Hmmm, is one commemorative day enough for the injustices that were inflicted?
Today is National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada. A day to recognize and celebrate the traditions, cultures and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Mètis peoples. It takes place annually on the summer solstice – the longest day of the year and the first day of summer.
Summer solstice holds deep spiritual and cultural significance for many Indigenous Peoples marking a time of renewal, connection and celebration.
The theme for National Indigenous Peoples Day 2025, “Keeping the Circle Strong through the Sacred Relationship with Mother Earth”, reflects the pride that First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities take in their rich heritage, traditions and cultures by being the caretakers of Mother Earth and of water the giver of life.
The commemorative day was originally called National Aboriginal Day, when it was declared by Governor General Romeo LeBlanc back in 1996, and renamed in 2017.
It has been a long and painful journey for Indigenous Peoples in Canada to gain recognition and some measure of reparation for the many injustices they were subjected to over the years. A brief history lesson in this area is necessary.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) ran from 2008 to 2015 and provided those affected by the legacy of the residential schools policy with the opportunity to share their stories and experiences.
There were 140 federally run residential schools in Canada that operated between 1867 and as late as 1996. More than 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Mètis children were taken from their families and communities and forced to attend schools far from home.
The explicit intent of these residential schools was to separate these children from their families and cultures – a move that the TRC characterized as cultural genocide.
The residential schools were underfunded and overcrowded. The quality of education was substandard. Children forced to attend the schools were harshly punished for speaking their own language. Staff were not held accountable for the way they treated the children.
Thousands of children suffered physical and sexual abuse at residential schools. All children attending the schools suffered from loneliness and were deprived of love and respect. Many died and/or never returned to their families.
The schools hurt the children but also hurt their families and communities. Their cultures, traditions, languages and knowledge systems were eroded by forced assimilation. The damages inflicted by residential schools continues to this day.
One memorial day hardly seems sufficient for the harm inflicted upon Indigenous Peoples. So let us consider it not a one and done acknowledgement, but rather a day to keep alive in our minds every day the injustices inflicted upon them and the debt of reparation we owe to them.
~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet
~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .
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Tags: metaphor · Michae Robert Dyet · National Indigenous Peoples Day · residential schools · Truth and Reconciliation CommissionNo Comments