The road of
reconciliation is full of twists and turns.
Sometimes you’re not even sure if you’re on the road and sometimes each
step leads to the next one. Sometimes the path can only be seen in retrospect. This story is a genre all of its own and it is
being written collectively in many voices.
In May 2021, 215
unmarked graves of children were detected with ground penetrating radar on the
grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in BC. These findings, triggered personal, ancestral
and collective trauma for Indigenous Peoples who always knew that there were missing children and sent a shock wave across
non-Indigenous Canada who finally believed the stories recorded by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. One of the collective
responses was to place stuffed toys and children’s shoes at memorial sites that
popped up across the country.
In my area, people
began placing these items on the steps of local Catholic churches. My partner decided to tie two stuffed toys to
the iron fence that encircles the Martyr’s Shrine in Midland. This shrine was erected in 1925 along the
shore of the Wye River across Highway 12 from the later reconstructed Ste. Marie
Among the Hurons historical site. The
martyrs that are celebrated are eight Jesuit men who came with the French to
the area nearly 400 years ago and died during conflicts over the fur
trade. These English - French conflicts were thousands of years old in Europe but new to Turtle Island. In normal years, tens of
thousands of people visit the Martyr’s Shrine every year. However, in May 2021, the shrine was closed
due to the pandemic. The iron gates were
closed and locked.
As the local Catholic
churches quickly took the memorial items off of their stairs and railings, some
of these items appeared at the shrine with the two stuffed animals. At that time the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops was highly defensive and not taking any responsibility for their part in the Indian Residential Schools' history of child abuse. The idea of a memorial caught on and more items were tied
to the fences. On Canada Day of 2021 a
group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people gathered at the gate of the
shrine to drum. They wore black shirts to
represent mourning. Some Indigenous
youth came as well, dressed in orange shirts and holding placards that read “They
were children”. We got a lot of positive honks from the drivers in passing cars on the busy highway.
Over the summer as more
graves were “discovered” more gatherings happened and more memorial items were
attached to both sides of the fence leading to the gate. On a few occasions, the Director who is a
Jesuit priest came to speak with us. He
acknowledged that people come to the shrine to pray and that this was a kind of
prayer. He was friendly and polite. On another occasion, an older Jesuit priest
came down and smudged with the drummers.
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| One of the drummers prepares the smudge of Sage. |
Then came the winter and another summer in
which the collection continued to grow.
At some point in the priests took down all the memorial items and
rearranged them with a red sign in the centre expressing their solidarity with
Indigenous Peoples. This was after the
Pope had come to Canada and offered an apology.
People met from time to time at the gates to drum and again on Canada
Day 2022. Then came another winter.
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| The rearranged toys with the red sign from the Martyr's Shrine in the centre. |
This spring (2023), on
a rainy day, we gathered to clean up the items that had fallen down in the winter
and clean up the area. We added some new ones. We also took some of the toys home to wash
them and brought them back. I remember
wondering how long the priests would tolerate this memorial now that the Pope
had apologized and rescinded the Doctrine of Discovery. The final toys went up on a Thursday. The next morning, all the items were gone, as
if by magic. Speculations were
varied. Emotions were high.
One of my Metis friends
had had enough. She called up the shrine
to ask what had happened to the memorial items.
She eventually spoke with the Director who explained that after three
years, the shrine was opening again and they had removed all the items, washed
them, blessed them and that they were going to bury them in front of the fence
with a stone marker and a plaque.
Some people felt that
they just wanted to bury the truth once again.
Some people felt that they had been very tolerant unlike the local Catholic
churches. Some felt that since the Pope
had visited, apologized and rescinded the Doctrine of Discovery that some of
the goals of the memorial had been realized. There were as many opinions as
there were people.
When the items were
buried and covered with wood chips and a big granite stone from the property,
the drummers were invited to drum at the gates and then walk up the steep hill
to the “Indigenous Garden” where chairs were provided. It was a hot day and the climb was difficult
for many of the drummers. The “Indigenous
Garden” had no flowers, just some statues of Indigenous people who had become
Catholic. The revue was mixed.
When the plaque finally
arrived, the drummers were invited back again to smudge and drum. The Director said a prayer, made the sign of
the cross, sprinkled Holy Water and then read the plaque which you can see in
the picture below. It reads, "Enshrined here are tokens of remembrance left at this gate (2021 - 2023) to honour the children who died at residential schools, uniting us all in one spirit of truth, reconciliation, and action with our indigenous sisters and brothers. Creator God, we pray for all indigenous peoples and their families who suffered so greatly at the hand of colonial ambitions and ask that your Great Spirit fill the hearts of all people with healing, renewal of life, and peace."
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Upon careful reading,
we noted that the word “indigenous” was not capitalized. Using a capital is a sign of respect. The following week, my friend once again
called the Director to point out this “typo”.
He was shocked. He was sure that
he had capitalized the word in his instructions. He promised to have a new plaque made.
The Director has
explained that the priests don’t want the drummers to drum at the gate anymore
now that they are open for business once again.
He has said that we can drum inside the gates, in the “Indigenous Garden”
away from the public eye if we call ahead and let them know we’re coming.
Some think this is a
good idea. Some think it feels like
hiding the truth again. The Director
will be leaving this summer and a new one will be appointed. We can start again working with this new
Director. Or we can move on to other
places. Everyone has a different
viewpoint.
There has been a kind
of a dialogue going on these past two years.
The Jesuits have been tolerant and accepting and have responded rather
than reacting. Perhaps they have been
pulled into this dialogue because of the memorial. This story does not have a
nice neat ending because it is not over.
We are all moving along this river together, telling this story as we go
along. I don’t know what will happen
next. But, I do know that the Director
will always make sure that the word “Indigenous” is capitalized in his future writings.
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