National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Each year, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada.

This day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities.

In the Northwest Territories, the legacy of the Residential School System is still deeply felt by the generations of Métis who passed through it, I am among the many that did.

The trauma for many of us affected Métis still lingers and has negatively affected our lives and the lives of our families. Our remoteness at times to loved ones, along with other effects of residential school, lasts a lifetime for some, and our hearts at NSMA, go out to those still suffering, many in silence with stories they cannot bear to tell.

We Métis and First-Nations residential school survivors continue the journey as we explore the past, look for our lost and attempt to comfort each other and somehow move on.

I hope our NSMA Community will pause to reflect and provide comfort and hope to those who continue their struggle during this and every day and that the memory of the loss provides strength to those coping with the residential school legacy.

Marc Whitford

President, NSMA