We are all one’: Thousands take part in Walk for Reconciliation – Ubyssey Online

Sept. 26, 2017

On Sunday, thousands crossed the Cambie Street bridge in the Walk for Reconciliation to acknowledge the legacy of Canada’s residential school system. They later convened at Strathcona Park to listen to speakers and watched performances that called for solidarity around efforts to create constructive steps forward.

From 1871 to 1996, “at least 150,000 First Nation, Métis, and Inuit children” were seized from their families and sent to residential schools in a government-ordained attempt to assimilate them into Canadian culture.

Physical, sexual and emotional abuse were extremely prevalent. Thousands of children died in the schools, while the trauma endured by the survivors has damaged their communities for generations.

“The worst thing you can be is Indian — that’s what I was taught when I was little,” said the survivor who opened the event. “I knew they were capable of killing me. They [built] those schools so we’d die.”