Residential school students line up at recess. (CBC)The head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on residential schools says survivors' stories will no longer be relegated to the sidelines of Canadian history.

Manitoba Justice Murray Sinclair says the commission will enable aboriginal people to tell what happened to them at the schools.

"We are going to be witnesses to something that has never taken place before in this country. We are going to see things, to hear things, and to feel things that have never been witnessed before," Sinclair told hundreds of people who gathered Wednesday morning at The Forks national historic site in Winnipeg.

"Sadly, the Indian residential schools story, generally speaking, has been relegated to the sidelines of Canadian history and treated as having little bearing upon today's society," he said.

"There are a vast number of people in this country with little or no knowledge of Indian residential schools and the impact that those schools have had on aboriginal people and on Canada.

'We are going to see things, to hear things, and to feel things that have never been witnessed before.' —Justice Murray Sinclair

"It's high time we put this issue to bed."

The commission's national public hearing in Winnipeg, running from Wednesday through Saturday, is the first of seven events across the country to collect stories from former students, ranging from good memories to horrific accounts of physical and sexual abuse.

Dawn of a new day

Ceremonies began at dawn with the lighting of a ceremonial fire, a pipe ceremony and drum songs.

Manitoba Justice Murray Sinclair addresses the crowd Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the Truth and Reconciliation national event in Winnipeg. (CBC)"They brought such a feeling of energy and spirit and respect to the activities of the morning that I'm hoping that we can carry that forward, not only over the next four days but for the next four years as we continue the work of the commission," said Sinclair, who was Manitoba's first aboriginal judge.

It is expected that more than 5,000 people, including former students, leaders of aboriginal organizations, church groups and members of the general public, will attend the event during its four days.

No one will be forced to speak of abuse suffered at the schools, but if survivors choose to come forward they will have the commission's full attention, Sinclair said.

"For many of those who will be with us, this will be the first time that they will speak of these things. We will honour their words. We will respect them," he said.

"To all those who wish to share their experience with us, I promise you this: if you have something to tell, we will hear you. You will not be questioned; you will not be asked to prove anything. You do not have to share anything that you do not wish to share."

Students play hockey at a residential school. (CBC)He said he hopes the event will help to explain the great divide that remains between aboriginals and the rest of the country.

"And it will explain why we see such disparity within so many of our communities," he said.

"I hope that the time will come in your lives when you can look back on this day and say this was an important day in the way that things have evolved in this country," Sinclair said.

"We are doing these things here today, and for the rest of this week, and for the term of the commission for one simple reason — the truth eventually will heal us all.

"At the end of our four days here, we will all go home having moved a step closer to harmony and respect, a step closer to reconciliation."

Opportunity fading

The opportunity to have residential school survivors share their stories is fading, Sinclair said.

"With each passing day, we lose another opportunity with the loss of an Indian residential school survivor. Within a generation, the reality is that we will lose all of them," he said, adding the opportunity is not limited to former students.

'We are here to listen to anyone who has been impacted by the Indian residential school legacy.'—Justice Murray Sinclair

"We know that there are former school employees, descendants of survivors, church officials, all of whom have experience that we need to hear as well and to record. We are here to listen to anyone who has been impacted by the Indian residential school legacy.

"Others, though, we acknowledge, have chosen and will continue to choose to remain silent. we respect that too," Sinclair said.

Many others wonder how their experiences are going to be helpful to anyone. It needs to be said that whatever what happened to you, it is an experience worth telling, bad, funny, or sad. It has the strength to educate and to heal.

"We owe that to our children and to our grandchildren."

Indian Act to be repealed

Federal Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl also spoke at the opening and said the government plans to repeal the section of the Indian Act that allowed aboriginal children to be removed from their homes and sent to residential schools in the first place.

"This will be done in close collaboration with First Nation organizations in the country," he said. "This gesture of closure and reconciliation will reinforce our government's unwavering commitment to establish a new relationship with aboriginal people."

A cheer arose from the crowd upon hearing Strahl's announcement.

He also said it's important to make sure that First Nations education is reformed and strengthened so as to improve aboriginal high school graduation rates.

About 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Metis children were forced to attend the government and church-run schools over much of the last century. The last one closed outside Regina in 1996. About 85,000 former students are still alive.

The $60-million TRC, meant to expose and expiate the pain and suffering caused by residential schools, was part of a landmark deal reached with survivors who had filed a class-action lawsuit against Ottawa and the churches.