In The History That We Share, historian Robert Janning presents a clear and comprehensive depiction of the relationship that existed between the Snuneymuxw First Nation and the Methodist Church of Canada from the time of contact to the day Snuneymuxw children were first sent to the Coqualeetza Residential School, in Sardis, British Columbia.
This book gives readers an opportunity to learn what day to day life was like in a First Nation community prior to the implementation of the Indian residential school system, in British Columbia. Despite the fact that fear, guilt and shame have for many years conspired to conceal much of the history that we share, an immense body of documentation chronicling our past has been left to collect dust on the shelves of archives and libraries for a century or more.
Driven by a consuming desire to better understand how we became who we are today, Janning launched an investigation that took five years to complete. After collecting and chronologically arranging his findings, he was determined that the evidence would finally get to see the light of day. After all, if it is the truth that will set us free, then isn’t it high time we took a long look in our rearview mirror?
Robert Janning was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The joy of writing his first book Westcoast Reign: The British Columbia Soccer Championships 1892-1905 proved to be the inspiration for this book. Living in beautiful Saanich, on Vancouver Island, he is currently working on a third history book.
