It’s been a tough few days lately with the resurrection of the life and death of these 215 children buried in mass graves at the Kamloops residential school. It has brought up a lot of different energy and feelings for me. That is the thing regarding trauma, it forces you to either run and hide or face it head on.
I choose to face it, head on. The reality is that these sufferings are super deadly. It is such a tragedy on so many levels. After processing my deep resentments and anger and frustrations around the injustice of it all, I certainly spent some time in deep prayer and reflection.
The time afforded in conversations with the spiritual are indeed food for the soul. I sent out blessings in hope, love, comfort and strength to all the family members involved. To the moms, dads, aunties and uncles. The sisters and their brothers, their grandmas and grandpas and to all in their family bloodlines. It was needed for them and for me. It helped me to deepen my understanding of the realities of residential schools.
My Anishanabe grandma, my moms mom suffered gravely in residential school. I am a 60’s scoop survivor as the direct result. I feel that at the end of the day, these are the things I can do to help make that a lighter place. I can do “medicine work” around that with the spirit. I know my grandma knows this. She would want for me to be my authentic self. Having no shame in being a human being and putting all of myself, out there.
To continue to share my truth with all of you and around the world. To never hide what happened to us as First Nations. To be proud of surviving the colonizer’s death traps. To continue educating myself and others about the reality and the truth of what we have endured as Anishanabe people, on our home lands.
The place where Canada and their churches performed their crimes against us. Their crimes against humanity. For now...we will continue to heal and we shall continue to grow into the beautiful creations that we are. All my relations, MAJ
