Alexander Leach, Editor
WESTMEATH – Westmeath & District Recreation Association invited local residents to help tie 6,105 ribbons on the ball diamond fence, as part of the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
Westmeath Recreation Association member Darren Shackleton, along several other volunteers from the Westmeath area, organized the event within a week of the date.
“It blossomed in a very short period.” he said.
He said the number or ribbons was symbolic of the number of human remains found as part of the investigation into bodies found in mass graves in residential schools, starting with in Kamloops, BC.
The residential schools took Indigenous children from their homes and communities and forcibly educated the.
“In typical Canadian fashion, you need that punch in the gut to get anything done.” Mayor Mike Moore said, who tied ribbons, along with Reeve Cathy Regier and Councillor Neil Nicholson. “It’s all there, and we kinda have to deal with it.”
Several indigenous individuals and families were in attendance, including members of Inuit and Metis descent, including Jerry Gervais, a member of the Metis Nation of Ontario.
“I know that the Metis nation is going to be ecstatic.” he said.
“We have a very small community of Metis people in the area, so the people really have no information on this.
He said Westmeath has a history of Metis community, when a lot of members retired in Westmeath to farm.
The museum in Forester’s Falls also featured an Indigenous window display, and Gervais said that Beachburg public library has a whole new section dedicated to Indigenous authors, curated by Laurie Patterson.
He said that his daughter is also learning her history due to the Day of Truth and Reconciliation, and that it will make more Canadians aware of the history of colonization.
“Just bringing the First nations back into the forefront is good.” he said. “We’re not forgotten anymore.”
