Keewaywin First Nation is the first northwestern Ontario community to publicly oppose July 1 celebrations.
The decision follows the mass grave discovery on former residential school grounds in Kamloops, British Columbia.
Chief George Kakekagumick and Band Council have released a signed statement saying the community will no longer recognize Canada Day as a day to celebrate our country.
The First Nation is calling on the federal government to carry out exhaustive investigations of all former residential school grounds across the country.
Until that happens, Keewaywin officials say they will mark Canada Day as a day of mourning to memorialize all the children and families who endured residential schools and to acknowledge the role the Canadian government and the churches played in the attempted genocide of Indigenous people.
Victoria, B.C. has also decided to cancel July 1 celebrations.
The letter from Keewaywin goes on to read:
“Residential schools were government-sponsored religious schools that were established to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture. In total, over 130 residential schools operated in Canada between 1831 and 1996. In 1931, at the height of the residential school system, 80 residential schools were operating across Canada. In total, an estimated 150,000 First Nation, Inuit, and Métis children attended these schools. The Truth and Reconciliation Final Report concluded that a soldier had a better chance of surviving the Second World War, than an Indigenous child had of surviving the residential school system.”
With files from Mike Ebbeling, CKDR News
