What is Truth and Reconciliation?

By: Khadija Nadeem Gr 10
After the Liberal Party proposed and passed a law last June, the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation was cemented.
This was to acknowledge and provide those who survived the horrors of residential schools an opportunity to share their stories and experiences.
In the early 1900s all the way up to the early 2000s, residential schools were part of Canada’s plan to assimilate the Canadian Indigenous population. Although they preached education and religious conversion, children were isolated from their homes, families, cultures, and traditions. An estimated 150, 000 children were taken from their homes to go to these schools and many were physically sexually, and psychologically abused. In fact, many never even made it home. The recent discovery of unmarked graves at a residential school in Kamloops, and other sites answered the question parents and brothers and sisters and grandparents have been asking for years. Where did our children go? The clear answer is that those who never returned home were murdered and buried in secret.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was formed to create an accurate historical account of the residential schools, to help survivors and victims heal, and to encourage reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Another part of the Commission’s job is to push for the selected 94 calls to action. These are regarding education, welfare, language and culture, health, justice and much more in relation to Indigenous Nations.
The Indigenous Peoples underwent traumatic experiences that could be equated to cultural genocide and it is important to support their healing and affirm their experiences. As Canadian citizens, as immigrants who claim this land as much as colonizers did, it is our responsibility to be respectful and acknowledge our privilege.