Murray Wood: Who's scary... and who's scary good?
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Thousands of people flocked to Mosaic Stadium on Thursday for the inaugural Miyo-wîcîwitowin Day.
(Gillian Massie/980 CJME)
The event was held to celebrate and recognize the harm done to Indigenous people through residential schools and colonialism.
Organizers expected 18,000 people to attend Miyo-wîcîwitowin Day, when they were to hear stories from Indigenous elders and residential school survivors.
Students from Regina public and Catholic schools filled sections of the 33,000-seat stadium, most of them clad in orange shirts in honour of Truth and Reconciliation Day on Friday.
The speakers included Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and Saskatchewan Lt.-Gov. Russ Mirasty.
Cowessess First Nation Chief Cadmus Delorme, a co-chair of the event, said earlier this week the day will address some uncomfortable truths so that reconciliation can follow.
“Miyo-wîcîwitowin Day is about truth,” Delorme said. “Once we understand truth, we can understand what reconciliation means.”
(Gillian Massie/980 CJME)
Performances by singers and dancers also were on the agenda, as was a flyover by Royal Canadian Air Force jets.
Simon first offered condolences for James Smith Cree Nation, where a stabbing rampage on Sept. 4 claimed the lives of nine people.
Simon said everyone has a responsibility for reconciliation and everyone should take home a Call to Action.
AFN National Chief Roseann Archibald encouraged Indigenous people that these events can help them heal and move forward.
“The time has come for us to move from being survivors to thrivers and that is your legacy as young people,” Archibald told the students gathered for the event.
Archibald’s parents and older siblings attended residential schools. She was the first in her family to not attend.
“I was the first in my family to not have to attend one of these institutions, and I went to many schools across Ontario and not one of them had unmarked graves with children buried in them,” said Archibald.
Archibald said the most important message of the day was that truth had to come before reconciliation and seeing all the students who attended the event gave her hope.
“It’s often young people that have the courage to take that action that will lead to positive change,” said Archibald. “It’s important for you all to express your sacred gifts to be a part of decision-making and to push back against the colonial system.”
Students in the stands
Hannah Akrigg said she was glad to attend the event.
“I learned a lot about residential schools and how the survivors are still here, and strong, and what they have had to overcome to get where they are,” said the Grade 12 student.
While the day was full of education, Akrigg said the hoop dancers were her favourite performance of the day.
“I think it’s really important to keep educating people,” said Akrigg, “especially a lot of high school kids because they aren’t into this kind of stuff or interested in knowing.
“When we are put into an environment that’s not just reading off a board, it makes it easy for us to learn.”
Akrigg said lots of this information is still new to her as she was never really exposed to Indigenous issues in classes. She said one of her main resources for information is her mom, who works as a teacher.
“Everyone said that it’s in the school system a lot, but you don’t actually learn anything about it,” said Akrigg.
She said Miyo-wîcîwitowin Day is incredibly valuable because lots of the details in Indigenous history, and learning about effects of intergenerational trauma, are “brushed over” in the curriculum.
(Lisa Schick/980 CJME)
Akrigg said it is incredibly important to listen to residential school survivors because they taught her more information than any textbook.
Another student who attended, Charlee Benko, said the students had really been enjoying the entertainment that accompanied the event, but still had a call to action as he left the stadium.
“I’ve learned that we need to come together in reconciliation for what has happened in the past and with residential schools,” Benko said.
Masen Ermel, a Grade 9 student, said he learned a lot about the residential schools after hearing from the survivors.
“I think it’s really cool and really good for the community,” said Ermel, who hopes that younger students will be able to attend the event one day as well.
