Truth & Reconciliation
September 30 is known as Day of Truth and Reconciliation. Indigenous history included events which targeted and severed relationships between families and communities. Residential schools were utilized to remove young children from their families, where they experienced horrific trauma. Some of these children were not able to reconnect to their families after leaving school, and in the worst cases, some children never made it home.
The removal of children in Indigenous communities continued as organizations would interject and place children up for adoption. Those children who were adopted out were often placed in non-Indigenous homes, far away from their family and community. This is referred to as the “60s Scoop”. There was an over-representation of Indigenous children placed within the foster care system, torn away from their families, communities, and culture. To this day, there is still an over-representation of Indigenous children placed in the system, which continues to foster disconnection, lack of awareness, missing cultural identity, and many other challenges.
All of these traumatic experiences (and many more experiences) have created generational trauma and disconnection for Indigenous communities and cultures.
Visit the link below to watch or read their personal stories: https://witnessblanket.ca
If you would like to support a local charity, I encourage you to consider the Barrie Native Friendship Centre in our community. The Barrie Native Friendship Centre uses donations to enhance cultural and traditional knowledge for their community members: http://www.bnfc.tmbranding.ca