In the context of the identification of hundreds of unmarked graves of Indigenous children near former Indian Residential Schools — including the most recent location of 751 unmarked graves by the Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan — there will be a gathering and march in Montreal this coming Thursday, July 1st to honour Indigenous children, denounce genocide, and demand justice.
The former Marieval Indian Residential School near the Cowessess First Nation, was administered from 1901 to 1979 by members of the Sœurs de Saint-Joseph, a religious congregation based in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. The school was closed in 1997.
Montreal’s gathering and march is part of dozens of #CancelCanadaDay events across the country on July 1st. Montreal’s event will begin at 2pm near Parc Jeanne-Mance (at the Monument Cartier) and after speakers, ceremony, music and drummers, the gathering will march to the site of the now toppled John A. Macdonald Statue at Place du Canada (near Peel and René-Lévesque), with a few symbolic stops at sites in the downtown area, including the site of the death of Raphael André. A car convoy towards Montréal from Kanehsatake, to commemorate those lost to the residential schools, will be joining the gathering as well.
According to Nakuset of the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal and a co-organizer of the gathering: “My mother went to residential school in Saskatchewan; those children could be my relatives. We are organizing this gathering as a space to come together, share our pain and grief, and gain strength from the wisdom of our elders.”
Jen Jerome, a child welfare survivor and a member of the Mi’kmaq community of Gesgapegiag who is helping to organize the gathering, states: “We want Canadians to recognize that our people have suffered so much in the past and still today. Gathering together on July 1st is a way to honour and commemorate the generations of our peoples who were eliminated from these stolen lands. The emotions we are feeling are beyond words.”
Nakuset adds: “The policy of residential schools was to remove children far away from their communities so that they couldn’t run away; the multi-layers of cover-up of crimes is astounding. Anyone who is celebrating Canada on July 1st is celebrating oppression.”
The Montreal gathering on July 1st will be respecting COVID-19 green zone guidelines, which means wearing masks and practicing social distancing during demonstrations outdoors.
For more information about the gathering: www.facebook.com/events/882792655649147
While the gathering begins formally at 2pm, media spokespersons will be available on-site at 1:30pm.
