Reconciliation

The journey to truth and reconciliation is an important part of education as well as the history of this country! It is our responsibility as educators to make students aware of what actually happened at residential schools, how indigenous peoples were treated, and how survivors continue to heal. Students must travel on this journey instead of walking back to repeated history!

Below is a write up of the wreath I created for the graves of lost children as well as a healing tool for survivors.

My inspiration came from the blog story: Heritage Status for Regina Indian Industrial School Cemetery on the Project of Heart website. I created a wreath for the survivors of the residential school system. The circular shape of the wreath symbolizes an eternity. It is the duty of society to forever remember the survivors and to not repeat our mistakes of the past. I have included objects within the wreath that represent the survivor’s courage, honour, and transformation; along with other qualities.

Humility: Wrapped around the entire wreath is brown twine which symbolizes humility. I believe humility is the key to truth and reconciliation. Non-Indigenous peoples need to repair the relationship between themselves and Indigenous peoples. By realizing and admitting our mistakes, we can begin to make a difference. Humility allows us to listen to survivors and hear their stories. Listening can lead us to reconciliation. We are all human beings. Society needs to respect others who are different from us.

Honour: Upon the white heart lay two golden ribbons which symbolize honour. Many students, mostly children, who attended residential schools did not make it back to their families and loved ones. A mass number of students were unaccounted for and pronounced missing. Some families today are still searching for the answers to their loved ones disappearance. Children fled the school due to abuse, cultural genocide, and lack of nutrition. Society needs to acknowledge that lives were lost and make more of an effort to publicly display burial sites. The ribbons gold colour represents a light that needs to shine down on this issue.

Courage: Courage is symbolized by the white heart. The survivors in the Muffins for Granny documentary had the courage to speak out about the truth of what actually happened within the schools. They shared personal experiences that are not always easy to talk about. The survivors also showed strength in surviving a horrific event in Canadian history which brought so much pain and mental suffering. Survivors show courage by creating a world they want to live in (Ralph Johnson, Muffins for Granny, 2007).

Wisdom: The owl symbolizes wisdom and knowledge. It is important that society knows the truth about what happened inside residential schools. We should get our information from proper resources, such as survivors, instead of what people “think” happened. Children need to know what the government did to Indigenous students and their families. Children are the future of reconciliation and must have all the facts.

Comfort: Throughout the wreath are orange and yellow flowers. They symbolize the colours of fire. Fire represents the warmth and comfort needed for the survivors to begin the healing process. Residential school survivors need to heal in their own way, in their own time. Healing takes place in the form of talking with other survivors or through song.

Transformation: I have chosen four monarch butterflies to symbolize transformation. Their orange colour symbolizes the colour of reconciliation. Transformation involves a change in attitudes and actions towards a future of reconciliation. Unity: The white flower that lays on the bottom of the wreath symbolizes unity. All of the elements or objects above must work together to achieve a sense of connectedness. Reconciliation is achieved when non-Indigenous peoples can identify with and have respect for what they have endured (Canadian Teacher’s Federation, 2016).