A series of racist videos posted earlier this month by residents of the town of Massey, northern Ontario, has caused shock and outrage, especially among members of the neighboring Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation. neighbor. But last Friday, members of both communities came together to march in support of unity and reconciliation.
The videos in question were recorded at a house party on February 5 and show young adults dancing and drinking while toying with the orange Every Child Matters flag – the flag that the Indigenous activists have used to raise awareness of abuses in the residential school system.
In one of the videos, a man even admitted to stealing an Every Child Matters flag from the former site of the Spanish Residential School in Spain, nearby Ont.
Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation member Cynthia Owl told CTV News: “It brings a lot of pain and I think of my grandfather, father and the survivors.
Owl was also one of the co-organizers of Friday’s march. She said she wanted to use the incident as an opportunity to raise more awareness for students who survived in the neighborhood and kids who had never been home.
“We think the best thing to do to raise awareness is to do a walk for reconciliation – a walk for peace – to let people know that we are a forgiving nation,” says Owl. , humble and we just want to show love.”
On Massey’s side, local high school teacher Jayson Stewart also co-organized the march.
“When we watched the videos … on social media, I knew we had to find something good out of it, something positive out of it,” he told CTV News. “And so, I contacted and started working with the residents of Sagamok.”
With police on duty, two groups of pedestrians met at the bridge to signify connection and peace and marched through the town of Massey before gathering in a parking lot for a protest.
“We need to bring this into our education system,” senior and residential school survivor Harvey Trudeau said at the rally. “It’s the best kept secret in Canadian history.”
Stewart agrees that the lack of education and awareness of what has happened in the residential school system continues to be widespread.
“As an educator myself, it’s a wake-up call to the amount of work we still have to do,” he said.
Across Canada, more than 1,000 potential unmarked graves have been found at formerly residential school sites. Many children from Sagamok have attended the Spanish Boarding School and this spring, community members plan to begin ground-penetrating radar scanning at the site.
One of the individuals involved in the videos even participated in Friday’s walkout. Owl hopes that the hike could be a turning point in mending the strained relationship between the town and the First Nation.
“We got a lot of support from Massey,” says Owl.
“We want to come forward and reconcile.”
