Indigenous Awareness Rally aims at ‘changing the meaning behind Canada Day’
By Herald on July 1, 2021.
An Indigenous Awareness Rally makes its way north down Mayor Magrath Drive before turning to Lethbrige City Hall and onward to the Galt Gardens Thursday afternoon. Numerous sign-wavers and drum players decked out in orange took part in the rally. Herald photo by Dale WoodardDALE WOODARD – Lethbridge Herald
Under a blazing noon sun, walk was held to remember the lives of children from residential schools who didn’t make it home.
The Indigenous Awareness Rally started at L’Ecole La Verendrye School and passed by Lethbridge City Hall en route to Galt Gardens.
For organizers Ava Mountain Horse and Kellita Day Chief — who call themselves the Turning Deer Sisters and who are both from Kainai — Saturday’s walk to raise awareness was prompted by some bullying they faced.
“We want to spread awareness because of everything that has been going on. People are very uneducated and we want to help educate and show support to all of our children who didn’t make it home,” said Mountain Horse.
The selection for Canada Day for the rally was simple.
“People are celebrating while we’re mourning the children who never made it home,” said Mountain Horse. “It’s so important because we’ve been dealing with this for decades. My grandfather is a residential survivor as well and it’s really close to me. It’s really sad and we just want people to know why we’re hurting and why we’re mourning for this. We want to help make a new Canada Day and help make things better.”
On Wednesday, a search using ground-penetrating radar found the remains of 182 people in unmarked graves at a site close to a former residential school in the southern Interior of British Columbia.
However, the leadership of the Ktunaxa community of aq’am says several factors make it difficult to establish whether the unmarked graves contain the remains of children who attended the institution.
That comes after more unmarked graves were found at former residential schools in Saskatchewan late last month and B.C. in late-May.
By around 11:45 a.m. Thursday, a crowd of roughly 25 had gathered in the parking lot of L’Ecole La Verendrye School.
As the noon kickoff approached, those numbers quickly grew as a crowd wearing mostly orange shirts in honour of the lives lost quickly filled the parking lot.
“For me, honestly, the turnout is crazy,” said Day Chief. “It was originally supposed to be just five girls walking. I’m really shocked and I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty scared. But I’m so happy for this and I’m so happy we’re changing the meaning behind Canada Day.”
Day Chief said the Turning Deer Sisters name is both her and Mountain Horse’s Blackfoot names combined.
“My name is Turning Woman and hers is Deer Woman. So we just decided to call ourselves that.”
At a little after noon and after a performance from a drum group, the contingent headed down Sixth Avenue South before turning north on Mayor Magrath Drive on their way to City Hall and Galt Gardens.
“We’re going to be walking to the Galt Gardens and we’ll be setting up there. People will be sharing stories about their residential (experiences),” said Mountain Horse.
“We’ll have Sheldon Day Chief, he’s running for mayor (of Lethbridge) and he’s going to have his speech,” added Day Chief. “Ava and I will say our speeches and then the White Buffaloes girls drumming group will drum for us.”
Both Mountain Horse and Day Chief were hopeful their rally will open up some dialogue down the road.
“I really do because we’re youth and I think it’s going to change things and help people understand better,” said Mountain Horse, taking stock of the number of people who came out. “It feels wonderful and I’m very thankful for all of the people who came out today.”
Now, Day Chief said they’d like to make the Indigenous Awareness Rally an annual event.
“We hope to have more events, especially for the kids because with residential schools we did lose a lot of our culture. With our group, we want to bring it to the kids, especially the young ones, because a lot of them don’t even know Blackfoot.”
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If people are not educated, they forgot that this all was brought up in 2006 when a settlement was made to survivors of the residential schools after many of the conditions were exposed. The feds paid out billions and the churches paid $1.9 billion for direct payment for the survivors and support systems to help in their mental health.
When will this end? Are we going to do this again in 15 years? The government just promised another $18 billion to help with the poverty of the indigenous community. I am not the one that did this, and my parents and grandparents were not responsible. I am not going to be attacked for something I did not do!
Canada Day was supposed to celebrate unity, yet this brings division. They celebrated their National Aboriginal Day, along with Metis Day and Metis Pride flag raising at City Hall, after the discovery, so they can celebrate but we cannot? Our country is fracturing more every year and we are going to destroy with all the groups that demand their own special treatments.
What happened was tragic, but we knew from all the press 15 years ago that there were bodies at these schools.
