EditorB次元官网网址檚 note: The story below may trigger difficult or traumatic thoughts and memories. The Indian Residential School Survivors SocietyB次元官网网址檚 24-hour crisis line is available at 1-866-925-4419.
Communities across Canada are set to mark the countryB次元官网网址檚 first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation today, honouring Indigenous survivors and children who disappeared from the residential school system.
Singing and drumming were scheduled to ring out at 2:15 p.m. from Kamloops where the TkB次元官网网址檈ml煤ps te Secw茅pemc Nation announced in May that ground-penetrating radar had detected what are believed to be 215 unmarked graves at the site of one of the largest former residential schools.
Numerous Indigenous nations have since reported finding unmarked graves at former residential school sites with the same technology used in Kamloops, prompting calls for justice that have resonated across the world.
The federal government announced the new statutory holiday in June to commemorate the history and ongoing impacts of the church-run institutions where Indigenous children were torn from their families and abused.
Terry Teegee, regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, said itB次元官网网址檚 a day to reflect on that terrible history, and also to think about how to address the effects of 150 years of residential school policies that aimed to B次元官网网址渒ill the Indian in the child.B次元官网网址�
The last residential school in Canada closed in 1996.
Generations of Indigenous children attended the institutions and the trauma from them has been passed down, Teegee said in an interview, pointing to the B次元官网网址�60s Scoop B次元官网网址� when Canadian governments placed thousands of Indigenous youth in foster care B次元官网网址� and to the disproportionate number of Indigenous youth in care today.
ThereB次元官网网址檚 a risk the meaning of reconciliation could become B次元官网网址渨atered downB次元官网网址� without substantive action and funding from the Canadian government to address the mental health challenges, addictions, homelessness, discrimination in the health-care system and other social harms related to residential schools, he said.
Teegee said gestures, such as acknowledgments of Indigenous lands, lowering flags to half-mast to honour residential school victims and an apology from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, are needed, but gestures only go so far.
B次元官网网址淭hat doesnB次元官网网址檛 change tomorrow for an Indigenous person whoB次元官网网址檚 dealing with addictions or dealing with mental health issues because of residential schools.B次元官网网址�
A number of extensive reports B次元官网网址� from the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in 1996 to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls B次元官网网址� have made recommendations to address the discrimination and harms Indigenous people face, Teegee said.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e one of the most studied groups out there,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淵et weB次元官网网址檙e still dealing with the same old issues over and over again.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e tired of being studied.B次元官网网址�
The federal government has pledged to implement the Truth and Reconciliation CommissionB次元官网网址檚 calls to action and the B.C. government is in the process of aligning its laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. But Teegee said he would like to see more concerted plans, timelines and funding.
Ultimately, Teegee said he sees reconciliation as changing the relationships between Indigenous nations and Canadian governments to recognize Indigenous PeoplesB次元官网网址� sovereignty and self-determination over their territories and affairs.
B次元官网网址淭his is a long-term commitment between Indigenous Peoples and regardless of what party youB次元官网网址檙e in or the colonial state, regardless of what affiliation you have.B次元官网网址�
ItB次元官网网址檚 about creating space B次元官网网址渢o be First Nations, to be Indigenous, and to be in a place that respects our identity and respects who we are,B次元官网网址� Teegee added.
B次元官网网址擳he Canadian Press
