THUNDER BAY – Confederation College raised an Every Child Matters flag on Monday in honour of the lost children and survivors of residential schools, their families and communities as it marked the beginning of a week of special programming centred around National Truth and Reconciliation Day.
“I thought it was important that we have a ceremony to launch this week of truth and reconciliation conversations at the college,” said Brenda Small, vice president of the college's Negahneewin Research Centre.
“It was important that we do this because we need to invite everyone to partake in the conversation across the college.”
Small spoke of her father's experience at residential schools and how it adversely affected his life.
“We heard him tell many stories about what it was like, how lonely and difficult it was to be away from his family, and certainly the hard work that the children did in order to maintain the property of the residential school,” she said.
“Very little time was actually spent learning, and often it's forgotten that the children were essentially the free labourers of these institutions, so I thought that was important to share.”
Small said the college is encouraging everyone to partake in National Truth and Reconciliation Week however they can and learn more about the era of the residential school system in Canada as it’s “no longer a hidden story, but a story that is widely told and understood”.
“Certainly, as a learning institution, the more that we can do to incorporate an understanding and knowledge about this history in all of our curriculum, it's important that we do that,” she said.
“Because then we will graduate citizens who are much more knowledgeable and aware of the history in Canada and can also incorporate a degree of responsibility and accountability when they enter the workforce Out in public, here in this country, we have a duty to recognize that history and to work to make things better.”
