Remembering Residential Schools

A social media post from a non-Indigenous friend who works in a northern Ontario community as a doctor

(posted June 1)

Well, it's been quite the day.

It is again a privilege and an honour to live in this beautiful community. The people here have been so directly and intimately affected by residential schools...most of the people we know well attended these schools. There are so many different kinds of hurt. It has been an emotional couple of days...I was surprised how emotional for myself, thinking about how my son is the same age as the youngest child whose remains were found recently; how he will be starting school this fall - returning to the safety and comfort of our home and our arms every night - and how this is the same age as the father of a woman here in the community. She posted about her dad's experience leaving his home here at age 4 to go to residential school. And even if nothing else had gone badly about the experience I just cannot fathom sending my little boy away this September. And then to imagine that things did go wrong. So many things went wrong.

It has been a rough couple of days emotionally for many people here. Many of them have said they are feeling the grief of their people. I can only imagine. But I feel that grief too - at least a shadow of it.

Grieve well, dear friends. We hear you. We love you. For what it's worth, we are so sorry any of this ever happened. And may the morning bring new light again.