Canada Day 2021

Since the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2015) and the 150th birthday of Canada in 2017, I have felt extremely conflicted about being a Canadian and what Canada Day actually commemorates. After I learned about the identification of the unmarked graves at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in May 2021, I had no desire to participate in any of the typical Canada Day celebrations. Instead, I made the choice to participate in a Unity Walk in Brantford, Ontario organized by the Brantford Regional Indigenous Support Centre which was a peaceful gathering moving from the Brantford Civic Centre to the former Mohawk Institute residential school/Woodland Cultural Centre.

I was feeling a little apprehensive as COVID restrictions were still in place, and I wasn’t sure how many people would attend this gathering. It was an incredibly hot day, but the spirit of the crowd was powerful. Thousand of people attended this walk, and it’s hard to describe how it felt to participate in this event. It was clear that this day was special, and that people had come together to express both their outrage and desire for change.

Although I had visited the ground of the Mohawk Institute on several occasions, this day was very different. The front stairs were covered in children’s shoes, flowers, toys out of respect for the children who suffered and died at these schools. It felt important to bear witness to the angry, heartbroken, and frustrated voices of the people who had experienced this and are living with the ongoing trauma caused by these schools. I also wanted to learn more about what was happening in my community.

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Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC). (2015). Truth & Reconciliation

Commission of Canada: Calls to action. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-

governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf