Newsmakers of the past, present and future
- Kerry Benjoe | December 13, 2021
It's that time of year again when the writers, staff and readers decide who or what dominated the news of 2021.
This year, we decided to do something a little different and focus on stories that highlighted the past, present and future.
Buddah once said, "Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth."
This became abundantly clear over the summer when the truth about residential schools was unearthed.
For decades, survivors of Indian Residential Schools have told stories of horrific abuse, but the most sinister has been the accounts of the children who just disappeared while at the school.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission documented many survivor stories and in its 94 Calls to Action. Calls 71 through 76 deal specifically with missing children and burial information. However, those calls were not answered until the truth could no longer be hidden.
In May, the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announced the discovery of 215 unmarked graves at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.
The news shocked the world except for residential school survivors and their descendants.
The TRC report documented over 3,000 deaths at residential schools according to survivor accounts and archival history but added the death toll was likely much higher.
The many now-discovered unmarked graves and the children who didn’t return home from residential school are this year’s first newsmaker of the year.
Canada operated over 300 Indian Residential Schools for more than a century and the discovery in Kamloops was only the beginning. The number of unmarked graves will take years to determine.
The public outcry after the discovery was loud and leaders responded quickly by declaring September 30 the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Throughout the summer, Indigenous and non-Indigenous people supported the Every Child Matters movement by wearing orange T-shirts.
In lieu of the usual Canada Day festivities, a Day of Mourning was held to honour the children.
Sadly, the names of many of the children may never be known because the records were destroyed or the deaths never documented. At the height of the residential school era, many of the institutions were overcrowded, it was not uncommon to ship children to other provinces and often the children’s traditional names were anglicized by school officials.
It is believed that 150,000 children attended the more than 300 federally funded residential schools throughout Canada.
However, work is underway to identify as many children as possible and return them to their communities.
Many of the ceremonies the children were denied are now able to happen.
Most importantly, they are no longer the forgotten children.
Since Kamloops, several residential school sites in the province have also been searched using ground penetrating radar.
This includes the Marieval Indian Residential School site on the Cowessess First Nation, where more than 750 unmarked graves were discovered.
This attracted international attention for weeks, which brings us to our present-day newsmaker of the year – Chief Cadmus Delorme.
When Cowessess First Nation was thrown into the spotlight, he rose to the occasion.
Delorme fielded the tough questions and although he never attended a residential school, he had family members who did.
The discovery triggered old memories and many members of his First Nation were impacted.
The Marieval Indian Residential school opened in 1899 and closed in 1997. Delorme spoke about the intergenerational trauma residential schools caused and continue to have on families.
While he had the attention of the world, Delorme used it to do what he could for survivors. He called for an investigation into allegations of child abuse at residential schools, he called for the release of all residential school records from the church, and he called for an apology from Pope Francis for the role the Catholic church played in the creation of residential schools.
Delorme is a strong advocate for residential school survivors and the need to right the wrongs of the past.
I've spoken to many Marievel residential school survivors including Phyllis Kretschmer who commended Delorme for being such a strong voice for them.
She said leaders like Delorme leave her feeling hopeful because he is bright, eloquent, and fearless.
The future remains bright for Indigenous people especially when there are young leaders like Isabella Kulak.
In January, the 10-year-old from the Cote First Nation, who attended Kamsack School, made headlines when her story broke. Isabella had chosen to wear her prettiest ribbon skirt to the school formal and was told by a staff member her attire was not formal wear.
Initially, she was dismayed by the criticism.
However, Isabella decided to take a stand and with the help of her family amassed a large group of supporters.
She addressed the media and talked about the incident, but also spoke about the importance of culture.
Isabella’s story reached people around the world, and it sparked a conversation about the significance of clothing among Indigenous people.
The school did apologize to Isabella and her family.
Her parents suggested one good way to raise awareness about Indigenous clothing was to hold a ribbon skirt and shirt day every year, possibly on Jan. 4th, which is an idea the school did not oppose.