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Mushkegowuk Council

Orange Shirt Day Honored by Mushkegowuk Council

Sep 30, 2020
It is to acknowledge the Residential School Survivors, those still living, those who have passed away, and especially those who died in the Residential Schools.
 
The residential school system was set up by the government of Canada to push their goal of assimilation of indigenous people. It was to “get rid of the Indian in the child”. The government believed that if it were to reach their goal of total assimilation of indigenous people that it must be focused on the children. For many generations, our people suffered from the impacts of the Residential Schools, but we have survived.
 
Orange Shirt Day started in 2013 and it is designed to create awareness in Canada that Residential Schools were created by the government to destroy our identity, culture, and languages. It was cultural genocide, something that continues to impact indigenous people as individuals, families, and communities.
 
We must never forget; our children and future generations must know the truth.
 
Mushkegowuk Council – Omushkego Education is pleased to announce the development of Grade 4 and Grade 7 integrated learning units presenting the history, experience, and legacy of the students of St. Anne’s Residential School (Fort Albany) and Bishop Horden Hall Residential School (Moose Factory), in funding partnership with Canadian Heritage – Celebration and Commemoration Program. The learning units will directly support the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, and Ininimowin and Ililimowin, the Cree language of the Mushkegowuk People, will be woven into the resources to support language revitalization programming in the schools and communities. This project will increase awareness and commemorate the history and legacy of residential schools, and it will honour residential schools survivors, their families, and communities.
 
We at Omushkego Education Department, are working hard to restore our education jurisdiction. As long as the government continues to control the education of our children, our children will continue to suffer by being deprived about learning about their identity and the true history of their people. We want to come full circle, with full jurisdiction of our children’s education. We are doing this in the memory of our ancestors.
 
Quote from Dr. Emily J. Faries, Professor Emeritus,
 
“All students in our schools are affected by residential schools, to this day. It is especially important for the current generation of students to know the impact of the policies of residential schools on the people: their community, their family, and themselves. Intergenerational trauma continues to impact our youth. Having an awareness of residential schools that operated in the Mushkegowuk region will help them an understanding of the negative impacts on our people throughout the generations. This is the first step in healing: acknowledging that a wrong has been done. The natural process of healing may follow through nurturing. By understanding what had happened in these two schools, youth will begin to understand the negative results affecting our people and why there are many social and personal challenges. Forgiveness and empathy may result in learning the truth; forgiveness within communities and families, and even for those who have passed on without the opportunity to heal. By gaining this knowledge, students can focus on what they can do to help their people on this healing journey (connecting to the ancestors and their own identities, attaining higher levels of education, living substance-free lives, etc.) towards milo/mino pimatisiwin (living a good life).”
 

Source: http://www.mushkegowuk.com/?p=5338