Reconciliation Begins With You!
EVERY CHILD MATTERS!
In 2021 people were shocked to learn about the thousands of children buried in unmarked graves on the grounds of former Residential Schools in Canada. Many Canadians didn't know or fully comprehend the horror inflicted on our Indigenous community members, for centuries, by the hands of government and religious organizations.
STOLEN FROM THEIR FAMILIES
& SHAMED FOR THEIR CULTURE
Residential schools were mandated, funded, and regulated by the Canadian federal government and run by Canada's major Christian denominations. As a result, over 150,000 children were separated from their families throughout the 20th Century, denied access to their languages and cultures, instructed that their communities and way of living were inferior, and exposed to disease-ridden environments with rampant levels of physical and sexual abuse. The impact includes intergenerational trauma, including family dysfunction, community conflict, poor health, and over-incarceration.
BE A PART OF THE HEALING!
The last Residential School closed in 1996, the same year I graduated high school. Yet, when I moved back to my hometown in 2018, eight out of ten close friends were still unaware of their existence and impact. This collective ignorance across Canada is primarily due to the church and government controlling the historical narrative and withholding the truth from our education system. But now, there is no turning away from the truth. It is up to us to listen and take action towards healing and reconciliation with our Indigenous friends and communities nationwide.
