Truth and Reconciliation event kicks off in Edmonton

To compelling drumbeats and singing, a grand procession wended its way around a packed Hall A of the Shaw Conference Centre this morning, part of the opening ceremonies of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Alberta National Event.
The procession included tribal chiefs in full headresses, RCMP and military personnel, young dancers, provincial politicians, members of the clergy and more.
It opened the seventh and last of a series of national public events organized by the commission, which is looking into the history of Canadian residential schools, which some 150,000 Aboriginal children were forced to leave their families to attend, and where many suffered physical and sexual abuse.
Allowing residential school survivors to relate their own experiences, either in open sessions of the commission or privately, is the main focus of the four-day event. There are also film showings, a free concert, reconciliation lunches, a talent show and displays and artisans.
"We must all at some point get together and reconcile -- and that means all of us," said Chief Cameron Alexis, regional chief of Alberta Assembly of First Nations, following a prayer in Cree by Elder Bob Cardinal.
"We all have to keep working together as First Nations, Aboriginal people, Albertans, Canadians to make this country what the creator meant it to be."
Mayor Don Iveson received received the first of several rounds of hearty applause when he opened his remarks with the Cree greeting "Tansi."
Iveson acknowledged that the meeting was taking place on Treaty Six traditional land, and noted that the location now known as Edmonton has been special place for a very long time, a place of exchange.
"This is not a 200-year-old place," he said. "It's a 10,000-year-old place. And we celebrate that for the richness it conveys."
The mayor noted that Edmonton has an Aboriginal population of 60,000, of whom 12,000 are residential school survivors, and will soon the largest urban Aboriginal community in Canada.
Some people have reacted to that fear, but it is time to stop that, he said. "Indigenous people are welcome."
Justice Murray Sinclair, one of the three members of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, pointed out that it came about as part of the settlement of claims made against the federal government by residential school survivors.
"A national memory was created for this country to ensure this could never happen again."
Sinclair said that purpose of the schools, particularly earlier on, was not education so much as to force Indigenous children out of their own culture and assimilate them to the dominant culture.
Though it was realized shortly after it was put into effect some 130 years ago that the residential school system was not working as a tool of assimilation, the government remained committed to it.
"It took that long for people to realize that wasn't going to happen. Indigenous people are resilient people."
Young indigenous people are beginning to seek out their cultural heritage, he indicated.
"We must first of all ensure our children and grandchildren haves a strong sense of self respect.
The way to reconciliation is to put an end to disrespect, disrespect that is far too prevalent among our leaders.
"What we need to know is to understand the importance of teaching our children and grandchildren to be respectful. It is through involving our leadership in this conversation we know that we can move toward reconciliation and we can stop being so disrespectful to one another."
Reconciliation won't happen in our lifetimes, Sinclair said, but it is possible if we commit to it and it is necessary.
"We are not going to allow the current situation and the situation of the historical past to continue any more."
He added, "This experience of residential schools is not an Aboriginal problem, it's a Canadian problem."
For further information go to www.trc.ca.