The other day I was out and about, it was Orange Day, so we were talking about Residential Schools. After listening to a Residential School survivor, I was asked, “How do you feel about what happened?”
I had thought about how I felt before, but had never put into words how it made me feel to a Residential School survivor… I simply began shaking my head, I immediately had a difficult time putting into words how I felt, but eventually came out with, “I hate that it happened.” My eyes welled up and I apologized for becoming emotional, I hadn’t meant to tear up, it just kind of happened, but she kindly thanked me for the few that dropped and gave me a hug.
It seems bizarre. I was a child myself when the residential schools were finally closed. I had no say in whether we had Residential Schools in Canada or not, but I was raised to see Canada as being a place of acceptance and freedom. That you could be whoever you are and express yourself in whatever ways you wanted to as long as you weren’t hurting someone else by doing so.
But, despite being raised to know an accepting Canada, it bothers me that the nation I identify with could have done something so atrocious and it have been done so recently. All countries, all nations have a dark past in some form, but for Canada and the Residential Schools… the 1990s weren’t that long ago.
It upsets me to think of the mental, physical, and sexual abuse that occurred in the Residential Schools and it doesn’t sit well with me that kids were ripped from their families and attempted to be assimilated. To erase who an entire people are.
I told the individual I was speaking with: “I hate that children were ripped from their families. I hate that it was done to make an entire people feel like they weren’t wanted, that they were unimportant because everyone is important and has something to offer to the world. I honestly hate that its legacy is now left for us to fix because how do you fix a relationship that is so broken?”
I guess the answer to that starts with events like Orange Shirt Day, by bringing awareness to the atrocities which took place in Residential Schools.
These feelings of worthlessness and unimportance endure amongst many who attended Residential Schools. In turn their thoughts and feelings, which were learned in those Residential Schools are passed onto younger generations. Supports need to be put in place to help restore First Nations’ languages and cultures.
We need to move forward together, but it is difficult to really say how that should be done. Ultimately being open and kind to each other, treating someone with respect and kindness, and learning about this history is a start at least and Orange Shirt Day offers a discussion topic for people to address the infamous legacy of Residential Schools.
Ultimately we all need to work together towards a common goal. We need to be open minded and find a way to move forward as an entire people.
