Sudbury marks Truth and Reconciliation Day early with cultural event in Bell Park

Sept. 30 marks National Truth and Reconciliation Day across Canada. To allow for proper reflection on Monday, organizers of an event in Greater Sudbury held educational and community activities.

The event at Bell Park Thursday was called Truth.Resiliency.Hope and was organized by the Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre and the Urban Indigenous Sacred Circle.

The event at Bell Park Thursday was called Truth.Resiliency.Hope and was organized by the Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre and the Urban Indigenous Sacred Circle. (Photo from video)

It was to honour survivors of residential schools and the children who never made it home, while also educating others and working toward reconciliation.

The day included dancing, drumming, food and craft vendors.

"It’s a day for students to be educated at a young age to know where they come from, where they live and what had to happen on this land before them," said emcee Brett Recollet.

The director of the performances, Sarah Gartshore, said given that many Indigenous youth are dealing with intergenerational trauma in their families, she wanted the production to be useful.

"We can’t fix their grief and we can’t fix everything, but we can acknowledge where they are, acknowledge what they’ve been through and what they’re going through so that they feel seen," Gartshore said.

She said the jingle dress is a healing dress. The jingle dress dancers encircled the youth dancers, symbolizing how everyone is working to heal children.

The event at Bell Park Thursday was called Truth.Resiliency.Hope and was organized by the Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre and the Urban Indigenous Sacred Circle. (Photo from video)

More than 1,000 local students were at the morning events as part of educating them about the country’s painful and troubling past, a topic that wasn’t always taught in schools.

"I think that a lot of programs and subjects don’t really dig deep enough to express what truly happened here," said Grade 12 St. Benedict student Junior Agowissa.

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Although Agowissa added that there are "people in the school board who work to bring all these issues -- and not just the residential school but the culture -- to light."

Organizers of the Sudbury event said they wanted to hold it a few days before National Truth and Reconciliation Day – also called Orange Shirt Day – to allow their staff and other Indigenous people to use Sept. 30 as a day for quiet reflection and sombre remembrance.