It has been four years that September 30th has been recognized as the National Day For Truth And Reconciliation.
Every year, an event has been held in Drumheller to recognize the day, and this year was no different. A ceremony was held at the Downtown Plaza on Monday. A great number of people were on hand to listen to presenters on the experiences in residential schools, as well as enjoy dances and drumming presented by dancers and drummers of the Siksika Nation, near Cluny.
The emcee for the event was Gerald Sitting Eagle, an Elder of Siksika Nation. Sitting Eagle shares that he is thankful that people are learning and understanding what the Indigenous people went through. “It means that people are starting to understand what the system has done to us, especially residential school. Also, it gives us a chance to remember the kids that never came home. It means a lot to me.”
Sitting Eagle also hopes the message gets passed along from all those who attended the event on Monday. “Even though we had a lot of people here, you will see the things that will spiral from here that they are going to be telling their children, their family members, so more and more people are going to understand what today really means.”
Sitting Eagle is hopeful that we all can move forward from the horrible events of the past. “We tell our children that things happened to us in the past, and we don’t want those things happen to you. We hope that the system recognizes the damage they have done, and not to do that to our children, and our grandchildren.”
The event wrapped up with a feast of traditional foods of the Indigenous people and all were welcomed to enjoy the feast. Lynn Fabrick and the organizing group were quite pleased with the turnout and hope the event continues to grow year after year.
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