In 2008, the Canadian government established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to review the history of the residential school system, a brutal colonial project that killed and injured many Indigenous children and left a legacy of trauma and pain. In Fragments of Truth Naomi Angel analyzes the visual culture of reconciliation and memory in relation to this complex and painful history. In her analyses of archival photographs from the residential school system, representations of the schools in popular media and literature, and testimonies from TRC proceedings, Angel traces how the TRC served as a mechanism through which memory, trauma, and visuality became apparent. She shows how many Indigenous communities were able to use the TRC process as a way to claim agency over their memories of the schools. Bringing to light the ongoing costs of transforming settler states into modern nations, Angel demonstrates how the TRC offers a unique optic through which to survey the long history of colonial oppression of Canada’s Indigenous populations.

". . . [T]he book is recommended reading, offering informative perspectives that will broaden understandings about what happened and what remains to be done in pursuing meaningful pathways towards reconciliation. It is a powerful reminder that it is imperative for us to continue to probe these  issues so that the future actions (both collective and individual) are undertaken in a manner that is well-informed, open, and reflexive." - Terry Wotherspoon (Historical Studies in Education) "Fragments of Truth is a powerful story of one woman’s journey of looking at the IRS TRC, and the layers and fragments of meanings behind the concept of “truth.” For anyone hoping to earn a greater under-standing of both Indian residential schools and the path towards truth, Fragments of Truth is a must-read." - Jewel Cummins (American Indian Culture and Research Journal)

Naomi Angel (1977–2014) completed her PhD in Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University in 2013.

Dylan Robinson is Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Arts at Queen’s University.

Jamie Berthe is Lecturer at New York University.