Nipissing First Nation is hosting a day of events for the 2nd annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which takes place on Friday, September 30th. The ceremonies take place at the Nbisiing Secondary School in Duchesnay, and begin at 6:45 a.m., when a fire will be lit and the flags will be lowered.
A pipe ceremony takes place at 9:30 followed by a walk at 11:00. For lunch, there will be a feast, and the closing ceremony occurs at 7:30. The public is welcome to attend.
“We start the day with a sunrise ceremony to start things off in the right way,” Chief Scott McLeod said. The day can be difficult for many, as “we pay tribute to our members who were lost in the residential school system,” Chief McLeod said. However, the day “also honours those who are still with us.”
“It’s kind of mixed emotions,” on that day, he said. “The somberness of losing some of our members to such a horrific system to celebrating the survivors and the ones who made it through.”
Truth and Reconciliation Day shares the same date as Orange Shirt Day, which specifically acknowledges those children who died while attending residential schools and those who survived the system.
Chief McLeod emphasized the importance of acknowledging the day, and for all people to reflect on what reconciliation means. “Reconciliation is something that happens 365 days of the year, not just one day,” and Canadians need to ensure governments are living up to promises to implement the 94 calls to action.
“What are they doing to support First Nations?” Chief McLeod asked rhetorically, because he was quick to add that these supports are few and far between and often lean once delivered. He noted that First Nation communities are “supported less financially” than other communities. An obvious illustration of that inequality “is the long list” of communities without safe drinking water.
“Reconciliation is fixing that,” Chief McLeod said. The government “should be spending at least the same amount of money as they did to tear our communities apart to try and rebuild them,” he said, adding that many systemic issues the First Nations face are “problems that government created.”
Support for addictions, children in care, mental health issues, and housing “are all chronically underfunded.” He gave the federal Liberals some credit on the work done to implement the 94 calls to action outlined by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
But what was accomplished was “the low bearing fruit,” Chief McLeod said. The difficult tasks of reconciliation, “the ones that are more challenging, have been kicked down the road.”
“They’re still not very far down that road,” he said. The day also provides a reminder to learn about the government funding structures offered to First Nations, the treaties, and the Indian Act—“the law that First Nation People live under.”
The Indian Act is “a racially based piece of legislation,” one which Chief McLeod encourages people to have a look at. The book 21 Things you May Not Know About the Indian Act by Bob Joseph is a good stating point, he added. “People will be shocked to hear the type of legislation that governs First Nations communities.”
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
