‘What I usually see is confusion, and then surprise, and then disgust.’
Rachel Elliott
Kicker
Sept. 30 may just seem like a day off for most Canadians. But for the Indigenous community, it’s a lot more than that.
Not long after the discovery of nearly 200 burial sites on the former property of a residential school in Kamloops, B.C., the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was created by Ottawa.
Truth and Reconciliation Day is more than wearing an orange shirt. Indigenous people want Canadians to remember why it’s more than that, and why it’s so important.
Kathy Turner Snook, an Inuit teacher at Gander Collegiate, had family members such as her great-great uncle and first cousin sent to residential schools in Labrador.
She spoke passionately about what Truth and Reconciliation Day means to her.
“For me it’s about the Indigenous voice being heard, the Indigenous voice being recognized, and the truth of what’s happened in our country during colonization,” said Turner Snook.
While teaching students about residential schools and Truth and Reconciliation Day, Turner Snook said emotions are varied.
“What I usually see is confusion, and then surprise, and then disgust.”
The Gander Collegiate teacher says she sees students with orange shirts for Orange Shirt Day – the day that recognizes the victims of residential schools.
“The lesson has been brought to light really well the past few years.”
Noah Sheppard is the relational connections coordinator at First Light, which is an Indigenous friendship centre in St. John’s. He said there’s always more to be done in terms of further education and recognizing the horror Indigenous people have gone through.
“Reconciliation is a long and winding road, and we never know if we’ll truly get there,” Sheppard said. “But we need to walk it together, and we need to make the effort.”
There are still some people, said Sheppard, who don’t believe there are Indigenous people in Newfoundland, and there are still a lot of people who don’t know what happened in residential schools.
“Before we can get to reconciliation, we need to look at the truth part of it, which is people acknowledging that these horrors happened and they’ve had a profound effect on the Indigenous community for generations.”
Turner Snook thinks one of the biggest problems in understanding the Indigenous culture is the lack of education.
“I think there needs to be a lot more education put in place throughout the country for everyone to know what has happened historically with Indigenous people and during colonization,” said Turner Snook.
There is a change happening, she says, in the way Canadians view Indigenous culture.
“… Indigenous culture wasn’t something that I often talked about,” Turner Snook said about growing up in Gander.
Students, she said, will ask her if she’s Indigenous, and ask what nation she’s a part of.
“Which I think is awesome because I welcome talking about that at any moment. So, I can definitely see a shift.”
Sheppard said there’s always progress being made when it comes to understanding the culture.
“We’re talking hundreds and hundreds of years for these things to come into effect,” Sheppard said. “It took seven generations for colonialism to happen, and it’s going to take seven generations for us to overcome what colonialism has done.”
Indigenous groups are recognized by many Canadians, but for Turner Snook, the whole country hasn’t reached that realization.
“I don’t want to say it’s about being angry, but it’s about being able to share what has happened and being able to move as one united group.”
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