Indian Act revised as gesture for reconciliation

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This article was published 16/06/2010 (5911 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — Ottawa will strike out sections of the Indian Act that allowed the government to set up residential schools and forceably remove Native children from their homes.

Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl made the announcement this morning at The Forks as a gesture of reconciliation to the thousands of aboriginal people who survived residential schools and their legacy of abuse.

The provisions of the Indian Act, sections 114 to 122, haven’t been in use for years, since before the last school closed in 1996.

With drums, prayers and pipes from all nations, about 500 people gathered at The Forks for the official kick off of four-days of residential school reconciliation.

Dignitaries, including the three Truth and Reconciliation commisioners, Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl, NDP MP Pat Martin and elders, passed a 250-year-old pipe, said several prayers and swayed to drum songs at the Oodena circle.

Even earlier this morning, The Sacred Fire was lit with a diverse crowd of more than 200 people gathering at Oodena Circle for the sunrise ceremony.

Participants were reminded of the importance of greeting the sun with respect, and of a time when ceremonies like these were illegal in Canada. Everyone rose for the closing Lord’s Prayer, a soft hum reverberating over the crowd as many whispered along.

Jorge Hookimaw, of the Attawapiskap First Nation, walked to Winnipeg from Cochrane, Ont., for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission event.

"We walked for people that couldn’t make it here," he said. "I walked for my mom, my brother and my sister."

Starting today, the commission is holding its first national residential school event. Spread over four days, the event will focus on gathering statements from survivors and celebrating aboriginal culture.

Hookimaw’s brief experience at a residential school was not as damaging as others’, however, it still affected his life. "Dealing with it makes me a better person," he said. "Now I’m just here to acknowledge it for other people."

Opening ceremonies are at 9 a.m. followed by a lunch and reception for survivors, hosted by local churches, at 11:20 a.m. A sharing circle where survivors can tell their stories to TRC commissioners begins at 1:30 p.m.

This evening, a concert with Buffy Sainte-Marie and Blue Rodeo begins at 7 p.m. on the Scotia Bank Main Stage.

 

'The truth...will heal us all'