Nak’azdli Whut’en Chief Aileen Prince wants Canadians to reflect this July 1st on the history of their country’s treatment of Indigenous peoples.
The leader of the First Nation community adjacent to the non-Indigenous community of Fort St. James won’t be participating in Canada Day celebrations.
Instead, she will be wearing orange and encourages everyone to do the same as communities grieve amid the confirmation of unmarked graves at the sites of former residential schools.
“We’re making a statement,” Prince said. “The Canada being celebrated is not the Canada that a lot of people think it is.”
Hundreds of unmarked graves containing the remains of mainly Indigenous children have been detected, affirming the stories of elders and residential school survivors.
The Cowessness First Nation in Saskatchewan announced earlier this week it had found 751 unmarked graves through the use of ground-penetrating radar at the former Marieval Residential School east of Regina.
The discovery came less than one month after the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation in British Columbia said it had discovered what is believed to be the remains of 215 children buried on the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residental School.
Prince believes those numbers will only climb as other First Nations conduct searches of lands surrounding former residential schools.
Horrendous atrocities occurred at the former Lejac Residential School site located on the shores of Fraser Lake, less than an hour’s drive away from Nak’azdli Whu’ten.
Read More: Healing ceremony held for hundreds at former northern B.C. residential school
“I want to make our decision clear on boycotting the Canada Day celebrations. This is not about hating Canada or Canadians,” Prince said in a statement shared on Facebook Friday, June 25.
“It is about taking this day to reflect on what we have to celebrate as Canadians. Our history has to be acknowledged in light of truth.”
The dark historic treatment of Indigenous peoples extends across North America into the U.S. where the federal government recently endorsed the investigation of its past oversight of Native American boarding schools and work to “uncover the truth about the loss of human life and the lasting consequences” of the institutions.
“It was very gutwrenching,” Prince said of the stories she heard on a family trip several years ago.
Read More: Canada Day shouldn’t be cancelled, instead focus on uniting: Indigenous MLA Ellis Ross
(With files from the Canadian Press)
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