“Reconciliation always happens when an oppressed people reclaims their humanity. Our role is to recognize the stake the rest of the world has in this process. What great good will come if we heal this moral wound that 152 years of residential school has inflicted on Canada’s aboriginal peoples.” (Bishop Mark MacDonald)
Having had the privilege of participating in the Ottawa T & R event we saw the beginnings of reconciliation unfolding. We stood as witnesses to years of “cultural genocide” coming to the surface. We shared in the hope generated at the possibility of creating a new story together as indigenous and non-indigenous peoples.
At the opening of the intergenerational event sponsored by KAIROS, we listened to women and men survivors speak of some memories of years at residential schools. One of the most heart-wrenching of these stories was how so many survivors, not having received love and nurture themselves, did not know how to love their own children. In the words of one survivor, “I fed my residential school experience to my children.”
Along with about 20 other sisters and priests, we walked in solidarity the 5 kilometers through the streets of Ottawa from Gatineau to City Hall carrying the CRC banner. We were constantly reminded that the Truth and Reconciliation process is not about a “native issue. It is a Canadian issue.” When we arrived at Marian Dewar plaza, we experienced a very poignant moment. Justice Murray Sinclair, the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, asked the survivors to raise their hands. He then invited the entire assembly to acknowledge the survivors and to thank them. There were tears shared between the survivors and the rest of us.
On Tuesday, June 2nd, the Truth and Reconciliation report was released at Ottawa’s Delta Hotel. The huge ballroom was filled as were two overflow rooms. As each commissioner spoke in turn, we had the impression that we were present at an historic moment. Something was shifting in our understanding of who we are as Canadians.
Now comes the hard work of embracing the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation report. As we were reminded, truth and reconciliation has to be more than words. Recognizing land rights; teaching the story of residential schools in our education system and reclaiming Aboriginal languages are just three of the recommendations.
We wonder what the Truth and Reconciliation experience holds for us as Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada as we journey toward Chapter 2016.
Jean Moylan CSJ and Margo Ritchie CSJ
Photo: L to R Sr. Jean Moylan, Sr. Priscilla Solomon, Sr. Margo Ritchie