10/01/2021
Yesterday, we had the chance to attend two very powerful events for Orange Shirt Day, a day to recognize and remember the victims, survivors and alumni of Indigenous residential boarding schools. For more than a century, tens of thousands of children were forced to attend the schools across the United States and Canada. All of them faced ridicule and abuse. Thousands died. Generations later, the pain is still felt deeply within the Native American community. The first event was a Remembrance and Healing walk on the Seneca Nation's Cattaraugus Territory, where the Thomas Indian School operated more more than a century. At the start of the event, we heard powerful words from Seneca Nation President Matthew Pagels, Thomas Indian School survivor Elliot Tallchief, and Dr. Lori Quigley, whose mother attended a residential boarding school and who has studied the multi-generational impacts of the boarding schools on Native communities for several years. As the community began its walk, we then headed up to Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino, where a large group was completing another "Every Child Matters" community walk. We arrived in time to see a sea of orange shirts making their way back to where the walk began. We heard more powerful words, this time from Caleb Abrams and Pete Hill. The evening concluded with a community Round Dance and songs from the Haudenosaunee Singers. We were grateful to witness parts of both events and to hear the important messages of hope and healing that were shared by so many.
