Author of the article: Anthony Dixon
Published Sep 30, 2022, Pembroke Observer
FEATURE IMAGE: As part of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation events in Pembroke, marchers head out from the Waka-ehi Lodge on Isabella Street on their way to the Pembroke marina for a candlelight vigil to remember Indigenous children who died in Canadian residential schools and to honour survivors and their families. Anthony Dixon Photo by Anthony Dixon /jpg, PM
Friday, Sept. 30th was the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada, a day to honour the children who never returned home and the survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities.
To mark the day, Family and Children’s Services of Renfrew County and The Circle of Turtle Lodge held a bannock and drink drop-in and ribbon cutting ceremony at the Waka-ehi Lodge on Isabella Street in Pembroke. This was followed by the placing of shoes and drumming ceremony at Saint Jean Baptiste Roman Catholic Church at 2:30 p.m. and a community walk to the Pembroke marina where a candlelight vigil was held.
Earlier in the day, the City of Pembroke partnered with The Circle of Turtle Lodge and Algonquin College to present the “KAIROS Blanket Exercise.” The Blanket Exercise is based on Indigenous methodologies and the goal is to build understanding about the shared history of Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada by walking through pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization and resistance.