Woodland Cultural Centre

1 day ago

Woodland Cultural Centre
On September 30, 1973, just 50 years ago, six-year-old Phyllis Webstad’s new orange shirt was taken away from her on her first day of the St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School in British Columbia. That act has come to symbolize how Indigenous culture has been stolen from generations of Indigenous Peoples, Communities and Nations across Canada, and the lasting damage this has caused. As Mohawk Institute Survivor Tony Bomberry reminds us, “residential school is the only school where you didn’t graduate – you survived.” Sadly, we know not all children who were brought to the Institute did survive. The National Day of Truth and Reconciliation provides the chance to reflect on this history and how the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples can be healed. It is not easy, and it will take time, but it is possible, provided there is a willingness to understand the hurt of the past and see the possibility of a new relationship. Truth requires the recognition of a dark history and its on-going impacts. Reconciliation (or as Metis Scholar David Garneau has pointed out the more appropriate term “conciliation”), requires an awareness and appreciation of “the other.” The word “Canada” comes from the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) word kaná:ta meaning a village. Based in a Rotinonhsyón:ni (Hodinohsho:ni) worldview, it means that everyone has a role and responsibility, that everyone is cared for, that no one goes without, and that we keep each other safe and maintain peace in our community. While the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canada has often been at odds with the spirit of the word kaná:ta, at Woodland Cultural Centre we are grateful to all who are helping build a kinder, more inclusive, and just future for this territory. My hope is that we will all find truth and conciliation in kaná:ta. Heather GeorgeExecutive DirectorWoodland Cultural Centre#TruthandConciliation ... See MoreSee Less

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Phone: (519) 759-2650

Woodland Cultural Centre
184 Mohawk Street
Brantford, ON, N3S 2X2

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