Upcoming Near North District School Board meetings now include an opening prayer.
At their last meeting on June 15, a brief tribute was held to honour Indigenous children found in unmarked graves at residential schools.
“A special moment of recognition,” was held, board chair Jay Aspin explained, “a tribute to the children.”
The tribute included June Commanda, a band councillor and Elder from Nipissing First Nation, offering a prayer in Anishinaabemowin.
Board trustee Nichole King, the board’s First Nations representative, read an original poem entitled “Our Children.”
The discoveries of Indigenous children which began recently in Kamloops “rocked the very soul of our nation,” Aspin said.
See: A look at the residential-school system in Canada
“The painful news,” reminded Aspin “that we as Canadians have to do better.”
Almost 11 per cent of the board’s students identify as Indigenous, and the board is “among the forerunners of Indigenous education in Ontario,” Aspin said.
“We have amongst the best programs for Indigenous people in Ontario,” Aspin said. “Although we’re doing well, we can always do better.”
The board plans to begin future meetings with a native land acknowledgement, followed by a prayer delivered by an Elder invited to join the meeting.
Opening meetings in such a manner is “a mark of commitment to do better,” Aspin said, and reinforces the board’s goals of fostering “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
See: Near North District School Board announces five-year plan
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.
