01) WALK FOR RECONCILIATION DRAWS TENS OF THOUSANDS

 

By Kimball Cariou

 

     Tens of thousands of people walked four kilometers in chilly autumn rain through Vancouver on Sept. 22, the culmination of a "Week of Reconciliation" marking the tragedy of residential schools in Canada. The events coincided with the Vancouver leg of hearings conducted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), giving survivors of the schools an opportunity to speak about their experiences.

 

     Estimated by the mass media at up to 70,000 people, the Sept. 22 Walk was likely the single largest demonstration in solidarity with Aboriginal peoples in the history of Canada. Led by First Nations drummers, elders and school survivors, the huge march was underway for over half an hour before participants at the back could even begin walking across the Georgia Viaduct from the downtown core.

 

     The Walk was the concept of Chief Robert Joseph, Hereditary Chief of the Gwawaenuk First Nation and founder of Reconciliation Canada. The Vancouver events were organized by Reconciliation Canada, a collaboration between the Indian Residential School Survivors Society and Tides Canada.

 

     "Over time, it's going to pave a new way forward," Chief Joseph told The Tyee news site. "That's the emphasis, not to forget about the sad and tragic history of residential schools. We'll always, for a long time, continue to struggle for equality and justice, and move away from the harm... We have to begin with courage [and] work on it every day, step by step. It's better than staying where we are: broken."

 

     Starting with no logistical support or funds, Chief Joseph's idea gathered wide backing over the last year, from First Nations, churches, and other sectors of society. This included support from the city of Vancouver and other government bodies, but more controversially, from several corporations such as the Royal Bank and BC Hydro.

 

     In the end, local indigenous organizer Kat Norris reflected the views of many grassroots activists about the Reconciliation Walk. Norris shared concerns about involvement by corporations which profit from the theft of indigenous territories. But in a YouTube video, she concluded that the event was enormously significant for the survivors of the residential schools. That perspective was visible during the Walk, as deeply-moved participants cheered and wept at the sight of the kilometer-long crowd of First Nations people and community allies.

 

     An estimated 150,000 Aboriginal children were taken forcibly into the residential schools from the 1870s to 1996, usually kept from using their own languages and rarely seeing their families. Many suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse, and it has been estimated that several thousand died in these institutions. Government apologies and some monetary reparations have been won, but this assimilationist policy inflicted terrible suffering on Aboriginal nations across the country.

 

     The keynote speaker to kick off the Walk was Bernice King, the daughter of U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

 

     "My father said something very powerful about progress," King told the crowd. "He said, human progress is neither automatic, nor inevitable. Even a superficial look at history reveals that no social advance rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. Every step towards the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle."

 

     A Baptist minister herself, King was among the speakers recently in Washington DC, where thousands gathered to mark the 50th anniversary of her father's famous "I have a dream" speech.

 

     The federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up in 2008 as part of a settlement between the Canadian government, victims, and churches which operated residential schools. The final TRC hearings will be held in Edmonton, and the Commission is scheduled to issue a final report at the end of 2014.

 

(The above article is from the October 1-15, 2013, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)