A two-day symposium is taking place this Thursday and Friday at Blue Quills First Nations College and ends with the Fourth Annual Indian Residential Schools Legacy Memorial Feast & Round Dance.
The symposium, which is free and open to the public, runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days and is based around understanding the impact of residential schools on families, addictions, violence and crime, according to organizers. It will be separated into four themes to help spark conversation among attendees.
“We’re bringing people together to dialogue,” said Sharon Steinhauer, the coordinator for social work at Blue Quills. “To say let’s look at this history. What is it? What does it mean for all of us, not just native people. How do we address a harm and restore balance for native people?”
Various speakers, workshops and displays will be available to assist in confronting and understanding the history of residential schools and establishing a positive outlook for the future, say organizers.
“It’s not about blaming because we can’t change what happened and it’s not about shaming,” Steinhauer said. “One of the barriers that prevents people from actually stepping into conversations or relationships around this stuff is that there is a lot of unresolved anger. There’s a lot of pain and I think many non-native people don’t know how to just create a space, hold a space, where native people can express their anger, express their hurt.
“We don’t have to fix it, but we can’t say forget it,” she added. “If we continue to do that then native people don’t get to move on. They hold the trauma and pass it to their children.”
Free meals will be provided both days and Steinhauer wishes many will attend, especially non-natives interested in learning about history and dismissing stereotypes.
Following the symposium on Friday afternoon, the public is invited to attend a memorial feast and round dance at All Saints Ukrainian Orthodox Cultural Centre from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. The event is to honour deceased former students and those who are still living who attended residential schools in Canada.
“Those are our ancestors and we can’t forget them. They really had a rough time,” said Eric J. Large, a residential school coordinator in Saddle Lake.
“It’s kind of heartbreaking because memories come back,” he said. “It’s not just a visual, it becomes emotional, but people take it in stride and it has to be done. After the four times we’ll be satisfied and then we can hopefully try to move on to whatever needs to be done next.”
Guests will be treated to a pipe ceremony, traditional feast and round dance where photos of those deceased will be shown accompanied by drumming and singing. This the fourth year in a row the event is taking place and, as according to native custom, it will be the last.
