Aanii, Hello, Bonjour,
It was on the territory of the Anishinaabe People, the land where Laurentian was built, that the need for truth and reconciliation was first recognized by the United Church of Canada.
In 1986, Indigenous leaders gathered by a Sacred Fire in Parking Lot #15, just down from the Parker Building, would receive the United Church of Canada’s formal apology for its role as one of four churches empowered to administer residential schools by the Government of Canada.
Over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, an estimated 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children were stolen from their families and their communities and sent to residential schools across Canada, with the last schools closing in 1996. The terrible legacies of residential schools persist to this day.
As communities continue to search and find unmarked graves of children on the grounds of former residential schools, the Laurentian community will come together in the spirit of truth, action, and sincerity to face the difficult truths of what has happened to Indigenous communities of this land, grieving the victims and honouring the survivors of residential schools.
The group of Indigenous leaders assembled in 1986 included artist Art Solomon, who would one day build the Apology Cairn in Parking Lot #15. There he would fast, challenging the United Church of Canada to “get real or get lost.”
“We tried to make you like us,” wrote the Church in its formal apology. “And in so doing we helped to destroy the vision that made you what you were.”
The Indigenous leaders gathered in Parking Lot #15 did not accept the apology.
Two years later, Edith Memnook, a representative of the All Native Circle Conference, would formally respond, saying, “(We) hope and pray that the Apology is not symbolic but that these are the words of action and sincerity. We appreciate the freedom for culture and religious expression. In the new spirit this Apology has created, let us unite our hearts and minds in the wholeness of life that the Great Spirit has given us.”
We honour our reconciliation story, seeking to live up to its truths and its legacies.
I hope you will join me throughout the day, in the spirit of action, humility, and sincerity (read the full program of activities). For my part, I will be visiting the Sacred Fire in the Wiigwam and will participate in a tree-planting ceremony that will honour the children of residential schools, missing and murdered Métis, First Nations, and Inuit women, men, girls, boys, and members of the 2SLGBTQQIA community.
I particularly encourage you all to join the community in a collective 2:15 minutes of silence at 2:15 P.M. in recognition of the first 215 children found in unmarked graves by Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation in May of this year. I encourage all students, faculty and staff to come together to observe this minute of silence, wherever they might find themselves on campus and in the community.
If you are in need of support, we encourage you to access the resources and supports that are available to the Laurentian community:
- Counselling is available through the Indigenous Sharing and Learning Centre on campus and via Zoom by contacting isa@laurentian.ca.
- Counselling services are also available to all students on campus by contacting (705)-675-1151 ext., 6506 or emailing Counselling@laurentian.ca. All resources are available at https://laurentian.ca/counselling.
- We encourage Laurentian University’s international students to access the keep.me.SAFE program by downloading the app (My SSP or by calling 1-844-451-9137).
- Laurentian University faculty and staff can access confidential support services through our Employee and Family Assistance Program (the contact information is available on LUnet).
Chi miigwech to all who are giving of themselves in pursuit of the recognition of the children of residential schools today. Maamwii-Together-Ensemble, we will build stronger communities that will confront the legacies of our story and foster stronger ties of reconciliation among each other.
Miigwech, Thank You, Merci,
Robert Haché, Ph.D.
President and Vice-Chancellor