Truth and Reconciliation Commission readies for BC National Event
KAIROS Saskatoon’s Expression of Reconciliation at the Saskatoon National Event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (June 23 2012) Photo: Jennifer Janzen-Ball
Bear witness to truth and reconciliation September 19-21
The national Truth and Reconciliation Commission resumes its work with the BC National Event in Vancouver September 19-21. Survivors or former students of the Indian Residential Schools System run by the Canadian government and four Canadian churches will gather with their families and the wider Canadian community and tell their stories. These stories will be formally recorded by one of the TRC’s three Commissioners in order to create a permanent historical record of this chapter in Canadian and church history.
KAIROS invites you to watch the testimony, pray, and take action.
As always, your listening and witnessing are very much needed and welcomed. You can watch the online video and audio livestream at http://www.livestream.com/trc_cvr
Some people have been gathering in groups to watch testimony; others are listening individually. Either is an important gesture of respect towards the survivors and the truth they are sharing, as well as a contribution to a new relationship.
If you plan to be in the area please come out to events or visit the KAIROS display in the Agrodome!
KAIROS is honoured to participate in the event with Guatemalan Indigenous partner Naty Atz Sunuc, members of our national Dignity and Rights and Indigenous Rights Circles, KAIROS local and regional groups, and staff. All events are also posted to our national calendar. Our work begins September 15 with an ecumenical service and an evening public event with food, dancing and a forum. We are deeply thankful for the many local and regional relationships that make this work together possible.
The TRC has now posted the official schedule. For more information on the many additional public events planned by Reconciliation Canada, see their site.
This will be an important week for Vancouver, BC and Canada as a whole. We ask you to pray or send your good thoughts to everyone participating, with particular care for the survivors and their communities and families as they courageously tell their truth. May we all have the courage to listen.
To learn more about the Indian Residential Schools System, its enormous impact on Indigenous people and communities, and how we might continue our common work towards reconciliation, truth and equity, please visit www.trc.ca and www.kairoscanada.org/tre
Consider holding a Blanket Exercise, an interactive workshop on right relationship that teaches the history many of us never learn and puts the residential school system in a bigger context. Email KAIROS to get a copy of the script and a list of other resources: info@kairoscanada.org
Many of KAIROS’ members also have excellent resources to help their members talk about residential schools, so please be sure to check these out.
