The Voices of the Children are Being Heard

 

Senator Gwen Boniface of Orillia became a Canadian Senator at the same time as Murry Sinclair who was the lead investigator in Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.  They were both on the Senate’s Aboriginal Peoples Committee.  This work led Boniface to start a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Roundtable group made up of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the community.  Knowledge Keepers, Elders, clergy, students, people working in education, healthcare, and  policing as well as community members began gathering in the fall of 2019 at first in person and later on zoom getting to know one another and looking for ways to bring the 94 Calls to Action into the community.

It was during these calls that my partner and I heard Indigenous youth talk about all the monuments to the history of the settlers while their own history which is thousands of years old is virtually invisible.  One of the Elders, John Rice spoke about doing something towards reconciliation.  It was shortly after this that the idea for a Land Acknowledgement sign in my little village emerged.  I could picture it in the community garden overlooking the beach on the shore of Georgian Bay.  It seemed like a small project that could be accomplished even during a pandemic. 

I contacted Talpines, the local Property Owners Association to see if their board members would like to partner with me on this idea.  This POA is responsible for getting permission to plant a beautiful garden on the previously bare patch of public ground between the beach and the hiking/cycling trail.  The Board members had questions as to the wording, size and cost of the sign.  I contacted a local Elder, Jeff Monague of Beausoleil First Nation to consult on the wording.  He shared what he currently favoured.  My partner estimated the size of the sign and I offered to pay for it. The board members were enthusiastic about going ahead with this project.  The president of the POA checked with the municipality and found out that we had to get approval from the township council since the sign would be on public land.  We waited to get a space to speak to them.

Months later, we attended a Township Council meeting on zoom and made our submission.  The council were unanimously in favour of the sign and thanked us for bringing the idea forward.  Next, one of the POA members took responsibility for having the sign made based on the design I had in mind.  It took a while to get the finished product due to the ongoing pandemic. 

The sign gets installed.

Finally, the day came when six POA members, my partner and I and a township supervisor gathered at the garden to install the sign.  It was wonderful to see the men working together to dig the hole and position the cedar post.  Everyone was involved in deciding the height of the sign.

And then we all stood back and applauded.  My partner and I shared a few words with the group.  It took seven months from the vision of the sign in my mind to seeing it in the 3D world.  It felt good to have a group of people collaborate on this project which although very small is perhaps a starting point for further projects and inspiration.  The Land Acknowledgement is positioned beside a very busy trail and a beach which will be visited by hundreds and hundreds of people this summer.  Some will read the sign and be reminded to honour the land they are on and the Indigenous people who have cared for it so well for thousands of years.

To the right of the garden is a water pumping building that has a large mural on it.  This mural was painted by the high school students in nearby Midland.  It depicts the animals that represent the Seven Grandfather Teachings of the Anishinaabeg.  A sign by the trail talks about Residential Schools and the Healing Path of the Grandfather Teachings.  There are some stuffed animals tied to the post of the sign to honour the 215 children who were buried anonymously at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.  Another resident has posted signs with orange shirts on them reading “Every Child” along the trail.   Together, all these signs speak a message that is getting louder, a message that all Canadians need to hear.  More of us need to participate in getting this message out.

The animals that represent the Seven Grandfather Teachings, the Healing Path.  Note the orange shirts
in the mural as well.

The poster that explains the mural and the damage done by Indian Residential
Schools along with other memorials.

The Indigenous youth members of the TRC Roundtable wanted to have a Walk for Reconciliation on June 1^st in the high schools of Orillia.  Unfortunately, the schools were closed down before this could happen due to COVID restrictions.  However, the older members of the Roundtable decided to create a virtual walk through a website.  In a few short months a beautiful Place for Knowledge or Kikendassogmig was created.  You can check that out here. 

The voices of the children are being heard.  Those children who were lost and those living among us.  This mural from the students at N'kwaka School in Douglas Lake, BC perhaps says it best.

N\kwala School in Douglas Lake, BC