By: Nick Pearce, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter StarPhoenix
There was nothing to celebrate.
COVID-19 cancelled the typically large Canada Day celebrations and fireworks in Diefenbaker Park for the second year in a row.
In their place, events emphasizing mourning, reconciliation and protest were held in Kiwanis Park following the outpouring of grief over the identification of grave sites like those uncovered by Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc in southern B.C. and Cowessess First Nation.
The day opened with pipe ceremony in an ongoing heat wave, drawing hundreds to downtown Saskatoon. The crowd, wearing mostly orange, gathered in the shade to hear emotional speeches and poetry at a speaker’s event called Bring Them Home.
It wasn’t the typical Canada Day, but Allison Forsberg, who organized the speaker’s event, says it was a moment for healing in a community atmosphere.
“It’s not your place to say the healing is not needed. It is needed. It needs to be there,” she said. “You don’t tell someone who’s grieving when their grieving is over.”
The idea to host an event struck Forsberg after the announcement of the graves discovered at Cowessess. Forsberg, who is Cree, said she was “shocked” to see the event come together so quickly, and resolved to push for mutual support and demands for change.
“This is not news to us, but the fact that is news to everyone else hits me in a different way,” noted Ashlee Hicks, who is a member of Cowessess First Nation and a former day student at Marieval residential school. “It is validation that makes you sick.”
Hicks spoke of the harms she suffered growing up as a child of other survivors. In an interview, she said gathering together helped her come to terms with feelings, and recognize how she shared them with others. It was a change to Canada Day, but she said it spoke to the truth.
“I would never prevent (anyone) from celebrating anything. As time goes on, as more of our truth comes out, it’ll just be that much more obvious it has to be said.”
Mayor Charlie Clark told attendees that it was a different kind of Canada Day, dedicated to the stories of residential school survivors in the wake of horrific gravesite discoveries.
He thanked volunteers like Arshviny Ollegasagrem, who represented Islamic Relief Canada, which provided a pancake breakfast, shared water with attendees, and raised money for local Indigenous communities.
Ollegasagrem said it was frustrating to see headlines of attacks on immigrants, Muslims and people of colour, while seeing parallel coverage of Indigenous peoples.
“We will never understand the struggle of Indigenous folks in Saskatoon or Canada, but we definitely understand racism and being oppressed,” she said.
Sharing in a spirit of solidarity, University of Saskatchewan law student André Bear, who is Cree, was one several speakers to call on Indigenous allies to be advocates, pressing their elected officials and communities for change as a national reckoning continues.
“There’s still so much to learn. There’s still so much truth out there that we have to understand,” he said.
(Screenshot of unmarked graves at Marieval residential school)