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Originally Posted by _Q_
I don't see anything being done to right the wrongs of our past. Quite frankly, I don't think anything can be done.
All that is happening is a few empty gestures. Renaming schools, flying flags at half mast, ringing church bells, Facebook posts, etc. All in an effort to make us non-indigenous Canadians feel better and to restore our self righteous place in the world.
There will be calls to "learn from our past, so we don't allow it to happen in the future." Yet we sit idly by allowing similar atrocities to happen in our own back yard and around the world. It's garbage. Our society is garbage.
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It's not. One of the things that is longed for is for the rest of Canada to recognize and acknowledge these events took place. When we were in Inuvuk in the library an elderly lady sat at the table with us, and passed a note. "I was in a residential school." She couldn't speak, but my wife had a conversation, the best they could. She didn't want an apology, just for us to know. My wife hugged her, and they both cried a little. That's what healing looks like.
These aren't empty gestures. Just look around here, we are all discussing it. Acknowledging it happened. That's a huge step. Absolutely, there is loads of work to be done, but getting people onside is step 1. Brushing these name changes off as nothing is the worst way to react.
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The TRC definition of reconciliation:
“. . . Reconciliation is about establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in this country. In order for that to happen, there has to be awareness of the past, an acknowledgement of the harm that has been inflicted, atonement for the causes, and action to change behaviour.”
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https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/what-reco...what-it-is-not
This is where we are now. It's a good thing.