Today, Sept 30, 2021, is the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in the country known as Canada. There is a lot of publicity now related to the institutions of forced assimilation. The remains of thousands of children being located by ground penetrating radar on the grounds of those institutions. Articles about the history of the residential schools, stories of those who attended, those who never returned. The suffering of those living today who are survivors of those schools. Those suffering today from the intergenerational trauma that has passed from generation to generation.
And the suffering continuing today as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police side with Coastal GasLink pipeline employees as they forced construction through Wet’suwet’en territory (video below)
These stories and events should be told by those who have been affected. People can re-traumatized. You can hear some of those stories in the following.
The National Residential School Crisis Line 1-866-925-4419
Included below are:
- the reports from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its calls to action
- the video from CBC/Radio, We Know the Truth: Stories to inspire reconciliation
- and a video of the Royal Canadian Mounted police painfully removing a land defender locked under a bus on the Wet’suwet’en territory. There cannot be reconciliation when the government continues to enforce construction of pipelines through Indigenous lands.
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
September 30, 2021 marks the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The day honours the lost children and Survivors of residential schools, their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.
The creation of this federal statutory holiday was through legislative amendments made by Parliament. On June 3, 2021, Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act and the Canada Labour Code (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) received Royal Assent.
Commemorating National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Illuminating Parliament Hill
To commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and to honour the Survivors, their families and communities, buildings across Canada will be illuminated in orange September 29 and/or September 30, from 7:00 pm to sunrise the next morning. This will include federal buildings such as the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill.
Truth and Reconciliation Week
This 5-day, bilingual educational event will include programming designed for students in grades 5 through 12 along with their teachers and feature Indigenous Elders, youth and Survivors. The event will be pre-recorded and webcasted, allowing for schools and classrooms participation from across the country and the involvement of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Broadcast
A 1-hour bilingual primetime show in partnership with, and broadcast on, CBC/Radio-Canada and APTN will be devoted to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Programming will include presentations on the importance of this day as well as cultural and artistic performances in support of healing and giving voices to Indigenous peoples.
APTN Sunrise Ceremony
APTN will present pre-taped Sunrise ceremony featuring drummers, singers, Elders and various Indigenous traditions.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its calls to action
There were 140 federally run Indian Residential Schools which operated in Canada between 1831 and 1998. The last school closed only 23 years ago. Survivors advocated for recognition and reparations and demanded accountability for the lasting legacy of harms caused. These efforts culminated in:
- the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement
- apologies by the government
- the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
- the creation of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission ran from 2008 to 2015 and provided those directly or indirectly affected by the legacy of the Indian Residential Schools policy with an opportunity to share their stories and experiences. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has become the permanent archive for the statements, documents and other materials the Commission gathered, and its library and collections are the foundation for ongoing learning and research.
The Commission released its final report detailing 94 calls to action. The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a direct response to Call to Action 80, which called for a federal statutory day of commemoration.
On the inaugural National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, we’re introducing Canadians to Indigenous people who are flipping the conversation on reconciliation.
We Know the Truth: Stories to inspire reconciliation.
CBC/Radio is a Canadian public broadcast service.
There were also residential schools in the land called the United States. Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, has initiated an investigation of these institutions of forced assimilation and the remains of the children.
Today only, Jason Eaglespeaker is making his graphic novels (there are three versions) “UNeducation, Vol 1: A Residential School Graphic Novel” available free of charge.
There cannot be reconciliation when the government continues to enforce construction of pipelines through Indigenous lands
How incredible is it that the Royal Canadian Mounted police continue to attack land defenders resisting the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline through the Wet’suwet’en lands in British Columbia?
On September 27th, a land defender blocking a fracked gas pipeline was tortured by police.
This is the second arrest at the drill pad site access road, where Coastal Gaslink (CGL) plans to drill under Wedzin Kwa (Morice River), the sacred headwaters on Wet’suwet’en yintah. The arrest was brutal.
The RCMP officers used “pain compliance” for an hour on the person locked under the bus in a hard lock, insisting the person just let go, which very clearly they were not able to do.
The RCMP then had CGL contractors, instead of an extraction team, come in to extract the person. The injunction very clearly states that RCMP are the only ones to enforce the injunction. This is in violation of that.
This comes on the heels of the RCMP being at fault for the injunction renewal denial for the Fairy Creek defence based on their tactics against peaceful people.
Tomorrow is the “National Day of Truth and Reconciliation” in Canada, and here we clearly see that violence and forced removal from Indigenous lands are on full display.
This is about our yintah (land). It always has been. They have been trying to steal our lands and resources since contact and they will bulldoze and torture their way through to get it, because all they care about is money. We will never give up. Join us. Yintahaccess.com
https://youtu.be/h4gK5scLMhk
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