Hatters, take reconciliACTION!

By JoLynn Parenteau on September 30, 2021.

“It is quite within the mark to say that fifty per cent of the children who passed through these schools did not live to benefit from the education which they had received therein.”

– Duncan Campbell Scott, Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, 1914

“Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children.”

– Tatanka Iyutaka (Sitting Bull), Lakota Sioux,

lived 1831-1890

From 1884 to 1996, seven generations, roughly 150,000 children passed through the overcrowded halls of Canadian residential schools. Twenty-five years have passed, and today marks Canada’s first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

It is a day meant for mourning, for education and for action. We are called to hear the stories of survivors and to step forward as allies as we collectively begin to heal: to take reconciliACTION.

Our Elders tell us it will take another seven generations to be made whole. Survivors who left school in 1996 are in their forties now. Many have children of their own, among the first generation to be spared attending residential schools. These are our neighbours, our colleagues, frontline workers and community members. They are fellow Hatters.

Many Canadians are now learning about residential school history for the first time. Former Medicine Hat resident Whitney Ogle, ‘Winyan Waste’ (Good Woman), is a proud member of the Wood Mountain Lakota First Nation.

She is passionate about education, the ‘new buffalo’.

“My teachings in this short life tell me that reconciliation is for our children; it is for the future. Creating a place where all humanity can try their best to walk in a good way together regardless of our backgrounds, culture, skin colour and place in life.”

On this historic day and every day, there is much we can do to enact change at home, at work and in our community.

All Canadians are invited to review the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 94 Calls to Action released in 2015 and to commit to at least one.

Educators and health services staff can learn about Jordan’s Principle, which ensures all First Nations children can access supports they need, when they need them.

Explore volunteer opportunities at http://www.justserve.org or http://www.volunteerconnector.org. Give your time to initiatives providing food security, helping those experiencing homelessness, or promoting anti-racism and mental health campaigns.

Have a space with community programming? Connect with Miywasin Friendship Centre for a smudge kit. Indigenous peoples have burned sage and sweetgrass for centuries, a cleansing ritual to promote healing and wisdom. All people are welcome to smudge and Miywasin staff can provide teachings and guidance.

Take a course: ‘Stolen Lives: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Indian Residential Schools’ is available at http://www.facinghistory.org. Presentations are available from Miywasin staff.

Watch Gord Downie’s ‘The Secret Path’ available on YouTube. The 2012 feature film ‘We Were Children’ gives voice to a national tragedy and demonstrates the incredible resilience of the human spirit. Métis artist Geo Leask created the image shown above, ‘Off To School’, from a film still in ‘We Were Children’ and donated the painting to Miywasin. Orange T-shirts with this captivating image sold out this week.

Hear three personal stories of resilience from local Indigenous voices at chatnewstoday.ca/truth-reconciliation-indigenous-voices/. Watch online events hosted by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at http://www.nctr.ca.

Read books by Indigenous authors: Medicine Hat Public Library recommends Governor General Literary Award winner ‘Five Little Indians’ by Michelle Good. Read Phyllis Webstad’s ‘Phyllis’s Orange Shirt’ (children’s book) to learn the origin of Sept. 30’s Orange Shirt Day observed by many modern-day schools. ‘Stories of Métis Women: Tales My Kookum Told Me’ by Bailey Oster and Marilyn Lizee is now available. A more comprehensive reading list can be found at @metishousingab on Instagram.

Donate! Miywasin Friendship Centre is expanding to offer Indigenous children’s programming. Diapers and baby supplies are appreciated, and monetary donations are welcome to provide culturally appropriate books and toys.

Hatters are invited to attend tonight’s gathering at Riverside Veterans’ Memorial Park from 5-7 p.m. hosted by Miywasin Friendship Centre to honour residential school survivors and experience Indigenous drumming, singing and storytelling. Please wear a mask and maintain physical distancing.

Above all, be kind to your Indigenous neighbours. From http://www.soarabovestigma.ca, “Walking without kindness is like land without medicines. Kindness is healing.”

JoLynn Parenteau is a Métis writer out of Miywasin Friendship Centre. Column feedback can be sent to jolynn.parenteau@gmail.com

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