Saugeen First Nation Elder Shirley John recited an Ojibway prayer and a Water Song at the Saugeen District Senior School Reconciliation Assembly October 21.

Hub Staff

In an October 21 assembly, the Saugeen District Senior School (SDSS) declared their commitment to the reconciliation process between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada.

The auditorium was packed with close to 1,000 students ranging from Grades 7 through 12. Two Anishinaabe students who had never before stood before the podium in front of their peers, stepped up to raise awareness of their culture and their ancestors. Grade 10 student Mackenzie Roote described the way the Elders in her community are respected and committed to sharing knowledge and providing guidance to younger generations.

“When people need advice, they ask their Elder,” explained Roote. “When they need healing and if they have a sickness, they always go to their Elders to ask about plant medicine to help them,” she said.

Roote, along with Grade 11 student Tegan Wesley, welcomed Saugeen First Nation Elder Shirley John who introduced herself as Strong White Buffalo Woman from the Loon Clan and an Ojibway Mohawk from the Saugeen First Nation. Her Helper is the Turtle and Spirit, the Grizzly Bear.

John conducted an Ojibway prayer that she said reminded her of her ancestors that have passed onto the Spirit World.

“Make my hands respect the things you have made and make my ears sharp when I hear your voice,” recited John. “Make me wise so I may understand what you have taught my people and the lessons that you have hidden in each leaf and each rock.”

John continued with a Water Song that she sang to the four directions that she said represented the Anishinaabek in the east, the oriental people in the south that bring love, the coloured people in the west that bring the ancestor teachings, and the white people in the north that bring purity for all nations.

John noted that students of SDSS may be related to the ancestors from Saugeen that were sent to the residential school. “I too went to a residential school and I would like you to know that,” said John. “Even though that I only went for one year, it still has an impact on this person.”

Two videos were shown to students that illustrated the horrors of residential schools. The first video was narrated by Chief Robert Joseph, a residential school survivor who recalled being removed from his home, his family, and his Elders, to an institution with 220 other children where they were stripped of their culture.

The second video, The Secret Path, was produced in part by the late Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip which told the story of Chanie Wenjack who fled a residential school in the 1960s and attempted a 600 kilometre trek back to his home and family. Although Wenjack had managed to escape his captors, the 12 year old succumbed to starvation and exposure before making it home.

SDSS student Zoe Shave revealed facts about residential schools that in Canada spanned 165 years from 1831 and 1996. Over 150,000 Indigenous children from across the country were taken from their homes and families and forced to attend. Residents of Saugeen First Nation were taken to Mohawk Institute Residential School that was in operation from 1831 to 1969 and was located over 200 kilometres away, in Brantford, Ontario, an estimated 40 hour trip on foot, indicated Shave.

“The cumulative impact of Canada’s attempt to assimilate entire generations by residential schools is a legacy, unresolved trauma passed on to generation to generation and it has had a profound effect on the relationship between aboriginal peoples and other Canadians,” announced Shave.

Grade 12 student Jamie Kuhl described the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) and the resulting Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement.

“The Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, the IRS, is the largest class action settlement in Canadian history,” noted Kuhl. “This exemplifies the impact that the trauma that Indigenous peoples in the residential school systems endured was, and still is, very severe."

SDSS teacher Bud Halpin, an unlikely one to speak at assemblies, said his passion for the subject brought him to the podium. Halpin described a Legacy Spaces project and encouraged all students to participate by helping with the design of informative signage and incorporating a motif to visibly identify each space. The construction and art classes of SDSS will be heavily involved with the building and structural design of the Legacy Spaces.

Halpin plans to have one built at the high school, as well as one at Unifor, Nodwell Park and possibly Saugeen First Nation.

“So many people I don’t think really realize how much we’ve ignored the First Nations people of this country,” said Halpin. “This is something that we can do here, that will be something tangible and something that we can see and something that will reach out," he said.

“We have to realize that these things reach across generations,” said Halpin. “The generations that had been done wrong is continuing on, onto their children."

“You may not get this now, but I think you’re going to get this later in your life if you’re just patient with it," urged Halpin.

Saugeen District Senior School students Tegan Wesley (left) and Mackenzie Roote spoke to their peers at the Reconciliation Assembly held October 21.

Construction Technology teacher Bud Halpin shared his plans to build Legacy Spaces in Saugeen Shores to help move towards reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada.

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