Kamloops discovery a call to action

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/09/2021 (1662 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Like many Canadians, Kim Thiessen was devastated when she learned about the 215 unmarked graves of children at the Kamloops, B.C. residential school.

“I didn’t know what to do with the sadness, despair and rage I felt,” said the 57-year-old mother and grandmother.

After giving it some thought, Thiessen decided to educate herself about residential schools in Canada, and learn more about the history of relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

“I think that’s what Indigenous people are calling us to do,” she said. “They are calling on non-Indigenous people to learn about their experiences at the hands of the government and the churches.”

Thiessen, who moved to Manitoba in 2016 from Alberta after working for 18 years with Mennonite Central Committee in that province, decided to start her educational journey by reading and researching each of the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

In making the decision, she was motivated by her faith, by her parents — who “patterned for me the importance of working for justice and fairness” — by her work at MCC, and also by her long-time friendship with a residential school survivor.

“I saw his pain, how he worked hard to not pass the trauma on to his children,” she said.

She also is doing it because of her grandchildren.

“I want them to grow up in a world where equality and justice is expected, where all people can be seen as important,” she said.

Soon after starting, Thiessen realized the experience could be more meaningful if she shared what she was learning with provincial and federal politicians in order to spur them to take action.

Since starting the project, she has read and researched seven Calls to Actions and written about them to the Prime Minister, to Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett, to Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister and Alan Lagimodiere, Manitoba minister of Indigenous reconciliation, to provincial NDP leader Wab Kinew and to St. Johns NDP MLA Nahanni Fontaine.

“After researching each call, I send them a letter about it,” she said.

Thiessen didn’t expect any replies but has heard back from Lagimodiere, Kinew and Fontaine.
“That meant a lot,” she said.

When she gets to Calls to Action numbers 58 to 61, which addresses the ways faith groups in Canada can respond, she plans to write letters to church leaders as well.

As part of her journey, Thiessen, who works in administration at Recovery of Hope counselling services, part of Eden Mental Health Care Services, made a visit to residential school survivors tending the sacred fire at the Manitoba Legislature.

“I’m doing it for them, too,” she said of her project. “They’ve been beating on doors for many decades, so I thought maybe it’s OK if I do that, too.”

Friends who know about her project have suggested she post her letters and learnings online.
She’s not sure about that; so far, she said, “this is my learning, my journey, to do what I can to respond to the Calls to Action.”

With 87 Calls to Action yet to do, Thiessen, who is between churches after moving into the city from Ste. Anne in December, knows the challenge is a big one. But it still feels like it’s the least she can do.

“As a settler, I know very little,” she said. “But I am trying . . . I have a burning desire to set things right and do what I can.”