Members of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, including Sixties Scoop survivors, gathered Thursday to mark the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The ceremony at the John Snake Memorial Multipurpose Grounds also included the official opening of a commemorative pathway — intended to be a place to welcome home children who were taken in the Sixties Scoop as well as those sent to Indian day schools and residential schools.
The pathway is based on the four elements: wind (noodin), water (nibi), earth (aki) and fire (ishkode).
During the ceremony, Rama members who are Sixties Scoop survivors spoke about the elements and their own experiences.
Margaret St. Germaine noted fire “shines the light of a new day” and provides “clarity through complex situations.”
Mike Nichols talked about earth, which “has a wonderful ability to embrace all energies.”
“For me, what it allows me is to let go of my pain, let go of my emotions. It also embraces that energy and turns it into life. Life is what it’s all about,” he said.
While on the pathway, he told the crowd, “release some emotions and allow the earth to heal your traumas and your pain and allow it to bring life to you so you can give back to your community, as it does for me.”
The pathway is an opportunity for kids today to learn about their culture — something that was stripped of so many in the past.
“The Indian day school was designed to infiltrate our First Nations communities in order to further destroy our culture and our way of life,” Nichols said. “We are grateful knowing our children now have opportunities to learn and grow in a loving environment.”
Sonya York touched on the significance of water — “the most life-sustaining gift of Mother Earth.”
“Water is the interconnection among all living beings,” she said.
“Our ancestors knew the importance of water. They travelled days and moved their camps to be close to water sources.”
Wind is significant in many ways, Kevin Hennessy explained. It “has the ability to push a person home, whether in a canoe or in the heart.”
“And, like a refreshing, cooling breeze on a hot summer day, it has breathed new life into us Sixties Scoop individuals by blowing us in the direction of home, by giving us the knowledge that we actually belong somewhere. We are no longer going through life wondering who we are,” he said.
“If you’re hesitant about coming home, don’t be afraid of the winds of change. Come. You belong home. Come and sit along the path. Take a moment, and if you listen hard enough, you may hear the ancestors calling your name.”
Vicki Pavis, also a member of the group that worked on the pathway, referred to the day as “a new beginning.”
“With all that generational genocide, all the traumas, it’s affected us all through the generations to this day. I am one of them that is able to speak,” she said, adding she was “proud to stand here and thank all the community and all the support systems that we’ve had and have.”
Rama Chief Ted Williams noted the importance of the day and having survivors in attendance.
“Your chief and council, my colleagues, we stand with you, we stand behind you all the way,” he told them.
He recalled an experience from his time as a young student in the two-room schoolhouse. He was being chased by a little girl who wanted to kiss him, but he kept running away.
“Finally, I gave up. She kissed me and I cried,” he said. “Unfortunately, after that day, I don’t recall seeing her again. I knew that she was taken. I didn’t know by whom or what for.”
When he got home, he asked his mom, through tears, “Are they going to come and take us, too?”
“My mom said, ‘Over my dead body.’”
Williams did get to meet up with his former schoolmate a few years ago and share that story with her.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, he said, is “a day of honouring the truth.”
“It’s a day of reflection and it’s a day of remembering not just the past but remembering today as well,” he said. “I challenge everyone non-Indigenous to learn more about the challenges that the Indigenous community has faced in the past and is currently facing.”
At the beginning of the ceremony, Leanne McRae-Douglas, Rama’s director of health and social services, said it was a time to “acknowledge and remember all of the children who were taken away, the ones who never came home and the parents and the grandparents who were left behind.”
“Today, we celebrate the ones who have made their way home, and say, ‘Welcome.’”
Elder Myrna Watson then provided an opening prayer and said the ceremony was “a wonderful day to welcome our children home.”
“It’s just terrible what happened to them, and I’m so glad that they’re back home,” she said.
She recalled being in school when an Indian agent showed up and took some of the children.
“We were all scared because we thought we were going to get taken away, too,” Watson said. “Nobody explained anything to us and it was just awful, so I’m so happy that they’re back. Welcome home.”
Lorraine McRae, Rama’s head councillor, said survivors “have been waiting for such a long, long time for people to recognize and validate what happened.”
