Sep 30, 2024 | Faces of HDGH
I was asked to write a blog about Truth and Reconciliation and I must admit it’s probably the hardest thing I’ve had to do. How do I explain to people the devastation that Canada, the country that most people moved to be a part of has put upon their first people? This was not something from 1492, although that’s roughly when things started according to history, but something that has continued throughout the decades and centuries since.
The recognition that finally came about when so many unmarked graves were found was the catalyst for what we now know as Truth and Reconciliation Day. But beyond the title of Truth and Reconciliation and beyond the 94 recommendations made by the government to make an attempt to improve the future of our First Nations people, there are countless people who have memories of those days and the children and the grand children of those people who turned to substances to hide the pain, shame and horror that was their lives. Many of these individuals never knew how to be part of a family, never learned how to parent, and in turn passed those traumas on to the next generation. There are still many communities without clean water to drink or contaminated air and land that they cannot use to grow food.
This day is not a holiday, it is not a chance to simply have a day off…No, this is a day to mourn and to hold our loved ones close and pray this never happens to them. The fear of this is still present in many people you speak to who have experienced the residential school system, as well as the “60’s scoop”. The system that once again proved only to remove children from loving families guilty only of having a different way of life from those who wanted to assimilate them into a world that was never kind to them.
I ask that if you want to understand to please read up on this history. Talk to some of the people who’ve lived it and then pass that information on to your children so they know and they make sure this history is one that is not repeated. Make sure your children’s school is teaching your children the real truth about Canadian history. Read the recommendations set out and see where you can (if you can) change things in your lives to ensure that you are not adding to this history and continuing it any further.
September 30 is recognized as Orange Shirt Day, inspired by the story of Phyllis Webstad, a residential survivor who at 6 years old was taken from her home and brought to a residential school where she had her new orange shirt immediately taken from her by school staff. Please remember why you wear this shirt when you wear it and keep that in your heart every day, all year. Don’t just “wear” a shirt…understand it!!!!