Canupawakpa Dakota Nation commemorates survivors while looking to future

United in grief for the past and hope for the future, Canupawakpa Dakota Nation community members marked the start of Truth and Reconciliation Week with a four-kilometre walk commemorating residential school survivors on Monday.

Canupawakpa, about 275 kilometres west of Winnipeg, is home to 22 residential school survivors. Chief Lola Thunderchild said she hopes those on the walk reflected on the long and painful journeys of survivors and that people will embody kindness and mutual respect as part of truth and reconciliation year-round.

"We help each other carry that burden and that weight and we carry it as a community," Thunderchild said.

"It's good to know we have each other to lend a hand … we're all related here and those relations are very well respected when it comes to the culture and the tradition."

The 2015 final report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada labelled what happened inside residential schools as "cultural genocide." More than 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were forced to attend the institutions, which the federal government funded and different churches operated for over a century. 

The second annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is on Sept. 30.

Canupawakpa plans to hold a number of activities throughout the week in the lead up to the actual day. On Monday morning, they lit a sacred memorial fire at the nation's community centre, which will burn for four days and four nights and will serve as a sharing circle for elders who want to share their experiences.

"The traumatic events that happened affect how we raise our children today and we want to break those cycles and we want to start off, you know, start doing things in a healthy way so we can all ... break away from those traits that we thought were normal, that aren't normal," Thunderchild said.

As the knowledge of these colonial traumas has grown in Canada it has been hard, Thunderchild said, but it marks a step on the healing journey for Indigenous and non-Indigenous relationships in the country.

It was good for Canada "to recognize what the system had done to our people, what the churches have done to our people and to our culture and to ourselves," Thunderchild said.

Molly Taylor, 12, was one of more than 50 people walking in solidarity with survivors.

She said it made her proud to see her community gather together to acknowledge the hurt of the past and make a commitment to a healthier future.

She hopes all Canadians are inspired by the walk to be part of the change and learn more about Dakota culture and traditions.

"Walk with us or, you know, come to these ceremonies for … every child matters and come to the missing women kind of days," Taylor said.

Language keeper and educator Noella Eagle said reconciliation can't happen without hard truths. All Canadians need to learn and understand the historical atrocities, because they still have an impact today, she said.

"Personally, both my parents are survivors, my two oldest brothers are survivors, and so, therefore, I am a survivor of a survivor. And so the reality is that those kinds of traumas continue to have an impact." 

However, there is an opportunity to create awareness now and ensure no future atrocities happen to any culture in Canadian society, she said. 

Allies need to understand, spread awareness and move forward with positive change, she said.

Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools, and those who are triggered by the latest reports. The Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS) can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-721-0066.

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. Access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.