Gathering & Vigil – National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Brantford



Mental Health Services Brantford

Gathering & Vigil – National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Brantford

Qualia Counselling Services will be hosting a Vigil and Gathering to preemptively provide a supportive space to learn, grieve and connect on the grounds of the Woodland Cultural Centre. The event’s purpose is to prepare for the newly designated National Day of Truth and Reconciliation in Brantford, Ontario Canada.

Gathering and Vigil

Date: September 28, 2021

Time: 6 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Place: 184 Mohawk Street, Brantford.

 

The hour-long event will feature song, ceremony, and the voices of elders, survivors and intergenerational survivors, who will share their responses to the newly designated day. The outdoor event is limited to 100 in-person guests and will be live-streamed on Qualia’s social media platforms. Registration is required to attend in-person. You can register at this link.

 

Brantford’s Woodland Cultural Centure

The Woodland Cultural Centre is located on the grounds of the former Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School, which operated in Brantford, Ontario from 1828 to 1970. All guests attending in person or online will be invited to donate to the Woodland Cultural Centre’s Save the Evidence Campaign, which aims ensure that history is never forgotten while raising awareness and supporting the building restoration of the former residential school located at the premises.

 

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Charity Fleming, co-owner of Qualia Counselling Services and Anishinaabe Kwe and Wabauskang First Nation member, is acutely aware of lasting intergenerational impacts residential schools had on Indigenous people across Canada. Throughout her work, Fleming has heard that many people are at a loss as to how to respectfully make meaning of the newly created day. She has heard from Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who are eager to learn directly from survivors.

“The evidence of the horrors that Indigenous children and families faced during the era of residential schools are coming to light as the recovering of the bodies of the children are happening across the country,” said Fleming. “Canadians are waking up to the atrocities. At Qualia, we want to carve out a caring space where Indigenous and non-Indigenous people can come together to grieve, learn more, and share thoughtful guidance on how to acknowledge the harmful legacy of the residential school system.”

Between 1863 and 1996, over 150,000 Indigenous children were taken from their families and placed in Canada’s residential school system. Former Truth and Reconciliation Commission chair Murray Sinclair estimates that 6,000 Indigenous children died while attending the 139 schools.

“This is more than simply a federal holiday and wearing orange,” said Fleming.

“Investing in preparation for this day will help us all learn more and do better. It can be easier for us to face these truths together. We need to put in the work and
make intentional efforts to manifest change, and, one day, the dream of reconciliation.”

 

Resources

Resources for best practices on how to engage in reflection for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30 will be available at event and online.
Tickets and online streaming details for the event for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Brantford event are available online.

For contributing donations to Qualia’s initiative for the Save the Evidence campaign, visit: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/m/64824/donation . Qualia will match
donations up to $10,000.

For more information about Qualia’s Indigenous Counselling Services.

For media inquiries or questions related to the event, email Melissa Ireland at melissai@qualiacounselling.com

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