Reconciliation is about forgiving each other for past mistakes, and there were mistakes made by the indigenous, they are not as innocent at they want us to believe, and after forgiving, moving on, not to bring it up again.
There will be no reconciliation by attacking people, accusing people, constantly bringing up the past when apologies were made, retributions made. People will just get angrier! There are already angry being called colonialists and murderers for things that happened 50 to 100 years ago, when they had nothing to do with it.
Over $16 billion is paid out to about 600,000 indigenous that take the supports/treaty payments out the 1.4 million in Canada ( yes, there are many that work for a living and do not take the money ), from the feds and provincial government. There is no other country in the world that pays out so much to support the indigenous, none!
When is this going to end? It seems to be the way the indigenous operate, never forgiving, never forgetting and always attacking. I am tired of being under attack day in and day out for things I had nothing to do with!!!
Where do they get the idea they can change Canada Day. Do they feel no patronage to Canada whatsoever? If so, move on and let us Canadians celebrate our special day.
We already have too many Indigenous Days.
And don’t burn any more churches.
We have given them that idea! In efforts to reconcile, we have opened our city, change our prayers for City of Lethbridge meetings and function to a pledge that states we are on the Blackfoot Peoples land:
“I acknowledge that we are gathered on the lands of the Blackfoot people of the Canadian Plains and I pay respect to the Blackfoot people past, present and future, while recognizing and respecting their cultural heritage, beliefs, and relationships to the land. The city of Lethbridge is also home to the Metis Nation of Alberta, Region III.”
We spent over $150,000 to put up new flag poles at City Hall to permanently fly the Blackfoot Confederacy flag and the Reconciliation flag. We also spent $300,000 for a study for an Indigenous Interpretative Center in this city, not on the reserve where it should be, which would cost anywhere from $25 to $35 million to build and who knows how much in operational costs, where no doubt they will not mention the settlers that they slaughtered in this area, many between 1850 and 1880, but will accuse us of genocide.
Instead of helping all their young people, who suffered trauma from their own communities growing up and are now on our streets dying of disease, suicide and fatal overdoses, they are focusing on issues that happened 50 to 100 years ago! I guess there is no money in helping to give life to their youth, but in accusing us all of past transgressions that we had nothing to with!
This will never end until we say we have had enough of the mess our great PM created!!!
https://www.firstpeopleslaw.com/public-education/blog/residential-schools-and-reconciliation-a-canada-day-proposal?fbclid=IwAR18_vjum77RRPAeGB0HFnnGzX1ZOuf2uPm1oZA03o9tYOOe0n4l_Ldx5Zo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Residential_Schools_Settlement_Agreement
I have read many opinions in this matter, some I agree with, others I don’t, but one thing is for sure, change will never come by attacking each other for things that happened years ago and there is no opportunity to change that . . . none!
Yes, the government and the church did commit atrocities against the First Nations children in those schools, but most Canadians were not aware and only became aware in the past 20 yearsa s residential school survivors outcries were heard and restitution was paid. Many today are not aware of the outcries 15-20 years ago and now realize what happened . . . that is good . . . but what isn’t good is wanting to change important holidays that are supposed to be a time when Canadians stand side by side as a country. There are plenty of First Nations holidays and recognition days . . . are we becoming so divisive, so stubborn that we push our own cultures and ideas on others and if they don’t listen we revolt? . . . Is that not what happen overseas in countries where multiculturalism failed and civil wars developed . . . . countries where our troops had to go to peacekeep or peacemake?
We SHOULD take responsibility in identifying the young peope in those graves, even trying to find cause of death, and giving them new, respectful burials . . . but we SHOUDN’T be attacking each other, causing further division.
We have so many other current issues that need to be dealt with as another tragic event is unfolding on the streets of Lethbridge . . . drugs our killing off FN youth and if not the drugs, suicide from the hopelessness they find themselves in!
We CAN change this, we CAN stop this . . . we need to get effective treatment programs for these young people who only wanted to live a life we all dream of . . . peaceful, with a loving family, a job that is fufilling . . . but instread drugs took hold of them and fogged their minds, so they commit crime and prostitute themselves to pay for their addictions.
WE CAN STOP THIS AND WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!
I live downtown, walk downtown and work downtown and I am tired of watching these young people die needlessly! I speak with many of the them, I hear their conversations . . . they don’t want to be on the streets!
Shame on us all for focusing on something that we cannot change, while many more young lives die needlessly!