She noted Thursday was also Orange Shirt Day, which came about because of experiences Phyllis Webstad had when she was six years old. She wore an orange shirt on her first day at a residential school. When she arrived, school officials took all of her clothing, and the orange shirt she was so proud of was never returned.
“It’s a story we all need to learn and to know and to never forget,” McRae said.
While the truth about Canada’s treatment of Indigenous peoples continues to come to light, survivors still need answers to key questions, she said.
“Why did this happen? How could it have happened?”
Those answers are needed so people can “heal together,” she said.
McRae noted a portion of the John Snake Memorial Multipurpose Grounds was the previous home to Wilson Simcoe, who was sent to a residential school.
“I want to acknowledge and say his name today along with his childhood friend, his lifetime friend, Cameron Shilling,” she said.
Commemorative pathway
The creation of the pathway was guided by survivors and others who were part of a group established in 2019. It came about after the province issued an apology for the Sixties Scoops in 2017, but there was no local apology.
“Rama felt very strongly that something needed to be done locally,” said Kathy Manners, who was brought on board to oversee the engagement process to determine what a local apology might be.
“What was identified was nobody really wanted an apology. They wanted to be welcomed home and feel a part of their community.”
The pathway was one of the resulting projects.
“This space is for all children — those that have come home, those we’re waiting for, those who never left and those who won’t ever make it home,” Manners said.
The pathway was made possible thanks to a Coldwater Narrows Land Trust grant, as well as support from Rama, Simcoe Muskoka Family Connexions, the Durham Children’s Aid Society and private donations.
Near the beginning of the path is artwork by Paul Shilling depicting a mother and her child.
“We wanted to make a statement that it wasn’t the mothers’ fault that the children were taken, and they did their best,” Manners explained.
The first element acknowledged along the path is wind, representing those who have not returned home. Across from a photograph taken by Keesic Douglas that shows feathers over cupped hands is a swing. It’s relevant in that some children were taken while swinging in their own yards.
On the posts surrounding the swing are feathers — carved into the wood by Bob Williams — that name the Seven Grandfather Teachings.
Farther along the path are figures that represent children who have gone through trauma and are still suffering.
Then, “the art becomes bright again,” Manners noted, as people head toward the other three elements.
The area associated with water honours those taken in the Sixties Scoop. Survivors’ names are etched in rock, and there are red stones that represent “blood memories,” as teachings say trauma stays with someone and is transferred through generations.
On a nearby rock sit three sets of bronze moccasins “in honour of the children that could not come home.”
The earth section is dedicated to those who were sent to Indian day schools. That area includes the four sacred medicines: tobacco, sage, cedar and sweet grass.
Finally, there is the fire section. Home to a sacred fire that was burning Thursday, it is in remembrance of those who were sent to residential schools.
Supporting survivors
During Thursday’s ceremony, smudging took place using some of the sacred medicines, beginning with sage.
James Simcoe smudged the area to “release the negativity,” explained Vicki Snache, cultural liaison with Rama.
“It helps us to stay focused on what we’re doing and helps us to feel good about what we’re doing as well,” she said.
A cedar smudge was then offered to Sixties Scoop survivors in attendance “to acknowledge all of the work that they’ve done, to acknowledge the trauma that they’ve faced, that they’ve been welcomed home,” Snache said.
“It was about giving them that space and that time to be able to let go of anything that they might be still carrying so that they can move forward after today in a good way,” she said. “We wanted them to know that they’re supported by their community and we’re there to help them.”
Snache was “very proud” of her community for the effort put into the ceremony and the pathway.
“As an employee of Rama and as a community member of Rama, I’m so impressed with Rama’s ability to bring these people together and to help them and support them through the building of this space,” she said. “It’s beautiful that this exists.”
Sharing survivors’ stories
Through consultation, community members indicated a desire to not only have a commemorative area like the pathway, but also have monthly meet-ups, cultural activities and a film.
In addition to contributing his photography, Douglas was brought on to create the 30-minute film, which features Rama members sharing their personal experiences of the Sixties Scoop. It was screened for community members at the Rama MASK following Thursday’s ceremony.
