聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 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, 鈥淗ow do you feel about what happened?鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I had thought about how I felt before, but had never put into words how it made me feel to a Residential School survivor鈥� I simply began shaking my head, I immediately had a difficult time putting into words how I felt, but eventually came out with, 鈥淚 hate that it happened.鈥� My eyes welled up and I apologized for becoming emotional, I hadn鈥檛 meant to tear up, it just kind of happened, but she kindly thanked me for the few that dropped and gave me a hug.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 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鈥檛 hurting someone else by doing so.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 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鈥� the 1990s weren鈥檛 that long ago.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It upsets me to think of the mental, physical, and sexual abuse that occurred in the Residential Schools and it doesn鈥檛 sit well with me that kids were ripped from their families and attempted to be assimilated. To erase who an entire people are.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I told the individual I was speaking with: 鈥淚 hate that children were ripped from their families. I hate that it was done to make an entire people feel like they weren鈥檛 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?鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 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.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 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鈥� languages and cultures.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 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.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 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.
