For some people in settler society, the news of the discovery of 215 bodies buried at the residential school near Kamloops BC has been a wake up call to the horrors of this policy that the Canadian government enacted between the 1870’s and 1990’s.
As parents themselves, people can relate to the despair one would feel, not only to having children as young as 3 or 4 years old ripped from their home but also to not being able to find out what happened to their child when they never returned home.
As a group, Truth and Reconciliation Community Bobcaygeon is first and foremost, interested in sharing information and helping people to understand the truth of our history and ongoing policies. We thought that a visual installation would be a good way to help people see what 215 children actually means.
The rocks in this photo represents about 1/5th of the number of children buried in unrecorded graves. Another way of thinking of it it is that, this fraction of the total is already two classrooms of children just gone with all records intentionally hidden from sight.
Several members of the larger Bobcaygeon and Fenelon Falls community and their kids have been looking for some way to engage in the conversation around this tragic news. Many Canadians have been impacted emotionally as well as intellectually and are wanting to find ways to process their feelings as well as explore what actions they may wish to take.
Both adults and children have wanted to participate in painting rocks for this installation. The process is so much more than just applying paint onto rocks. (Although that has been a steep learning curve- believe it or not.) The part that was not expected but so enriching surrounds the conversations that took place pre-painting, during painting and post painting.
The above image is a photo of some of the rocks painted by FFSS students in the Practical Academics and Life Skills class. The students were already aware of the situation from home or the news and were wanting to come to a deeper understanding of what this might mean to them on a more personal level. The activity of painting the rocks opened the door to a rich conversation.
Perhaps we make a mistake if we wish to protect our children by not discussing this part of our history. Many children have questions and concerns. Some may even feel personal responsibility. We are hoping that this installation will be an opportunity to having real conversations that open the doors to compassion and healing.
One consideration in working on truth and reconciliation is to be a good listener and to believe what First Nations people are telling us first and foremost. It is important to build relationships with individuals and with the larger First Nation community. From that place of building relationships, we as settlers can then ask what is needed and/or wanted to happen. Our TRC-Bobcaygeon Community has done that and gotten encouragement to follow through with this installation. At the same time we are aware of and acknowledge how triggering this may be for many who have had their families impacted by residential schools. We offer the hotline information as a place to help process this trauma. 1-866 – 925 – 4419
