Neepawa Observes National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with Two Significant Events

In recognition of Truth and Reconciliation week, the Neepawa Rotary Club hosted Senator Mary Jane McCallum as a speaker and invited several drummers and pow wow dancers from Sandy Bay as guests. Later in the day, the drum group and dancers staged two demonstrations at NACI that were attended by hundreds of students.

Rotary President Wayne Jacobsen began both events with a Treaty Land Recognition statement and a moment of silence to honour the hundreds of children who died while attending residential schools.

Senator McCallum opened her presentation with a prayer in Cree. She explained that she lived at Brochet and along with her brothers and sisters was sent to a residential school near The Pas in 1957. It was a long way from home and they only got to go home in July and August but not at Christmas time.

She stated that life in the north country, in a one room cabin, made survival paramount. She and her family learned at an early age how to survive.

“Life at residential schools was very regimented with no opportunity of expression. I was trained for 11 years not to ask questions. I couldn’t speak my own language and didn’t know my culture when I left there. I drag the residential school with me all the time. For the sake of the children (listening by Zoom) I won’t go into the details of the abuse. It doesn’t matter if you call it persecution or genocide, we were attacked as children by people who were supposed to be God’s servants.”

McCallum laid out a plan for reconciliation and it was simply, “Talk about it and have meetings like this. I was angry but I learned to not ‘go for the throat’ when I was tempted to and had reason to do so. That doesn’t help.” She emphasized the need for love and compassion with one another.

Elder Darren Mousseau or Ebb and Flow First Nation began the pow wow demonstration event with two teachings for the students and members of the public in attendance. “Mother Earth is sick,” he said, “and she’s not going to be with us very long if we don’t start watching what we do to her. … Us as humans are taking too much away from her and we’re not allowing her time to heal.”

The second was directed to the young men in the audience. “If you cannot treat [women] with love, honour and respect, leave them alone.”

He went on to explain the meanings and origins of several of the dances performed at a pow wow, followed by demonstrations of the dances. Students and visitors were invited to join in the dancing before Elder Mousseau fielded questions and shared cultural information including conducting a gift of tobacco, the importance of the eagle feather, and the prohibition of drugs and alcohol from pow wow gatherings.

Senator McCallum and Elder Mousseau bring us similar messages: talk to each other, learn about each other, and share with each other with openness and respect.