Dear Editor:
The discovery of children in unmarked graves in Canada is incredibly heartbreaking. Also heart-breaking is that Indigenous people and survivors of the residential school system have been saying this for years. Hopefully now more of us will listen and then act, holding our political leaders to account to fulfill the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Report.
I would like to extend heartfelt thanks to those who so quickly rose to the challenge to create a memorial in honour of the 215 children discovered on the site of the former Kamloops residential school. It began with sharing an idea with a small group of women, who then leapt into action to create a powerful opportunity for both settlers and survivors to reflect.
My front porch was covered in new and gently-used shoes within hours (we collected 275 pairs in total) and many hands helped to set up and take down.
Thank you to Jana Burns, manager of Wellington Place, for supporting the use of the museum lands (the traditional and ancestral lands of the Mississaugas of the New Credit, the Six Nations of the Grand and the Saugeen Ojibway Nation). I extend particular gratitude for the wisdom and generosity shared by Kathy Renton-McLeod and Merv McLeod (a residential school survivor) during this time. And thanks to Kathy and Merv’s daughter Annie, the shoes will be driven to Thunder Bay and flown to Sandy Lake, Neskantaga, Fort Hope and Marten Falls where they are sure to be warmly received.
While a memorial and lowered flags are important symbols, it is imperative that we educate ourselves about the harm done to Indigenous Canadians at the hands of democratically-elected governments as well as the churches who were contracted to run them.
I encourage everyone to read the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action and hold our elected officials and faith leaders to account.
This discovery is not history or a “dark time in Canada’s past.” There is much to be done for true reconciliation to be achieved.
Diane Ballantyne,
Fergus