THUNDER BAY – In his speech at Vickers Park for Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Orange Shirt Day Walk and Gathering, NAN Deputy Grand Chief Mike Metatawabin informed the public the gathering was held Friday because of the federally instituted Truth and Reconciliation Day statutory holiday on Sept. 30.
Sept. 27 was chosen by NAN’s because it was their “staff who are coordinating this event.”
The impact of choosing Sept. 27 became even more self-aware as Metatawabin shared a conversation he had with a colleague days before the event.
“A colleague of mine, a good friend, he was asking a question. 'Why is it always us? Why is it always the First Nations communities leading this event? When will Canada or Ontario take it upon themselves to lead the event, coordinate, and plan?'” he said.
“We're the survivors and to be asked to coordinate and plan an event . . . it's difficult. It's not easy.”
On Sept. 30, 2021, the federal government marked the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to coincide with Orange Shirt Day, which was first recognized in 2013.
To wear orange on Sept. 30 promotes the concept of the “Every Child Matters” movement as a symbol of the inter-generational impact of colonialism and the residential school system.
“One of the things I was thinking about (while) standing there and listening is that when you acquire property today, in today's terms, when you acquire property or assets, you make payments until you pay it all off. It's the same with the land. You don't just take it and then sell it under your own vision. The land was here,” Metatawabin said.
“We were here and that's the truth. And, that's all we're asking too. We were here and you would not have homelessness if you were to accept that and understand that and appreciate that we would not have homelessness in actuality.
“Technically, I am homeless because they put me on reserve. Those are the hard truths. A hard fact. All First Nations are homeless when we continue to perpetuate the status quo of living on reserve. So, think about those things. That's the reconciliation.”
Before the gathering, the Orange Shirt Day Walk started at NAN headquarters at 200 Syndicate Ave.
Participants in the event walked down Arthur Street to where they could stop and place an offer of tobacco at the former St. Joseph Residential School site, which is currently known as Pope John Paul II Senior Elementary School.
Thunder Bay Police Chief Darcy Fleury attended the event to show his support, as well as provide a presence of partnership with the Indigenous community.
“We're looking forward to moving on and, definitely, remembering the things that have happened in the past and our part. We are making sure that we're doing things right going into the future to make sure that we continue to develop and build those relationships so that everybody feels safe in this community,” Fleury told Newswatch.
At a recent police board meeting, the board was informed that the Indigenous community viewed police service as unsatisfactory, according to their Citizen Satisfaction and Trust Surveys.
Fleury said that attending this event shows that it’s not only about being visible but showing that the Thunder Bay Police Service is doing its part for reconciliation.
“We actually are having the talks. We're actually doing the work," Fleury said. "We're here with all our community partners and really working towards building that trust and pushing what we wanna do together for it, which is the overarching piece of making sure people feel safe in this community.”
Minister of Indigenous Services and Thunder Bay—Superior North MPP Patty Hajdu said that her taking the position as a cabinet minister is to fight for equality and self-determination.
She stated her job was to hold bureaucrats and politicians to their promises of truth and reconciliation and make sure they “reflect on the repairs that the colonial governments and all colonial governments owe in terms of the healing that's required.”
“It's by getting to know each other as human beings, listening to each other's stories, one by one that we actually can, I believe, heal. Canada can only thrive when every single person in this country reaches their full potential,” Hajdu said.
“And so that's why I do this crazy work that I do as a politician every single day because I believe that there is a brighter future but that it starts with truth and it starts with fairness and it starts with self-determination. We cannot continue in a way where governments at every level decide for Indigenous people what's right for them.”
