Regina hosted one of Canada’s largest gatherings for truth and reconciliation on Thursday, September 29th.
It was called Miyo-Wîcîwitowin Day, which means reconciliation in Cree. The event was held at Mosaic Stadium and hosted over 12,000 people.
At the event, there were several speeches made by residential school survivors.
In their speeches, they told their stories and talked about the importance of Canadians’ acknowledgment of the country’s dark history and the acceptance of the truth of what happened to indigenous children in the residential school system.
“When I was 5 years old, an Indian affairs car came and picked me up with the police. I was placed in a residential school that was 4 and a half hours away from my community. I was physically, emotionally, and sexually abused in that institution,” says Ted Quewezance, a residential school survivor that spoke at the Miyo-Wîcîwitowin Day event.
He fought through his emotions and talked about how he was sexually abused for years starting when he was 7 years old.
“I was kept in a residential school for 12 years. When you cried to go home, you cried alone. Many times you were slapped to keep quiet,” he says. Throughout the 12 years, he was apart of two different residential schools.
He also talked about how his family is still dealing with the trauma the residential school system caused because he was the last of three generations of his family who were taken from their homes and forced into the system.
All of the survivors who spoke at the event shared similar stories.
They all stressed how important it is for all Canadians to work towards truth and reconciliation.
Quewezance gave some advice to the crowd at Thursday’s event, “I know many of you are thinking ‘If I’m not directly affected by a residential school, what can I do?’ I would like to suggest an idea to answer this question. First, you must understand before you judge. Every time you see a report on the news regarding a first nations person or community you are directly involved in residential schools. Some of you will prejudge what is happening, which is called racism.”
