30/09/2023
Kahkiyaw awâsisak kisewâtotaw
ᑲᐦᑭᔭᐤ ᐊᐘᓯᓴᐠ ᑭᓭᐘᑐᑕᐤ
Every Child Matters
It was a heavy day and week planning to speak and present at two school about the TRC/Orange Shirt Day & Every Child Matters today.
So thankful for my good friend Mandy for all her support and help and having us out in Leduc to share the Importance of honouring the children who never made it home and the thousands of survivors, families and communities affected by the legacy of Indian Residential Schools and Day Schools.
I'm blessed to have planned and presented with my daughter Kiya Bruno , we shared my mother's story and the beautiful of our culture, the beauty of our people, our personal thoughts, feelings, reflections and hope for the future.
Orange shirt day is more than just wearing an orange shirt, this day is worn on my spirit and heart everyday. This day is a reminder of all the Indigenous children we lost, all the Indigenous people we continue to lose and a reminder of all those who are fighting everyday on their healing journey to break the cycle. I commit every day of my life to " Every Child Matters ".
“To those young ancestors who didn’t survive, you are loved, you are remembered, and we will never stop raising awareness, sharing ypur stories, your truth and never not stop fighting for you."
My Mother Noreen Jackson, she was born March 2nd 1959, the mud house she is standing in front of is the home she grew up in as a child. She is a Residential School Survivor. She was sent to Pakan Residential Day School in Goodfish Lake First Nation in Alberta, Canada in 1965, when she was only 5 years old. This is her twin Doreen Mindus and her statement of the treatment that they suffered while attending.
" In 1965 we went to Pakan Residential School in Goodfish Lake. Our first day our Mother walked us 2 miles on a gravel road. The nuns told us we had to cut our hair. We we're reapeately beaten with a strap and yardstick, and our hair was pulled. We we're hit on our backs for doing things like speaking Cree or if they felt like we weren't listening. We were verbally abused on a daily basis. The nuns and priest would not let us use the washrooms when we needed to. We did not deserve the awful treatment.we didn't receive formal education. The nuns would just hand out books for us to do alone. If we made any mistakes or errors they would beat us harder. We we're not taught how to read or write.
When I read my mother's and her twins statement I was so heartbroken for them, no child should deserve the treatment they and thousands of others suffered. My mother is a survivor.... She is a warrior woman, after everything she's been through as a child she still found it in her heart to forgive those her done her wrong. Not because she loves her enemy but because she loves herself and children, her strong spirit was always forgiving. She still holds her head high with pride in her heart for her culture. I admire her Cree spirit, her love for the land and her culture, her passion for her language is inspiring and still speaks fluently today. Her Mother and the Creator imprinted her heart and that is what always kept her sprit alive.
I will always remember this one drive with my mother when she "Barbara" when I was in Day School the nuns and teacher's were cruel, abusive and mean to us, even though they caused us a lot of trauma and pain I didn't let it break me. " I'm happy I'm not broken".
Those words always stuck with me.💔
