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As September 30th approaches I am forced to reflect on the harm done to my mother, a residential school survivor of the Mount Elgin Residential school ( MERS) and the Mohawk Institute (MI). My mom was transferred from MERS to MI because she and my auntie were communicating in an ancient Indigenous language.
I get flashbacks to the Sunday afternoon sitting in my mom’s kitchen and her telling me about the harm done to her as a small child in those institutions flood my memories. Bad memories that torture my mind and spirit.
Some days, I refuse to reflect and entertain those memories because they are too damaging to my spirit. They affect my mental and emotional and spiritual being. The harm to my mom was spiritual, emotional, physical, sexual and cultural. The harm to my mom is harm to me. I now carry the legacy of harm that she carried throughout her lifetime. I had struggled emotional, mentally and spiritually to deal with all the abuse to my mom and that it affects me.
My mom spoke a couple of Indigenous languages prior to forced attendance at residential schools. The abuse she suffered speaking her languages caused her such pain that she would not speak her languages and therefore could not teach me the languages.
This is an example of one small part of the harm done to me. My mom never heard the words I love you or you are smart, amazing, intelligent or other caring loving phrases such as those while in the residential schools. And while she had never heard those while growing up, I didn’t hear those from my mom.
My strength comes from the ceremonies that I had learned from my dad and others. I must quickly turn to ceremony to release the harm.
Just like me, many Indigenous people across Turtle Island carry similar harms. I feel successful that I have been able to manipulate this harm into something that I am able to deal with, to live with and to survive in. Others may not have been able to succeed in doing this.
As September 30th approaches let us be present in this time and mindful that many of us are still carrying the harm done; the legacy of harm and our truth must be told. Let us take time to listen to truth and learn from it. Let us find ways to help others with the legacies of harm that they carry and figure out how we can help them.
September 30th, Orange Shirt Day, or Truth and Reconciliation Day is a day of reflection and remembering across the territories. It is NOT a day of celebration. How we reflect and what we reflect on will vary from person to person. Each of us will be remembering or reflecting on very different things.
While Canada recognizes September 30th as Truth and Reconciliation Day, let us never forget the origin of September 30th as Orange Shirt Day and the lived experience and truth of Phyllis Webstad a member of the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation, a survivor of Canadian Indian Residential Schools and the creator of Orange Shirt Day.
Let us be mindful that reflections will vary from person to person and the reflections Indigenous people have may trigger pain and grief.
Let us approach this day with kindness, empathy and sincerity to make change.
Let us work together to remain strong and support one another.
Chief Tecumseh once said, “A single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong.”
NaWalka Geeshy Meegwun aka Lyndon George
Indigenous Justice Coordinator, YEN:TENE
Hamilton Community Legal Clinic
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Today is the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation.
We honour and mourn the children who never returned home and survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic, painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.
As settlers, individuals, organizations, communities, and as a nation it is our job to continue to live with the discomfort of recognizing our mistakes, whether generational and/or personal. We must continue to forever carry this knowledge, putting in the hard work to learn, unlearn, and implement the changes needed in so-called Canada and around the world. Recognizing that the weight of settler’s feelings can never outweigh the damage caused to Indigenous communities.
Reconciliation is not an endpoint, but instead, a continuous effort and goal to think and work intersectionally toward justice, healing, and belonging.
