Local Indigenous leaders are hopeful the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation can help communities understand the ongoing intergenerational trauma caused by residential schools in Canada.
Walpole Island Program Manager Leela Thomas said having a better understanding of what has transpired in the past will hopefully foster compassion among non-Indigenous people within the region.
“A lot of our people are still hurting, they’re still suffering, they’re mad, they’re sad. There’s mistrust. We’re all at different stages of our healing journey,” said Thomas. “It’s going to take time and effort on both ends to repair the relationship.”
Orange Shirt Day was first introduced in 2013 to promote awareness of the residential school system and the impact it has had on Indigenous communities for over a century.
Canada marked the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, 2021, and the impact of the residential school system has been recognized as a cultural genocide.
Thomas said there are still many misconceptions that exist about Indigenous people and ignorance surrounding the effect residential schools have had on their culture.
“We’ve heard people say, ‘it’s in the past, why can’t you forget and get over it?’ But it’s a daily reminder for myself and my kids of the stuff that we lost, like the culture and the language,” she said. “It’s intergenerational trauma. It’s passed down from generation to generation, that loss and that hurt. So it’s not easy for us to forget.”
In her position, Thomas said she has worked with many youths in the Indigenous community that do not have a spiritual name and do not know their clan and language.
“We want to know that. We want that self-identity back,” she said.
Schools across the region will be paying tribute to all those impacted by residential schools with Orange Shirt Day today.
A Truth and Reconciliation Day event is being held in Chatham beside the Ska:na Family Learning Centre on Eighth Street from 10am until 2pm with a reconciliation table and pledges, Indigenous drum and dance demonstrations, information booths, and arts and crafts vendors.