Vigil held in Lethbridge to honour the 215 children found at residential school

“Hopefully with this discovery, we can all come together and work on this and turn it into a positive so that the people that are grieving, we can help them, and we can help them move forward and find ways to move forward,” says Alice Bissonette, an Elder with Lethbridge Metis Local. “I’m looking for a positive outcome to this revelation.”

The country’s last residential school, the Gordon Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan, closed in 1996. Out of the 139 residential schools in Canada, 26 were in Alberta Among those, 26 were located in Alberta, with six in southern Alberta.

Melanie Morrow, a Council Member of the Lethbridge Metis Local, says the community needs to continue having these conversations, not just when a traumatic event happens.

“Being the Elementary Indigenous Education Coordinator Teacher [at the Lethbridge School Division], I was bombarded with emails about how to have conversations with children, especially at the elementary level because they are uncomfortable conversations. Just because they are uncomfortable doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be having them, though. What I tried to reiterate with other teachers is that these conversations about residential schools, the history in Canada and reconciliation conversations should be ongoing, they shouldn’t be isolated to days like today, to traumatic events, or to Orange Shirt Day and other events.”

People are being encouraged to have these conversations at home to help make family and friends more aware of Canada’s history.

“As a parent, what you can do, is you can have conversations about what does anti-racism look like and does it matter what colour your skin is. Just be brave and have those sometimes uncomfortable conversations with your kids is a good first step,” says Morrow.

Members of the Sage Clan performed a ceremonial drum and prayer outside City Hall following the gathering.

The group then made their way to Galt Gardens to place the shoes and stuffed animals on the steps, observing a two minute and 15 second moment of silence to honour the children lost. A final blessing and song were performed to end the gathering.

All the shoes and stuffed animals brought to the vigil will remain in Galt Gardens for 24 hours before being donated to the community.

Earlier today, the City of Lethbridge, Yates Memorial Centre, Lethbridge College and Lethbridge School Division, among other places, lowered its flags to honour the lives lost.

Plans are being made to identify the remains of the more than 200 children and return them to their homes.

As for Monday’s gathering, both Morrow and Bissonette say they’re humbled and want to thank everyone for attending with such short notice and for showing their support to the community.

All AHS restrictions and guidelines were followed during the gathering with masks being worn throughout the vigil.

(Lethbridge News Now)

by Karsen Marczuk

Vigil held in Lethbridge to honour the 215 children found at residential school

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