'Every Child Matters': Residential school survivor attends St. Thomas, Ont. walk
As hundreds gathered for National Indigenous Peoples Day (NIPD) in downtown St. Thomas, Ont., Florence Henshaw stood quietly in the crowd.
"When I was eight years old I was taken from my mother and put in a residential school," says Henshaw. "I wasn't allowed to see her, and then after that I went into a foster home."
In the late 1960s Henshaw attended the Kamloops Residential School in Kamloops, BC.
That is the same school where the remains of 215 children were recently found.
"It's very true and I'm glad it's out now," says Henshaw, who now lives in St. Thomas. "It gives everybody peace and understanding."
This year marks the 25th anniversary of NIPD. This time the date is recognized with a heavy heart, as tributes pour in for the childen lost in residential schools, as well as murdered and missing Indigenous women.
Florence Henshaw, a residential school survivor, looks on at a St. Thomas, Ont. walk for National Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday, June 21, 2021. (Brent Lale / CTV News)
Florence Henshaw, a residential school survivor, looks on at a St. Thomas, Ont. walk for National Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday, June 21, 2021. (Brent Lale / CTV News)
A walk billed as 'Every Child Matters' took place along Talbot Street in St. Thomas Monday afternoon.
"It could have been me, it could have been my father, my grandfather, my grandmother, my aunts, uncles, anybody in my family," says Betty Jean Phillips Budden, the organizer of the walk.
"I cried for days after those children were found, and I just said, 'Tears aren't enough.' This isn't enough either but I just wanted to show care and compassion for the families of the residential school survivors and just remember them."
After a sea of people in orange shirts took over the downtown. The group marched a few hundred metres to the St. Thomas Anglican Church. There people laid 'tokens of rembrance' for the lost children.
"It's a stark reminder of what has happened and historically, it's unfortunate and sad. It's embarrassing," says Adrian ChrisJohn, chief of Oneida First Nation of the Thames.
Oneida Nation of the Thames Chief Adrian Chrisjohn speaks at the 'Every Child Matters' walk in St. Thomas, Ont. on Monday, June 21, 2021. (Brent Lale / CTV News)
Oneida Nation of the Thames Chief Adrian Chrisjohn speaks at the 'Every Child Matters' walk in St. Thomas, Ont. on Monday, June 21, 2021. (Brent Lale / CTV News)
"That's sometimes what people don't like to hear but it's the truth. We have to acknowledge that fact and work towards the real truth and reconciliation when it comes to First Nations and Indigenous people in Canada."
During the hour-long ceremony there were speeches, prayer, song and a 215 second moment of silence in memory of the 215 children from the Kamloops school.
"It's been swept under the rug for too long," says Budden.
"Every once in a while it'll come out, and then we get swept back under. But I don't believe that this time, we as a nation and our peoples, are going to let it to be swept under the rug again."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.