Indigenous leaders call for healing and forgiveness as residential school memorials continue
Indigenous leaders in the Meadow Lake Tribal Council are using increased media coverage to spread messages of healing and forgiveness after the discovery of 215 Indigenous children’s bodies at a residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia. While the discovery in B.C.was horrific, leaders are hoping something positive can come from it.
“How would you feel if I went into your house, took your kid for 12 years and brought them back,” Councillor Tyson Bear asked the audience at the recent Flying Dust First Nation and Meadow Lake memorial walk. Bear said he had heard those words many times, adding “…this is the part we’ve got to forgive now to move on.”
Several speakers at the event, including Flying Dust First Nation Chief Jeremy Norman, spoke of how the Kamloops tragedy is an opportunity for education on Indigenous issues, increasing awareness of the harm caused by residential schools and fostering healthy relationships between cultures for a better future.