Site of future residential school monument at Government House dedicated with traditional ceremony
On National Indigenous Peoples Day, a traditional ceremony marked a spiritual step forward at the future site of a monument honouring and remembering those who attended residential schools at Government House in Regina.
“I have ensured through advice and through conversations and outreach with elders and survivors that we do this the right way and follow appropriate protocols," said Lieutenant Governor Russ Mirasty.
Premier Scott Moe credits Mirasty's work to find a place that will allow people to visit the monument and reflect.
"[Mirasty's] intent of creating that quiet place of reflection, a place for people to sit and reflect on how residential schools have impacted their family, themselves, their friends, and also to use it a place for education for the broader population," said Moe.
The ceremony served to bless the land where the memorial will eventually be built, with the added significance of holding it on the solstice.
"This is when they pray to the land, connect to the other living creatures on the earth," said Joseph Naytowhow, an Indigenous knowledge keeper.
The ceremony is further amplified by recent discoveries of unmarked graves at residential school sites, with more searches set to be conducted.
“Kamloops and every other location that has that tragic news that’s there and we’ll find out about, it certainly reinforces the importance of the work here," Mirasty said. “In spite of the sadness at times, the elders express hope for the future, and I think that’s just as important.”
The physical work on the site is expected to begin soon as officials finalize the details of the eventual monument.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.