{"id":32006,"date":"2022-10-08T10:29:39","date_gmt":"2022-10-08T14:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=32006"},"modified":"2022-10-13T23:37:37","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T03:37:37","slug":"truth-and-reconciliation-should-be-about-reconcili-action-say-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/truth-and-reconciliation-should-be-about-reconcili-action-say-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Truth and Reconciliation should be about \u201cReconcili-Action,\u201d say leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Gathering to mark National Day for Truth & Reconciliation is an important step, but the day should lead to \u201creconcili-action,\u201d says Indigenous educator Jan Beaver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beaver was a keynote speaker at Town Park last Friday as the Aurora Cultural Centre and the Town of Aurora hosted two back-to-back observances to mark the second annual National Day for Truth & Reconciliation on September 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The poignant events began at 3 p.m. with the Cultural Centre\u2019s program, which was co-presented and hosted by Jared Big Canoe, featuring performances from Shining Waters Ceremonial Drum, traditional dancers and Inuit throat singers, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to a crowd in front of the band shell, Beaver shared the impact the Residential School System had on her own family, but also outlined the changes that need to come in order to achieve real Truth & Reconciliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy are we setting aside a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation?\u201d asked Beaver. \u201cThis day gives everyone \u2013 Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples \u2013 a time to learn the true history of Canada with regards to Indian Residential Schools, for example, and reflect on the ways we can build mutually-respectful relationships. It gives time for Canadians to hear from Indigenous peoples about their experiences with that system and about the impact of that system on families and subsequent generations, which we are still dealing with today. It\u2019s still an impact today, it\u2019s still a trauma, there\u2019s still PTSD rampant in communities because of what happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a result of the Call to Action #72, which recommended a death register and a public-facing memorial register with regards to these Indian Residential Schools and the number of children who actually died there, it has been determined that as of September 29, 2021, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has documented 4,118 children who died at Indian Residential Schools and that is after going through only one fifth of the records that are held by the National Centre for Truth & Reconciliation. I can\u2019t even imagine what that number is going to end up being. I shudder to think about that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of this past May, Beaver said 2,207 unmarked graves had been discovered outside of Residential Schools since the 1970s and that these sites \u201cshould be treated like crime scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on what people can do to truly embrace reconciliation, Beaver said the first thing one can do is \u201clisten to the stories of survivors still dealing with the crushing effects of this trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPut yourselves in their place for this moment,\u201d she continued. \u201cThink about your own children and how you would feel if they were taken away in this cruel, inhuman manner, never to be seen alive again. Those children, the first thing that happened to them, was they had their hair shaved because they were afraid of bugs in their hair, then they took all of their clothing and gave them whatever clothing was to be worn by the students so they all look the same. They were given numbers and their names were taken away. They were called by numbers. Many other things of which I will not speak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter the Truth and Reconciliation commission ended, there was no funding for healing supports and I can say this without a shadow of a doubt: there will be no reconciliation as long as the government continues to think of it as benevolence rather than human rights. We need to commit to changing actions, to changing attitudes, behaviours, and thinking about Indigenous peoples, in ways that are based on truth and relationship as opposed to bias and stereotype.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without addressing the realities \u201ctruthfully and honestly\u201d and addressing them, \u201cWe\u2019re going to get nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opportunities can be found through changes in \u201ceducation systems, in power structures, in laws, in authority and control of money, so that life can be more equitable\u201d for Indigenous peoples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe, as a society, must speak up when we see things happen that are not fair, just or respectful to Indigenous peoples. That is our responsibility, all of us. I am happy to see more and more that people are learning, they\u2019re seeking knowledge, they\u2019re seeking understanding, they\u2019re developing relationships with Indigenous people. They\u2019re listening to stories. I see it more and more and that gives me hope, that gives me a lot of hope, that on days like today, this is happening in many, many cities and towns across Canada. I am happy for that because finally, to me, once we bridge to each other as human to human, person to person, friend to friend, that\u2019s where change is going to happen, and I am really, really hopeful about how we\u2019re moving forward on this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many ways, it\u2019s action \u2013 but there needs to be more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have had so many studies of Indigenous peoples in Canada. All of these studies, studies, studies and now we have the TRC (Truth & Reconciliation Commission) study. It is one thing to study but it\u2019s another thing to actually act and affect change and that is desperately needed in Canada right now. That is my most important message with regard to that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the Aurora Cultural Centre\u2019s presentation, the Town of Aurora hosted an event of its own, hosted by Traditional Anishinaabe Grandmother Kin Wheatley, Elder Pat Floody, Ancestral Knowledge Keeper Raiden Levesque, and, once more, Shining Waters Drums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, around a sacred fire, Wheatley shared many of the sentiments related to spurring action from Reconciliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe experience endless dispossession, racism, diminishment, dehumanizing acts \u2013 let\u2019s be real here, the Indian Act is the most racist piece of legislation on Earth but it\u2019s still a tool used against us to control us, identify us, divide us. That has direct ties to the Doctrine of Discovery,\u201d said Wheatley, before discussing the Pope\u2019s recent visit to Canada during which he apologized to victims of the Residential School system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe just continued on his tour around the country, saying, \u2018I\u2019m sorry, please forgive us,\u2019 and he left with all kinds of gifts and the sole gift he left us was, \u2018I\u2019m sorry, please forgive us.\u2019 I think he could have done better. Changes big and small are many and they can seem very daunting but it is possible. That possibility comes through the actions and choices that you embrace, take up, champion, nurture and sustain going forward. The challenge is what will you do? What call of action are you most aligned with and will champion, speak about, learn about and commit to and breathe life into? Which one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hope in my lifetime I get to witness real, meaningful, sustainable, rooted, long-living changes that benefit us and, when they benefit us, they will benefit you as well.\u00a0 This is a win-win. It\u2019s not a burden. It\u2019s not all tied to money. It\u2019s tied to choices you make on a daily basis because you have a very powerful tool in your life: it\u2019s called free will and through free will you can choose what kind of person you\u2019re going to be, what kind of thoughts you\u2019re going to hold, what kind of emotions you\u2019re going to emote, what kind of words you might speak. I encourage you to choose wisely, to be very deliberate on both that\u2026 to be very clear about that, because every decision you make today is going to affect those that are going to come long after you, good, bad and ugly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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