Thursday, October 7, 2021
VOLUME 4 I ISSUE 15
MERIDIANSOURCE.CA
SEE PAGES 12 - 15 FOR OUR 2021 NATIONAL FIRE PREVENTION WEEK FEATURE
Truth and Reconciliation hits home in Lloyd TAYLOR WEAVER
EDITOR
..................................
Canada’s first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation had a lasting impact on local students, teachers and business professionals. What used to be known as Orange Shirt Day, the day honours the lost children and survivors of residential schools, their families and communities. The creation of this federal statutory holiday was through legislative amendments made by Parliament. On June 3, Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act and the Canada Labour Code (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation), received Royal Assent. Marked on Sept. 30, it was a special day for staff and students from the Lloydminster Catholic School Division (LCSD) as they were joined by staff from Synergy Credit Union for a blanket exercise in the Synergy Vault. A blanket exercise uses Indigenous meth-
odologies and the goal is to build understanding about our shared history as Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada by walking through pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization and resistance. Everyone is actively involved as they step onto blankets that represent the land, and into the role of First Nations, Inuit and later Métis peoples. By engaging on an emotional and intellectual level, the blanket exercise effectively educates and increases empathy. The exercise was put on by LCSD’s Aboriginal Program Coordinator, Cynthia Young, and her students, and for many, it hit home. “My mom and my aunt are survivors of residential schools, and my mother was also a part of the 60s scoop,” said Holy Rosary student Stella Bear, who helped Young with the exercise. “I hate to discuss this because I get emotional, but she was molested by a priest at the residential school at
the age of five and she was bribed with candy to not say anything. She stood quiet during her years there, and was quiet for many years afterwards. “I just want anybody who is listening, or anybody who is lending their heart out or keeping an open mind, to know that I do my very best to not be angry about what happened,” added Bear. “I do my best, every day, and on every Orange Shirt Day, to have an open mind, and have an open heart, but it is harder for me because I am a daughter of a residential school survivor. She is currently an alcoholic; started at a very young age, and she is now, I believe, taking drugs.” Nigel McCarthy, director of education, LCSD, said it was a very affecting ceremony that sticks with participants for days to come. “You’re reexamining your feelings and your own thoughts as you go through it,” he said. “I think what (stood out) most for me was
Taylor Weaver Meridian Source
Stella Bear, whose mother and aunt are survivors of residential schools, gets emotional during a blanket exercise at the Synergy Vault on Thursday morning to commemorate National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
the disappearance of the land and the disappearance of the people, and what our responsibility will be in the future to respond to that.” The population of LCSD students who are First Nation, by selfdeclaration, is roughly 12 per cent. Students self-reporting First Nation status sits at roughly 18 per cent in
some of the division’s schools. “For me, participating today was a real eye-opener,” said Synergy Credit Union CEO Glenn Stang. “In the business community we talk about empathy; being able to relate and feel what others are going through. This really brings it together for me and really hammers
the message home (as to) why we’re recognizing today and celebrating and honouring those that have survived, as well as the children that have passed in the past. “Growing up in this area, I lived in a bubble, and you learn all of this history and say ‘I didn’t know that.’ So now you learn a new level of appreciation.”