Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Opening Address, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

Winnipeg, Manitoba
June 16, 2010

(Inuktitut)
Thank you Commissioners, Minister Strahl, Elders, Survivors, Honoured Guests.
I am proud to be here this afternoon to share this important step in our journey forward, in reconciliation.
And back, in reflection.
I am hopeful that this week’s gathering will help to bring us together in unity and common purpose.
Give meaning to our struggles.
And allow us to draw strength from each other.
PAUSE
Healing, as we have discovered, is a migration, not a destination.
It often follows a meandering path.
It carries us forward, but also in many other directions.
And it begins slowly. And softly. And carefully.
(Inuktitut)
For Inuit, the journey began many decades ago.
It began when former students first began speaking about the trauma they experienced at residential school.
They spoke of their isolation.
Their feelings of powerlessness
Their loss of identity.
Leaders spoke about the pain and anguish in their broken communities.
PAUSE
We learned that we were part of a long, unbroken period of Aboriginal education policy in Canada…
… that began with a vision to assimilate us.
To break us.
(Inuktitut)
Today, we have come to understand what the word assimilation means.
But at the time, all our parents and grandparents knew was that their children were being removed from their homes…
…and taught a language that forever distanced them from the knowledge of past generations.
Testimonies from former students, as well as government and church records, told us what went on inside the walls of those schools…
… about the abuse, mistreatment and neglect that occurred.
But beyond those walls, there was silence.
(Inuktitut)
The survivors who had the courage to finally break that silence triggered a process of change.
The first step in moving beyond the burden of the past was giving voice to the experience.
The next step was to begin the process of rebuilding who we are as Aboriginal People. As Inuit.
Before our modern history, Inuit never had to question who we were.
The roots of our language and our culture lay in the knowledge of our ancestors. This knowledge was the foundation of our understanding of who we were.
The residential school period, and its multi-generational trauma, shook our belief in ourselves.
(Inuktitut)
So every opportunity we have to teach our children to speak our language…
…every decision we make to preserve Inuit knowledge…
…every policy decision that gives value to our heritage…
…is an investment in restoring who we are as Inuit.
Each decision is part of the process of building a 21st century Inuit identity that draws from the unshakeable foundations of our ancestors…
…an identity that is equal and unique within Canada.
Educating ourselves about our past is an essential part of reclaiming our future.
(Inuktitut)
We are the living.
We must overcome the shame of the past and honour the shattered lives of former students who could not make it this far.
Our job is to build a culture of hope and promise for our children.
Reconciliation is the process of telling others about this journey.
Of learning from the past.
And planning for the future.
It is the small acts of kindness we show to one another and every step we take to understand the pain of others.
PAUSE
We all know that healing moves at different speeds for different people.
This day is for the students who came forward years ago to tell us what happened.
And for all who came after them.
And all those who have yet to tell their stories.
This is a day to honour their courage by taking strength from their voices and building a new era of hope and change.
Nakurmiik.