There will be no celebrations on July 1st on Walpole Island this year.
Chief Charles Sampson says out of respect for residential school victims and survivors, the community will not be observing Canada Day, and will instead close its First Nations operations on July 2nd as a Day of Mourning.
“The abuse and mistreatment that took place at residential schools was meant to eliminate us as a people,” Chief Sampson says. “While it did not accomplish that, it has harmed our families and our community in incalculable ways. The presence of unmarked graves has been known to us through oral history, even as the mainstream considers this a “discovery.” This is but one manifestation of the horrendous conditions that our elders and ancestors faced.”
Walpole Island Council has committed to meet with survivors and develop a plan to address the wounds that exist in the community resulting from the residential school legacy.
Walpole Island members attended various residential schools, including Mohawk, Mount Elgin, Spanish, Mount Pleasant, Shingwauk, and Carlyle. In 2002, survivors erected a Residential School Memorial Monument with names of approximately 400 survivors etched in granite.
