Friday, September 30, 2022

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation remembers the damage done to natives in Canada by the residential school system, that took children away from their families and tried to drive their native culture out of them  - it's also called Orange Shirt Day, because one girl, Phyllis Webstad who was sent to a residential school in B.C. had her orange shirt taken away as part of forced assimilation when she arrived and it was never returned to her. Hundreds of unmarked graves have been found at some former residential schools.

Dancing under a sun dog.

Quilt, collaboration between Francophones and Natives. Mohawks represented by the purple and Franco-ontarians by the green. Mohawks were forced to go to a residential school where they could only speak French and not Mohawk.

Vamps are like the tongues of moccasins - here they represent the interrupted journeys of missing children who went to residential schools and did not return.
Some of the vamps have seeds or plants growing on them, representing the potential lives of the children. 


Cornwall Police, including Chief Shawna Spowart, wore orange shirts as well.

Singers - there was a sundog in the sky over them.

Loved this jacket! Bear Claw represents the Bear Clan, part of the Mohawks and some other nations.


Mohawks served visitors fried bread, corn soup and strawberry juice.












 

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