Tara Jeffrey
A sea of orange made its way through downtown Sarnia last week as nearly 300 people gathered and marched to mark the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
“I want to acknowledge the allies that are here, that are going to walk with us today,” Sarnia’s Lila Bruyere told the crowd at City Hall, before making their way to the waterfront flag plaza. “We need you, and I want to say Miigwetch for walking with us today.”
The event, organized by the Sarnia-Lambton Native Friendship Centre, hosted speakers including Bruyere, who recounted the horrors of residential schools, including her own abuse from age six to 14 at St. Margaret’s residential school in Fort Frances.
“I use a walker today, because of the beatings I sustained in the school,” said Bruyere, who struggled with addiction as a result of that trauma, before working as an addictions counsellor at Aamjiwnaang First Nation for several years. She went on to obtain her Master’s Degree at Wilfrid Laurier University, and in 2019, was named to Canada’s National Survivors’ Circle.
“I don’t want you to feel sorry for me,” she told the crowd. “Because I use this [walker] in a good way. I’m pretty stubborn and what I do every day is I go for a walk, and I want to keep walking.
“Even though I’m crippled up, I still have a lot of things to do,” she added, with a laugh. “And thank goodness that I’m bullheaded and that I’m out there. That I’ve got a strong will, and I say, ‘Time to get up, time to use my voice.’”
September 30 marked the first federal statutory holiday created to honour the lost children and survivors of residential schools, their families, and communities.
Thousands of children sent to Canada’s 140 residential schools between 1831 and 1998 never made it home, while ground searches continue to uncover mass unmarked graves at sites across the country.
Locally, research conducted by the late elder Geraldine Robertson identified 161 survivors from Aamjiwnaang First Nation, while at least seven Aamjiwnaang children, ranging in age from seven to 15, are known to be buried at Shingwauk Indian Residential School.
“I didn’t choose to be a survivor — I was ordered,” said Bruyere. “I was ordered what clothes to wear… I was number 16 for a lot of years, and I didn’t have a name.
“But now my name is Dancing Eagle Woman… and it’s my turn to teach you about residential schools.”
Anyone in need of supports can contact the Aamjiwnaang Health Centre, or, call the Indian Residential School Survivors and Family Crisis line at 1-866-925-4419