Wednesday was the National Day For Truth and Reconciliation and an event took place in Drumheller to acknowledge the day.
The Mamawi Tapwewin Fellowship hosted a ceremony to acknowledge the National Day For Truth and Reconciliation at the tipi structure in the greenspace behind the Badlands Community Facility starting at 6 PM Wednesday evening. A number of speakers shared including Lynn Fabrick, Robin Big Snake, and Reverend Rachel Nadon. Rev. Nadon of Knox United Church in Drumheller shares the importance of taking time to acknowledge and pay tribute to those children who suffered in the residential school system. “It is important to get the stories out, and the truths out of what happened, and also to take time to remember it just like we do with Remembrance Day. The hope is to prevent that from happening again. So the more people that know, the more people that remember, and the children that grow up hearing these stories, realize the previous generation has a lot to teach us. We can learn from the mistakes of our ancestors, to make sure that it doesn’t happen again, so we have a better future for the next generation.”
With the National Day For Truth and Reconciliation now being observed for five years, starting back in 2021, Nadon believes there has been more investigating by the public about what had happened in residential schools. “There are definitely more people curious about it, asking more questions, and wrestling with it in different ways. Initially it was an Indigenous problem, for them to heal, and now it’s more of ‘how do I wrestle with it’? ‘How did my ancestors impact this?’ ‘How does this impact the entire nation?’ Being able to see more Indigenous people in leadership, in government, representing us as nations, is amazing to see. Seeing the treaty leaders in our own province working together, as treaty people, to collaborate and do work together is just amazing. I never thought it would happen.”
Nadon agrees that the prominence of the day continues to grow year after year. “As more people know about it, we get a fuller understanding of what our history is, as Canada, and what our nation can become as we grow.”
The event consisted of drummers and dancers and wrapped up with a feast of Indigenous food. Over 50 people were in attendance for the annual event.
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