Day of Truth and Reconciliation event to be held at Mosaic Stadium next year

Provincial and municipal delegates gathered at Mosaic Stadium Wednesday to announce Miyo-wîcîwitowin Day, a day to inspire action on Truth and Reconciliation and to focus on the truth about residential schools.

The public event will take place at the stadium on Sept. 29, 2022. School kids from around the province will be invited to attend.

Chief of Cowessess First Nation Cadmus Delorme says the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves over the past couple of months has been tough on a lot of people, and it’s time to focus on the truth of those discoveries.

3:12 Members of the Cowessess First Nation hold vigil after discovery of unmarked graves at a former residential school

“In order to get to reconciliation, we must first accept the truth. It isn’t going to be easy, it’s going to be tough, but with uncomfortable conversations, I know we’ll get there,” said Delorme. “Next year, when we’re in this stadium, we will all come together to better understand the Truth and Reconciliation calls to action.”

Delorme says no one alive today was responsible for residential schools or the Indian Act, but it is their job to learn the truth behind them.

Next year’s event will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and it will feature residential schools survivor sharing their stories, as well as dancers, and drummers. Along with other delegates, Governor General Mary May Simon is scheduled to make an appearance.

Several events are being held across Saskatchewan Thursday in honour of Canada’s first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

1:59 Indigenous leaders call on gov’t for Sept. 20 stat

Delorme says truth and reconciliation isn’t something that can be accomplished by a few people – it requires everybody.

“It is not just to please the few Indigenous people that are in our work environments, or in our circles,” said Delorme. “It is to do it for your own kids and grandkids, it doesn’t matter what race or background you come from.”

He says he strongly believes once the Truth and Reconciliation calls to action are implemented, Saskatchewan, and Canada as a whole, will be one of the best places in the world.

Delorme says there’s a lot of work to be done by Indigenous and non-Indigenous people alike.

“We all have a little ignorance in us, Indigenous and not, because of what we inherited and the feelings that we have,” said Delorme.

“It’s now time we put that shield down, and replace that ignorance with better understanding, so that all Indigenous children out there, that we do this for, they will be true believers in what we all want as we share this land together.”