On June 2, 2015, I sat in the Delta hotel as the three commissioners of the Truth and Reconciliation commission presented their findings and recommendations after 6 years, 7000 stories of survivors and several events across the nation. It struck me that in my lifetime, so far, I add this to two past events of global significance and heartfelt hope. The first is the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and all the oppression and separation that its presence signified. The second is the dismantling of apartheid which was heralded as Nelson Mandela took steps from prison into freedom.
The third is the releasing of the Truth and Reconciliation report with its clear naming of a century of cultural apartheid in Canada. The systemic racism and colonialism represented by the residential school system deadened the spirit of our country. Children were taken from families, parents were left childless, aboriginal spirituality was deemed inferior. Seven generations of children went through this system and the losses and dislocation at such a young age played out in their lives with their own children. As one survivor named it, “We fed our experiences to our children,"
Over and over, we heard that this is not an aboriginal problem. It is the crisis of a whole country seeking to rediscover its spirit...its soul.
There were representatives from indigenous communities from around the world. They know the experience of radical disrespect for their culture, spirituality and languages.
The mood here is one of hope, commitment to take responsibility, gratitude for those who bore the burden of the residential school experience. Most of all we all left knowing that reconciliation shows its face through changed mindsets and hearts and through changed policies and practices.
Margo Ritchie, CSJ