'A lot of healing': Truth and Reconciliation ceremonies in London region
Veronica Ninham wipes away tears as she listens to speakers talk about the pain of relatives who attended residential schools.
Ninham, 71, is a first generation residential school survivor.
“I thought about my dad when he was only four years old when they took him away from his mom,” Ninham tells CTV News from a remembrance ceremony on The Green in Wortley Village in London, Ont.
“Not just him, his other brother and two sisters were taken too so my grandma was left with nothing. If it was me, I would feel like dying if they took my kids but my grandma, she did it. She survived eventually she took care of us”. Veronica Ninham, 71, wipes away tears as she thinks about her parents who were taken from their parents as children and put in residential schools (Source: Brent Lale/CTV News London)
A gathering on The Green in Wortley Village Friday featured Indigenous culture with drumming, signing, smoke dancing, jingle dress dancing, and language workshops. Family members of residential schools were recognized and stood in a circle as the young dancers performed.
“Today is a day to remember all the pain and all the trauma and also celebrate the resiliency and everyone survived,” says Mason Sands, 23, a jingle dress dancer and third-generation residential school survivor.
“My dad is a Pow Wow singer, so I was born into the Pow Wow circle, and the jingle dress is a Pow Wow style, so I've always loved it since I was about the age of two. It’s also an Ojibwe dance and I'm part of my nation is Ojibwe so I feel really deep connection to it and it just makes me happy.”
The Eagle Flight Singers performed drumming songs, while Biiindigehizhig Deleary took the microphone as Emcee.Eagle Flight Singers Biiindigehizhig Deleary, Liam Sands and Wesley Jacobs and Jaelynn Sands perform on stage at The Green in London, Ont. (Source: Brent Lale/CTV News London)
“I think I would give the majority of Canadians an ‘A’ for their efforts to learn for their efforts to engage for the efforts to say, what can I do?” says Deleary.
“I would say the federal government has been failing, but Canadians as a whole, organizations, corporations, have been making tremendous strides. I recognize the strides and I say an ‘A’ for all of the work that's being done”.
Festivities continue around the region throughout the day.
In St. Thomas, Ont. a new Truth and Reconciliation crosswalk was acknowledged on Talbot St. next to City Hall.A new Truth and Reconciliation crosswalk was acknowledged on Talbot St. next to City Hall in St. Thomas, Ont., on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)
“As a City, we all play an important role in building a community that is compassionate, inclusive, and equitable,” says Joe Preston, mayor of St. Thomas.
Back on The Green, Ninham was thrilled to see the large crowd remembering together and healing.
“Something's got to happen about this, as this should have never happen to nobody,” says Ninham.
“So it's a lot of forgiving and a lot of healing and we got to tell the people what happened. We got to tell them the truth”.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Freddie Mercury's home is on the market for first time since 1980 minus his 'exquisite clutter'
Freddie Mercury's sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century -- minus his "exquisite clutter."
'The lost season': Winter comes to a close as Canada's warmest on record
The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.