Thanks for writing all this. I had thought I knew how bad it was, but this is much worse than I had thought. I hope more of us white folks living in Canada read this!
I had the experience of working for an Indigenous-owned company for a while and the stories I heard there of things being experienced by the current generation that were the result of abuse traced back to first contact... it is so tragic.
I was working at the company when the news broke of the children's graves discovered in Kamloops, and a woman I worked with had family connection to the reserve there. She immediately left for Kamloops with her Mom. When she came back a few days later I asked her about it. What she said floored me.
She said the elders were very positive in the ceremonies. I expressed my surprise at this and asked her what the message was?
Thanks for writing all this. I had thought I knew how bad it was, but this is much worse than I had thought. I hope more of us white folks living in Canada read this!
Dougald, a very powerful piece.
I had the experience of working for an Indigenous-owned company for a while and the stories I heard there of things being experienced by the current generation that were the result of abuse traced back to first contact... it is so tragic.
I was working at the company when the news broke of the children's graves discovered in Kamloops, and a woman I worked with had family connection to the reserve there. She immediately left for Kamloops with her Mom. When she came back a few days later I asked her about it. What she said floored me.
She said the elders were very positive in the ceremonies. I expressed my surprise at this and asked her what the message was?
She said: "At least they did not kill all of us."