We have a long way to go to put meaning behind the word ‘reconciliation’

The concerted effort to take our Indigeneity out of us has been terrifyingly successful in many cases. This can’t be dismissed as oral tradition, fables, or campfire stories. It did happen, is happening, and will happen again if we do not confront this dark stain on our country and change our pathway.

Officials and school children outside the Fort Providence Indian Residential School, 1920. For the last 150 or more years, there has been a concerted effort to take the Indigenous spirit out of the child, through the residential and day school system, the Sixties Scoop, and the child welfare system, writes David Chartrand. The question Canadians must ask is this: given all the effort put into taking our identity away from us, and the centuries of harm done to our people, how long should it take to put that spirit back in the child?Photograph courtesy of Library and Archives Canada

Opinion

BY DAVID CHARTRAND

September 29, 2021

Sept. 30 is National Truth and Reconciliation Day. But what does that mean? For some, it means a day off work. For others, it means seeing flags at half-mast. For the Red River Métis, the origin and core of the Métis Nation, it’s fair to say we probably hear the word “reconciliation” from ...

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