A day of hope, sadness on path to healing
In eyes of many Canadians, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is small, key step
The inaugural National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is being met with a mixture of hope and sadness from some Indigenous leaders ahead of Thursday’s milestone commemoration.
Hope, they say, that at long last a reckoning with often-denied history looms, and that wide attention might finally be given to the stories so long overlooked.
Sadness, they add, that already there are signs many are not embracing the day and the opportunity it presents.
It is such a small, yet such an important step in the eyes of many on such a long journey for Canada.
The newly anointed federal statutory holiday follows the rediscovery in the past year of hundreds of unmarked graves near former residential schools in different parts of Canada.
Designating Sept. 30 as the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation is meant to honour the children who suffered in the residential school system and to recognize the trauma survivors still experience.
The designation is also a response to Truth and Reconciliation Call to Action 80, which states the federal government will work with Indigenous people to establish a statutory day to “honour Survivors, their families, and communities, and ensure that public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process.”
“There were several things within there that were guided by the survivors themselves, through their own stories, through their own ideas and recommendations. Fulfilling those is part of it,” says Anishinabek Grand Council Chief Reg Niganobe.
“The apology and all those sort of things help that healing process. That’s a definite acknowledgment for them.”
But some provincial governments, including Ontario’s, have declined to adopt Sept. 30 as a statutory holiday.
The Star spoke to several Indigenous leaders about their hopes for a tradition that will begin this week — and their response to the resistance the day has already faced.
Here is what they said.
Anishinabek Grand Council Chief Reg Niganobe
Niganobe sees Thursday as a dedicated day when people can hear stories from survivors and get educated about history.
He plans to bring his young son and daughter to the Spanish Indian Residential Schools, west of Sudbury in northern Ontario, where his father, aunts and uncles were sent.
“There will be people who don’t realize that they’re for (an) intended purpose,” he acknowledged. “But I mean that that happens with every holiday ... They’re important days for the people who decide to make them important and to decide to utilize them to the best of their ability, if they choose to do so.”
Niganobe said it’s disappointing that many provinces and territories have chosen not to make Sept. 30 a provincial statutory holiday to give people time to observe it.
At the very least, he said, schools should be closed for reflection of the legacy of residential schools in Canada.
“It’s to a degree of downplaying the severity of the situation,” he said.
“It’s the survivors who helped guide those recommendations and facilitated those recommendations. Their stories had to be told to get to that point.
And if a day is recommended, it should be honoured.”
Niganobe hopes Canadians can take the time this Thursday to look at the educational material out there, whether it’s the Truth and Reconciliation Commission reports, or publications by Indigenous scholars or survivors’ personal stories.
Mark Hill, elected chief of Six Nations of the Grand River
At Six Nations of the Grand River, band council has been giving out free lawn signs and flags to members to commemorate the day. The orange sign, with hand prints in the background, says in white characters, “Honour Every Child” and “Because every child matters.”
Elected Chief Mark Hill said his community has long been making efforts for residential school survivors, sharing their stories and campaigning to raise awareness and support for the restoration of the former Mohawk Institute Residential School.
“It’s about educating. It’s about the awareness. It’s about the honouring of our residential school survivors. And it’s about honouring our children and their families and their communities,” Hill said.
He said it’s disappointing and disheartening that the Ontario government has not designated Sept. 30 as a statutory holiday. To him and the community, he said, it shows Indigenous relationships are not important to the province.
Yet, at Six Nations, its 800 employees are not only encouraged to wear orange throughout the week but will also be given the day off. A candlelight vigil will be held at Chiefswood Park in Ohsweken, with survivors and Hill to speak at the event, which will be livestreamed through Facebook.
“We’re giving our employees the day off. It’s not like they’re just taking it as a holiday. We’ve asked them to engage their children, their families, their neighbours, their friends and talk about what the day means to them,” Hill said.
“We’ve actually created a hashtag, #SNOrangeShirtDay. We want to get our staff to submit to our supervisors, managers, and et cetera, pictures, quotes, poems, maybe a little journal of the day.”
For other Canadians, Hill would like them to keep an open mind and read about history from Indigenous perspectives. They could visit a territory or a reserve to make connections with Indigenous people, he said, or speak with an elder and reach out to a residential school survivor.
“If we have that mutual respect and mutual understanding, that’s how we’re going to make Canada a better place,” he said. “We can’t go back in time. What has happened has happened. Now, we need to heal from this. And it’s going to take a long time to heal. But we need to get on the path of that together.”
Mike Sack, chief of the Sipekne’katik First Nation
Mike Sack is chief of the Sipekne’katik First Nation, a Mi’kmaq band in Nova Scotia that has found itself at the centre of controversy since it launched its moderate livelihood fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia last September.
The fact the federal government has finally acknowledged a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation leaves him with mixed feelings, he says.
“On one hand, I‘m very grateful for everyone and every Canadian who is taking the time to reflect and to acknowledge. But on the other hand, I’ve always thought that the government talking about truth and reconciliation ... it’s just talk. There’s not enough action going on to actually move forward with it.
“Truth and reconciliation has been being talked about for a number of years. And you’ve still got First Nations without drinking water. You still have our people that are not allowed to exercise their inherent rights.”
He said acknowledging Thursday as a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, while still a small step, provides the basis for the kind of reflection that could influence future generations.
“People think that the residential schools were in the 1800s and that the last one closed in 1996. And in my community, I know that we’re still dealing with the effects of it daily. I just want people to realize that,” he said.
“Spreading that knowledge to our children is big; helping the kids understand so we can move forward and put an end to racism once and for all — it’s a big thing being undertaken. But the kids are our future, and we start there.”