Orange Shirt Day/National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is here, a day for reflection and gathering knowledge about the atrocities that happened to Indigenous People here on Turtle Island, including the residential school system.
The attempt to erase an entire nation by removing their most precious resource, their children, also allowed the continued rape and pillage of Mother Earth.
The resources extracted from the land alone should have made the Original People the richest in the land, not the poorest.
A special 2021 report from the Yellowhead Institute, an Indigenous-led research and education centre based in the Faculty of Arts at Toronto Metropolitan University, asked a fundamental question:
“Why did it take the profoundly disturbing revelations of thousands of unmarked graves being found on the grounds of residential schools across the country to see Canada begin to make reconciliation a priority? And what does it mean that the Calls to Action that Canada did complete were also arguably the easiest, most of the symbolic gestures we allude to as ‘low hanging fruit’ in this year’s report?
“To the question, ‘When will it be enough?’ we say: it will be enough when the systems of oppression no longer exist. We will arrive at reconciliation when Indigenous peoples in this country experience, at the bare minimum, a living standard that reflects their visions of healthy and prosperous communities.”
The slow pace of reconciliation and the fast-tracking of destruction to the Earth looks like smoke and mirrors. They make us think they are doing something with the fancy words and the token payments. Still, the reality of this situation is that Canada continues to sweep Indigenous People and their problems under the proverbial rug.
Before you buy an orange shirt to wear for one day or read the words of your local land acknowledgment, please take some time for honest thoughts and concrete actions that would assist with the enormous task of healing a nation.
Take some time to understand what is necessary if we want to collectively move forward as separate but equal nations on this land.
Wearing an orange shirt on Sept. 30 is a small token, a polite nod to the suffering of those whose homeland you live in, but if you follow that up by ignoring the ongoing evil that continues to happen to those people, what are you doing it for?
If you acknowledge that the land you live upon is the traditional territory of a particular people, but you don’t understand the connection those people have with the land you are living on and what is still happening to them and that land, then why are you saying it?
Look at what has just happened in Saskatchewan. So many people are dead, so many lives devastated. You can lay the blame on those accused, on the jails and parole boards for letting dangerous people back out on the streets, the drugs, the booze – you can blame this on any number of things – but the reality of this situation is that these men fell through the cracks and the people that were killed paid the ultimate price for that.
To some, it’s a news story. A shake of the head, a shrug of the shoulders, and life goes on.
To Indigenous People, these were our relatives. We are grieving the loss of all of them.
So, there will be an inquiry, reports will be written, suggestions will be made, and tons of money will be spent to do this.
But where is the money to build treatment centres, fill empty health-care provider positions, and help those who need it before they snap?
We have a shared bond, a collective, multi-generational experience that caused great harm. We watch in horror as the grief and trauma play out repeatedly while we stand helpless.
The reality for Indigenous People is that they are on their own. There is no help coming.
As we watch and wait, more and more missing children are discovered in places they should not be; schools and churches all over the world hold our ancestors and our artifacts hostage, and Mother Earth is still being devastated by industry and greed.
Despite protestations, people are still literally dragged off of their land and into court for protecting what is rightfully theirs.
Pipelines are still destroying what is left of unceded territories, poisoning the water, and eliminating the habitat that houses many species of wildlife. And the People get treated worse than the animals – rounded up, pepper sprayed, and put in cages to be relocated.
Indigenous children are still over-represented in the foster care system, First Nations men and women are still filling the jails and prisons disproportionally, and health care is almost non-existent.
The Doctrine of Discovery is still used to justify the theft of unceded, non-treaty lands.
The very legality of some treaties is being fought in court as we speak; arguments over old maps and the questionable characters that made them tie up any progress for decades, all the while more land is taken, more people go to jail, and more children go into care.
The ones who need help are falling through the cracks; the people who reach out and want help (that isn’t there) are frightened to go to these places because of how they are treated. Accused of only wanting drugs, misdiagnosed or told to go away because there is nothing wrong with them, stripped of their dignity, and shamed by people who are supposed to be caregivers, these cracks keep getting bigger. The hoops are many, the barriers are high, and the pull of addiction is sometimes stronger than the will to jump and climb those things.
With all the apologies from those governments and churches that were the perpetrators of the evil done at the residential schools, there still doesn’t seem to be a collective push to fulfill the Truth and Reconciliation 94 Calls to Action.
There was a slight increase in progress shortly after the first 215 children were discovered in Kamloops, but lately, there has been no progress.
One of my good friends, Andy Mason, an Indigenous artist, activist, and vocal advocate for First Nations rights and freedoms, said, “If I step on your toe, and after apologizing continue to step on your toes, what good is an apology? Look at Wet’suwet’en. Look at Grassy Narrows. Look at Attawapiskat. Then tell me just how Canada is making up for 155 years of genocide.”
As the Yellowhead Institute’s report states, “With each passing year, Canada opts to perform reconciliation in an effort to shape a benevolent reputation rather than enact the substantial and structural changes that would rectify ongoing harms and change the course of our collective relationship.”
There needs to be more outrage and push on the governments to finish the work laid out by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s findings.
There need to be more voices added to the Indigenous People of the land and their allies, pushing for equal treatment, equal rights, and protection of Mother Earth.
There need to be fewer assumptions that we are all lazy, drunk, and useless.
As you put on your orange shirt this year, please remember to email your government demanding change and push them to fulfill the promises made using the guidelines set out by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
As we continue to search for our missing children and try to protect the families we have now, we need every voice in this land to be raised so loud that the government can no longer ignore this ongoing crisis.
So, thank you for wearing the orange shirt; your support is appreciated, and your voices are heard, but when you put that shirt away until next year, please don’t forget what you are wearing it for.
Thank you for the land acknowledgments – it’s a start. There is much work to be done, so let’s roll up our sleeves and get the work done together.
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Cory Bilyea is an Indigenous journalist currently working for Midwestern Newspapers. She is a member of the Six Nations of the Grand River nations, better known as Onkwehonwe, the original people. Cory is a survivor of intergenerational trauma caused by residential schools. She can be reached at cbilyea@midwesternnewspapers.com.
