The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation gave a third opportunity to pay honour to Indigenous lives affected by the Canadian residential school system.
Alderville First Nation opened the national day with a ceremony to honour the lives affected locally. Chief Taynar Simpson believes the day has made leaps in contextualizing the conversation.
But as the chief says, it won’t take one day to reconcile.
Chief Simpson is a former federal employee, who says he began his work in the 90’s when the last residential school was closing. He said he’s seen full, unaltered record collections from the Gordon’s Indian Residential School.
He went on to become a project lead with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in their effort to identify thousands of students left missing as part of the Indigenous residential schools.
Simpson believes uncovering the record collection held by the Vatican is the next practical step in the process in tangible reconciliation.
The Municipality of Cobourg contributes to ongoing reconciliation efforts by saying they’ll continue to consult Indigenous representatives during legislative discussions, as Mayor Lucas Cleveland describes in an interview after Cobourg’s ‘Every Child Matters’ flag raising on September 29.
Written by: Noah Lorusso
