Dozens clad in orange walked down Circle Drive in Saskatoon on Monday morning, calling for locals to adopt the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action after the discovery of unmarked graves of 215 children in Kamloops.
“It had a really genocide effect on our people, so now it’s time for us to step up and have a voice for those people,” said Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand, who lead the walk.
Indigenous and non-Indigenous people walked together to show their support for those affected by the legacy of residential schools, and to push for Canada to follow the actions outlined in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Arcand said the news of the unmarked graves triggered many in the city.
Ruby Villebrun’s mother and uncle attended residential school. While her mother survived, she said her uncle died at one of the schools as a child.
“I tried so hard to avoid that day when all this information came out, and as time went on and the days went on it started affecting me. Doing this walk is giving me a lot of closure, and to be able to continue on my healing journey.”
Villebrun’s mother died earlier this year. She said it was beautiful to see so many people walking along Circle Drive to show their support.
Craig McCallum said residential school robbed him of a connection to his culture.
“My mom, she speaks Cree but she never wanted to teach it to me because she was ashamed of it,” he said.
“Same thing with our culture. When I started to reconnect traditionally to our spirituality my mom was so scared about it, and it was because of what she had to go through in residential schools.”
McCallum said he wants the intergenerational trauma to stop with him.
Vicki Obedkoff and Laura Carney are non-Indigenous, but said it was important for them to join the walk.
“It’s important for all non-Indigenous people in our country to acknowledge the past, the history, and to start making some improvements and changes in relationships,” Carney said.
“We need apologies, we need land back, we need not fighting Indigenous kids in court, all kinds of actions,” Obedkoff added.
The Saskatoon Tribal Council said it wants investments made to help Indigenous parents heal so their children aren’t put into welfare and continuing the cycle. Arcand said more Indigenous children today are in the system than were in residential schools.
“It’s just another form of taking our children away again,” he said.
“That comes down to residential schools about the trauma from what caused our parents to have the inability to take care of our kids properly.”
Arcand said he also wants rehabilitation programs to cut down on the disproportionate number of Indigenous people incarcerated in Saskatoon.
Anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of their residential school experience can access this 24-hour, toll-free and confidential National Indian Residential School Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419.