As the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation approaches across Canada, the city of Saskatoon is getting set to honour the day and what it stands for.
Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clarke and members of many Indigenous organizations came together Monday in Civic Square to discuss residential schools and how to move forward in reconciliation.
A “survivors flag” was raised to honour residential school survivors and orange banners can now be seen across the city.
“We have to start understanding that these are problems that we all have to come together to actually solve because we didn’t create none of this,” said Tribal Chief for the Saskatoon Tribal Council Mark Arcand.
Clarke said the banners are one way people can show their support for the Indigenous community and ensure things such as residential schools don’t happen again.
“It’s also an opportunity for survivors to know that we hear, value, and understand that what happened to them was wrong,” Clarke explained.
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Residential school survivors were present at the event, and many took to the stage to speak about their experiences. For Eugene Arcand, the flags being raised is just one step in the right direction.
“Items like this flag that are going to remind people to do things the right way,” Arcand said.
Clarke believes Saskatoon has come a long way over the years when it comes to reconciliation in the city, primarily due to the willingness of organizations to work together to find ways to move forward together.
“There was a big gathering of people from many different communities on Saturday at the police station to talk about truth and reconciliation and the business community making commitments to work towards truth and reconciliation in our community,” Clarke said.
Many events will be held for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Mark Arcand believes it is incredibly important to use the day to show the world Indigenous people and their culture. But above all, he hopes the day is used as a platform for discussion.
“If you talk to any survivor, they want it to be better for the next generation to come,” Arcand said. “So they don’t have to go through what our survivors went through.”
The Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line (1-866-925-4419) is available 24 hours a day for anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of their residential school experience.
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