A day to remember Indigenous children who were taken and did not come home – Notllocal
Sept. 30, 2024
Today, Sept. 30, is a reminder of the children who went to residential schools and didn’t return. It is also about honouring the survivors, learning about their history, and taking action to create “a fairer and better future.”
Indigenous elder Mary Clause has a message for the Niagara-on-the-Lake community. She wants us all to remember “those native children who are not with us today. They are dead, buried some place unknown, and never given the chance to reconnect with their family and community.”
She is grateful, she said, that the Canadian government has declared today, Sept. 30, a national holiday in recognition of The Day of Truth and Reconciliation. “It’s good that it’s a day our Native children who’ve gone missing are recognized with a national holiday,” she told The Local before the ceremony at the town hall began. “It’s a time of learning about our history, a time to share our history, and make sure it’s finally being told. It’s a step in the right direction, to acknowledge the truth of our history, but there is still much more to do, more action that is needed.”
The annual ceremony is “a chance to use our voice, to speak as one voice,” Clause said. “And hopefully, somebody is listening.”
