Learning together on the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

The public school division decided to keep schools open.

Assistant superintendent Corey Sadlemyer says they didn’t want people to have tomorrow off and not think about the meaning of the day.

“At the heart of if we really saw this as an opportunity to be together, to learn together about truth and reconciliation,” he says.

Willier has spent months gathering and developing grade-appropriate materials and information on truth and reconciliation.

He says he always lets teachers and students know one thing.

“This is information that you parents, didn’t know about or your grandparents, the older generation because it wasn’t taught in schools and it’s slowly being taught now,” he says. “And we, our people, we just have to be patient with the process and think about in two, three generations it’ll be widely known as to what residential schools were and how it came about.”

“Truth and reconciliation is just that. Learning about the truth so we can learn about reconciliation. Because if we don’t deal with the truth how can we deal with reconciliation?”

Sadlemyer agrees, saying that what’s taught and learned tomorrow won’t make a change overnight, but will over time.

“I think about my own experience as a student in Alberta and a teacher in Alberta that I taught a part of history but not all of it,” he says. “And now we’re going to have a generation of learners that will get to learn the truth and I think that will allow us to proceed with reconciliation.”

The Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education says it will be an instructional day for the schools to provide specific instruction and activities to honour residential school survivors, their families and communities. Prairie Rose Public School has cancelled classes for the day. Flags will be lowered to half-mast from the evening of Sept. 29 until the morning on Oct. 1.

There are opportunities for learning outside of school tomorrow as well.

The Miywasin Friendship Centre is hosting an event in Riverside Veterans’ Memorial Park from 5 to 7 in the evening.

It will include dancing, drumming, a prayer from a Kaiani elder and the centre will give gifts to some of the residential school survivors in the city.

Cultural coordinator Brenda Mercer says it was a difficult summer with thousands of bodies and unmarked graves found at former residential school sites across Canada.

“I know there were so many people that came up to me crying and didn’t know what to do,” she said. “So I feel like there needs to be conversations and we’d be happy to help with that.”

Willier says this is Canada’s history, not just First Nations, Métis and Inuit history

“Truth and reconciliation is just that. Learning about the truth so we can learn about reconciliation. Because if we don’t deal with the truth how can we deal with reconciliation?”

For more information, to learn how you can commemorate the day and learn more about Indigenous history and culture visit the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation webpage.

by Chris Brown

Learning together on the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

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