The 7 Generations Steward Society had a surprise during a small ceremony they held last week to commemorate the 215 children found buried at the Kamloops Residential School.
sa国际传媒淭here was an ceremony downtown, but because it was during the day, a lot of people had to miss it,sa国际传媒� said Cory Cliffe, founder of the society. sa国际传媒淚 talked to the board of directors with 7 Generations Steward Society and we agreed that something needed to happen down at the Spit. It didnsa国际传媒檛 need to be huge, but something needed to happen.sa国际传媒�
The 7 Generation Steward Society was started by Cliffe earlier this year to help build the next generation of Indigenous environmental stewards, providing them with cultural and scientific knowledge to build a sense of ancestral responsibility and environmental protection.
The society organized a group of seven people, five singers and two youth, to hold a small ceremony in memory of those 215 children at Tyee Spit in Campbell River. They were joined by a crowd of people wishing to pay their respects and two Hereditary Chiefs. The singing started with a traditional prayer song, before going into a paddle song.
sa国际传媒淭owards the end of the paddle song, somebody in the crowd started making the body motion of the killer whale. We thought that they were just feeling the spirit, but the next thing you know people were pulling out their cameras and going sa国际传媒楬oly cow, look at that!sa国际传媒� We turned around and there were killer whales coming towards us,sa国际传媒� Cliffe said.
sa国际传媒淚t was a beautiful thing. We went right into a celebration song with a bit of a faster beat and they came in right close to the shoreline and passed right behind us,sa国际传媒� he added.
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Cliffe said that he had spoken afterwards with some Elders and Chiefs, who requested the story be told, saying: sa国际传媒淒uring the time of the great sickness, seven Kwakwaka始wakw men stood on the shores of the Laichwiltach and sang praise to 215 children that were taken by residential school. During that time, our ancestors came in the form of the Killer Whale to carry that message across to the spirit world.sa国际传媒�
To Cliffe, the ancestors coming in the form of killer whales told him that he and the 7 Generation Steward Society were doing the right thing.
sa国际传媒淣aturally, I was really nervous leading up to it and I was kind of wondering sa国际传媒榓m I doing this appropriately?sa国际传媒� Once wesa国际传媒檇 seen the Killer Whales coming through, personally I felt a feeling of relief because our ancestors wouldnsa国际传媒檛 appear if we werensa国际传媒檛 doing things in a good way,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淭hat was really inspiring for me to see. Itsa国际传媒檚 really motivational when things like that happen because we know that wesa国际传媒檙e on the right track to tracking down who we were and representing our people as we are now.sa国际传媒�
Cliffe hopes to continue connecting with the community, especially with the possibility of more children being found at residential school site across the country.
sa国际传媒淔or the next 10 years here in Canada I think that almost monthly wesa国际传媒檙e going to be going through this same feeling of loss as more of these residential schools are hit with the ground penetrating radar,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 going to be a lot of pain. Isa国际传媒檓 glad that 7 Generation Steward Society had its beginning when it did. Theresa国际传媒檚 going to be a lot of work to do in the community to help people heal. Itsa国际传媒檚 a great opportunity to do some cultural sensitivity training.sa国际传媒�
National Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day at 1-866-925-4419.
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marc.kitteringham@campbellrivermirror.com
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