Chestermere residents came together on June 11 at Camp Chestermere to mourn and honour the 215 remains that were discovered at the Kamloops B.C. residential school.
The memorial began with stories from elders, a prayer, smudge ceremony, lighting of 215 lanterns, drumming, and a moment of silence.
“These little souls were removed from their family, they were murdered, beaten, died of neglect, starvation, and disease. This is cultural genocide and it happened for generations,” said Chestermere-Strathmore MLA, Leela Aheer.
“That pain collectively is ours to bear, but it’s also the starting point of how we move forward in order to honour not only those who we have lost but to continue to build relationships and understand what our future looks like, a positive, amazing, beautiful, and culturally together future,” she said.
Adding, “This is an opportunity to be better and to do better, every one of us holds the opportunity to lead and make decisions, shift the culture to understanding, and to work alongside our elders, sisters and brothers.”
The Executive Director of Camp Chestermere, Shannon Dean, was first inspired to put 215 ribbons on the fence at Camp Chestermere for community members to have a place to mourn.
“Camp Chestermere’s motto is we are a place to belong, we are a gift to the community, and I thought there’s no way we can say those are our values and do nothing,” Dean said.
“We want to be a gift to the community, so people have a place to come and mourn, remember, reflect, and acknowledge their own ignorance,” he said.
As Dean was putting up each ribbon, he realized that each one represented a child.
“I realized each ribbon was a kid, each ribbon was a dream, each ribbon was a story, and the story matters and Camp Chestermere wants to acknowledge their story,” Dean said.
Through the memorial, residents had the opportunity to not only grieve the loss of 215 First Nation children but to learn from each other and to listen.
City Councillor Ritesh Narayan has been approached by individuals asking what they can do to help, and he has told them to advocate, put pressure on all levels of government, check-in on Indigenous friends, neighbours, and colleagues, honour the children, support Indigenous artists and businesses, continue to educate themselves, and participate in the healing process.
“Imagine a carton of milk, all you need is one drop of lemon juice and the entire milk spoils, all we need is one life lost, and the entire municipality, province, and the nation suffers. When it comes to healing, it’s not just the community, but we need to heal as a nation,” Narayan said.
“We still have much work to do, we ask our Indigenous neighbours for their guidance, we ask our community for their support, and we ask that each one of us commit to finding new ways to unite the spirit of reconciliation,” he said.
President of the Multicultural Youth Society of Chestermere, Satish Lal was extremely touched by the stories elders told during the memorial.
“No memorial event like this will replace the souls that we have lost, this is a tremendous loss. It will be hard, it will be challenging, but there are steps that need to be taken to move forward, to better communicate, to better understand multiculturalism in every community and culture to have a diverse and inclusive society so everyone can call Canada home,” Lal said.
“There will never be enough to replace those lives, and the pain that has been endured, it can’t be mended by our words, but we can prevent it now, that’s what needs to be done. Actions are more required than words. We need to take action, and come together and make it happen,” he said.
Adding, “Words can’t explain the sorrow, the sadness, and how many people are affected by this. This should be a daily thing to remember these children, these are our kids and our future. Words aren’t going to make a difference, it’s the love and the actions that will mend.”
