“Today marks the beginning of National Indigenous History Month. In regular times, we would be issuing a statement about the challenges and successes of our communities through the year. We might also talk about the roots of who we are as people, and the importance of our ways of life.
But today we are collectively still in a time of grief and reflection. We are remembering what our relatives experienced at residential schools and are feeling the hurt of how this still impacts us today.
In spite of all we have overcome — residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, the Indian Act, and the ongoing systemic racism that attempts to erase us — we are still here.
During National Indigenous History Month, we hope that non-Indigenous Ontarians will take time to learn more about the Treaties and the history of residential schools.”
