of Sinclair’s most famous phrases, “Education got us into this mess and education will get us out of it.” (The mess in question being the wide-ranging and intergenerational consequences of the residential school system.)

Principal Cam Johnson said the name will guide everything that happens in the building and serve as a daily reminder “of the responsibility and the hope that we carry together.”

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation issued a statement endorsing the school’s name ahead of the ceremony.

“The naming of this school is not just a symbolic gesture. It is a profound act of truth and reconciliation and a commitment to ensuring the institution reflects the values of its namesake,” executive director Stephanie Scott said.

The division is establishing “a space of belonging, shared values, and hope” by calling a permanent institution Mazina-Giizhik, Scott said.

The centre opened its doors on the University of Manitoba Fort Garry campus after the TRC released its 94 calls to action in 2015.

Scott and her colleagues have a mandate to preserve more than four million records, including survivors’ testimony, reports and artifacts collected by the commission.

In the six volumes of their final report, the commissioners described the residential school system’s “attack on Indigenous memory” as one of its most devastating legacies.

“Reshaping national history is a public process, one that happens through discussion, sharing, and commemoration,” they wrote.

That excerpt came to mind for Sean Carleton, who describes himself as a settler-historian, as he reflected on how naming and erecting memorials have played critical roles in colonization, dating back to when colonists overrode Indigenous place names with English and French titles to cement their power.

“We are not stalled out on reconciliation. This is another concrete reminder that Manitobans are actively engaged in this process,” said Carleton, associate head of U of M’s department of Indigenous studies.

As far as he’s concerned, no one is better suited than Sinclair to be a school’s namesake, given the late judge’s impressive resume and outspoken belief in education as a tool to make the world a better place.

“I would imagine this is the first of many (schools that will be named after him),” Carleton said.

The Lord Selkirk School Division in Selkirk plans to rename one of its schools after its famous alum in the fall.

The building (516 Stanley Ave.) where Sinclair attended high school — from which he graduated top of his class in 1968 — will soon be called École Murray Sinclair Middle School.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca