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Indigenous leaders call for BԪַconcrete actionBԪַ on first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

215 unmarked graves of missing children were found on the grounds of the Kamloops residential school
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TkBԪַemlups te Secwepemc Kukpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir speaks during a news conference ahead of a ceremony to honour residential school survivors and mark the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, in Kamloops, BC., on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The remains of 215 children were discovered buried near the former Kamloops Indian Residential School earlier this year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

EditorBԪַs note: The story below may trigger difficult or traumatic thoughts and memories. The Indian Residential School Survivors SocietyBԪַs 24-hour crisis line is available at 1-866-925-4419.

BԪַHollow words are not enough.BԪַ

Those were the words from the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations RoseAnne Archibald at a TkBԪַemlúps te Secwe̓pemc event marking the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The day is a direct response to a call to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The TkBԪַemlúps te Secwe̓pemc sparked a movement across Canada when they revealed that they had found the unmarked graves of 215 children on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential school in May. At the start of August, Ottawa moved to make Sept. 30 BԪַ previously marked as Orange Shirt Day in B.C. BԪַ the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Although the day is a statutory holiday for federally regulated employees, the emphasis from many First Nations people has been for nonBԪַIndigenous Canadians to make the day by listening and learning about the impact of the residential school system.

In Kamloops, Archibald continued, calling residential schools BԪַinstitutions of assimilation and genocide.

BԪַI attended many schools across Ontario and none of them had graveyards,BԪַ she added.

The facilities operated from the 1800s until 1996. There were more than 140 of them, including 18 in B.C. More than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools, where they died from a variety of causes including both physical and sexual abuse, malnutrition, diseases and neglect.

TkBԪַemlúps Kúkpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir addressed a recent apology from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. Casimir said that their apology, issued last week, was too similar to that given during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which issued its report six years ago.

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Of the 94 calls to action from the commission, No. 56BԪַ61 call on the Pope to apologize for the Catholic churchBԪַs role in running residential schools, as well as to make funding and records available. The commissionBԪַs calls to action No. 71BԪַ76 call for the federal government to work with Indigenous Peoples to release records and assist in finding and commemorating missing children.

The commission said in 2015 that least 3,200 children died at residential schools, although recent discoveries show that the number of deaths is likely to be much higher. Families were not typically informed of what happened to their children.

TkBԪַemlúps legal counsel Don Worme said that the First Nation is willing to work with the government and the church, those organizations must fully cooperate.

BԪַWe need disclosure of all relevant recordsBԪַ (but) we donBԪַt need a document dump. We need them in a fashion that is useful to the survivors,BԪַ Worme said.

But for today, and all days going forward, Archibald said, Indigenous Peoples must be the focus.

BԪַOne hundred per cent of First Nations people suffer from intergeneration trauma,BԪַ she said. BԪַThis is a day to honour the survivors, the intergenerational survivors, of the institutions.BԪַ

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Elsewhere across the country communities and cities recognized the day with events and ceremonies. On the Cowessess First Nation in southern Saskatchewan, where children attended the Marieval Indian Residential School up until the mid-90s, Chief Cadmus Delorme told a crowd that the day is about healing.

Cowessess is another First Nation that reported the discovery of unmarked graves or burial sites at a former school using ground-penetrating radar. In June, it said 751 graves were believed to have been found.

BԪַWe donBԪַt want people to feel sorry for us. We want to heal. We want to get stronger,BԪַ Delorme said.

BԪַThe truth is going to be really tough. Even for Indigenous people, the truth is hard to acknowledge because of the pain. But we canBԪַt have reconciliation without truth. Today is a day for people to come together.BԪַ

On Parliament Hill, there was a sea of orange, as several thousand people gathered on the lawn in front of the Peace Tower for a morning ceremony under a bright blue sky.

Event organizer Jenny Sutherland said the day was to be about peace, not a day for protest.

BԪַThe nation is finally awakening to our story,BԪַ Sutherland told the crowd, which continued to grow over two hours of speeches, songs and prayers.

Algonquin Anishinabe Elder Claudette Commanda said it was a day to reflect and honour those who never came home.

BԪַTwo-hundred and fifteen little voices woke the country,BԪַ she said. BԪַFrom the moment those little ones went into the ground, they were speaking in spirit. They knew there would come a day that we would all hear their voices. And let us hold those children in our heart forevermore.BԪַ

BԪַ With files from Mickey Djuric at Cowessess First Nation and Mia Rabson in Ottawa, The Canadian Press


katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

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