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Hundreds of people from Flying Dust First NAtion and Meadow Lake gathered to honour the 215 children who died in a residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia. (Elliott Knopp/meadowlakeNOW staff)
Memorial Walk Recap

Indigenous leaders call for healing and forgiveness as residential school memorials continue

Jun 7, 2021 | 4:44 PM

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.

Cree Vice-Chief Richard Derocher, who was emceeing, said people should use the increased media coverage of Indigenous people and issues as an opportunity to create positive change.

“A wise man told me we can not change the past. We can only change the future. With this being so high in the news right now, here’s our opportunity to teach, our opportunity to send positive messages of how to treat people with dignity and respect,” Derocher said.

Hundreds of people in attendance donned orange shirts for the event to continue raising awareness of the traumatic experiences Indigenous people faced in those institutions.

The gathering began at Our Lady of Peace Roman Catholic Church in Meadow Lake. One elder explained to the crowd that the event was designed to give the deceased children a proper send-off they didn’t receive after they died. Drummers performed what was described as an Indigenous funeral song.

Once the crowd reached the health centre, the classes from local schools that attended the event began to return to school with supervision from their educators. The remaining supporters would come together in the field behind the centre for speeches from Indigenous leaders and stories from residential school survivors.

Prior to the speeches, a two-minute-15-second moment of silence was observed at 2:15 p.m. in honour of the 215 children.

After the speeches concluded, two residential school survivors shared their stories of their time in the residential school system and dealing with the trauma. The gathering then concluded with a drummer’s son performing a sneak-up dance.

A residential school gathering is expected to take place at the former residential school in Lac la Plonge between July 12-14.

elliott.knopp@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ElliottKnopp

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