n Canada, a special First Nations event,“Remember Me: A National Day of Remembrance,” will join other remembrances at Parliament Hill in Ottawa Thursday, including an opening ceremony, a spirit walk and performances and presentations. It is being billed as “an inclusive event led by Indigenous women.”
“September 30th is a day to show unity in our efforts to bridge the gap between Canadians and Indigenous people,” the organizers posted on Facebook. “It is an opportunity to embrace diversity and promote equality. Above all, it will encourage dialog, active citizenship and social responsibility.
“It is imperative to teach the next 7 generations that we are all in this together,” the statement continued. “It is imperative that we demonstrate our defiant motivation to protect our children at all costs. See each other the way the Moon sees the Sun; vastly different and equally important."
The Indian Residential School System was in operation in Canada until the early 1990s, and the majority of students at that time came from isolated northern communities.
Sept. 30 was designated a national holiday by the Canadian Parliament in June, just over a month after the first mass of 215 unmarked graves of children who never came home were discovered at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, British Columbia, which is adjacent to Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation.
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