Aboriginal, church leaders’ tour aims to aid residential school healing process

 — Mar. 7, 20087 mars 2008

from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix

Aboriginal and church leaders are joining together on a cross-country tour aimed at helping the healing process related to residential schools.

The event, Remembering the Children, will make a stop in Saskatoon Sunday. The city is one of four being visited, along with Ottawa, Vancouver and Winnipeg.

The purpose of the tour is to bring awareness of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to the general public and especially the people of the churches, according to a press release on the event.

The TRC was created as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement by the federal government.

The three-person independent TRC, consisting of a chair and two commissioners, will also travel across the country during the next five years, visiting major cities and First Nations communities to listen to stories about residential schools. Former students will have an opportunity to share their experiences and special community events will be held to respond to the needs of those students and their families.

The TRC will collect and develop a community narrative about the effects of Indian residential school that will be “documented and filed away for the history of all Canadians in this country,” according to Ted Quewezance, executive director for the National Residential Schools Survivor Society.

He will be one of the featured guests Sunday at the Remembering the Children event. The local stop will be hosted by the Saskatoon-based Prairie Centre for Ecumenism.

Along with Quewezance, guests will include representatives from the Assembly of First Nations, the TRC, the provincial government, archbishops and reverends from a number of church organizations. Chief Lawrence Joseph of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations will speak.

The event will include prayers and songs, a time to speak the truth about the past, a time to acknowledge steps made in the healing process and a time to speak about hope for the future. It will conclude with a supper and round dance.

There is no charge to attend the event, which begins at 3 p.m. in the Butler Byers Century Hall of the Western Development Museum.

Posted: Mar. 7, 2008 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=6078
Categories: News • In this article: Indigenous peoples, Residential Schools, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Transmis : 7 mars 2008 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=6078
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Indigenous peoples, Residential Schools, Truth and Reconciliation Commission