Indigenous, Aboriginals, Natives, which ever name you know them as, they were here first.
Back in the early 1600's, residential schools in Canada were created to assimilate and educate Indigenous children into the Euro-Canadian culture. Residential schools were created by Christian churches and sponsored by the Canadian government. Indigenous children, as young as 3 years old, were taken and removed from their families to go to these far-away residential schools (deliberately designed to be far away from their communities). An estimated 150,000 children attended residential schools and an estimated of 6,000 children died in them. In May of this year, Canadians were shocked to discover the remains of 215 children at the site of a former residential school in British Columbia. As of last month, more than 1,300 unmarked grave sites have been found and more discoveries of these are to be expected.
Though, an official apology came from the federal government in 2008, these words cannot make the suffering and torture faced by the Indigenous Children forgettable. The residential school system was essentially a cultural genocide.
Besides wearing orange on September 30th, continue to support the cause and continue to raise awareness. I have created a crochet pattern design, Dream Catcher Keychain, to help raise awareness. All sales coming from this pattern will be donated to True North Aid in Kitchener, Ontario who directly helps Norther Indigenous Communities through humanitarian movements like providing mattresses, food, and educational kits/toys. If you are not a maker, you can purchase the Dream Catcher Keychain, to show your support and continue to raise awareness and talk about the issue.
Know the truth. Below are some links to help you confirm and start researching more information about this issue.
The Canadian Encyclopedia: Residential Schools in Canada
University of British Columbia: The Residential School System
The Guardian 'Cultural Genocide': the shameful history of Canada's residential schools - mapped