A Sixties Scoop survivor, residential school survivor, elders, CNC’s president, vice president of Indigenization, Indigenous instructors and students spoke at the College of New Caledonia’s Calling for Action: Honouring Truth event held Wednesday, Sept. 25.
“We’re coming into the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30 and we want to prepare so at the college we’re doing a whole week of events,” said Lheidli T’enneh Elder Darlene McIntosh, cultural advisor in the Aboriginal Resource Centre.
“Because we’re so international, so diverse, at the college we have to get the message out. We have to bring the awareness and the understanding of what happened in the last 100-150 years and finally people are starting to open up to accept the truth – the uncomfortable truth - and they are willing to become allies and asking what I can do to make it better for Indigenous people.”
As the nation reaches out to Indigenous people in an effort of continued reconciliation, McIntosh said times have changed through her lifetime.
“When I was a little girl there was so much racism and negativity and what people thought of First Nations people was horrible,” McIntosh recalled. “They thought they were stupid, savages, drunks on the street and I know my brothers who were a darker colour than me experienced racism. So now in this day and age when you make comments about First Nations people – do you ever think about what you’re saying? Where did that come from? If you’ve thought about it, you would realize it came from your parents, your grandparents and you’ve just repeated the negativity that’s been happening for over 100 years and that’s what we’re changing now.”
McIntosh offered some advice on how to get started for truth and reconciliation. Find out what Lheidli T’enneh means, McIntosh suggested. It literally means ‘the people.’
“Be aware of whose traditional territories you are on,” McIntosh advised. “I want people to come into awareness. I want people to come into the knowledge of what’s happened in the past and to be open to it because when you’re open to it that’s when Truth and Reconciliation will happen.”
She also suggested people wear orange on Monday for the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
During the event McIntosh took a moment to recognize six-term Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond, who made the decision to withdraw as a candidate in the October provincial election when BC United party leader Kevin Falcon suspended the party’s election campaign.
Bond appreciated McIntosh's kind words of recognition, then quickly turned to the many elders present at the CNC event and acknowledged the hardship they have endured as residential school survivors.
Bond assured everyone she was not going away and would continue to support the community.
Cindy Heitman, CNC’s first female president, said a few words during the event as well.
“This day holds profound significance for all of us,” Heitman said. “It is an opportunity to reflect on our history – our true history – to acknowledge the injustices faced by Indigenous people and to embrace the responsibility that comes with this acknowledgement. We are called to honour the experiences of those who endured trauma, loss, particularly the children and families affected by the residential school system.”
Heitman told the audience that she hoped people would approach Truth and Reconciliation with compassion and listen to the voices that have been silenced for too long.
