The Sacred Fire and Sunrise Ceremony hosted by the Barrie Native Friendship Centre on Monday honoured all who have been impacted by residential schools.
Visitors were invited to reflect, offer a prayer, share stories, learn and heal together as a community.
An unnamed sculpture sits near the base of the Spirit Catcher along Barrie’s waterfront, which was created by artists Josie Fiegehen and Sam ZH, with the direction of Samantha Kinoshameg, executive director of the Barrie Native Friendship Centre.
“We are trying to honour the memory of those who never came home, but also trying to celebrate those who are here, which is why every child matters,” Kinoshameg told BarrieToday.
The tree, representing transformations, cycles and growth, and the relationships with the land, “and we do need those things to regenerate,” she said.
“A few years ago, when the 215 (residential school children) were discovered in B.C., we had people bringing out little shoes, and these are shoe forms that would have been used to actually make those leather shoes, and so we painted them orange for Orange Shirt Day,” Kinoshameg added.
Her father and grandmother both attended residential schools when they were young.
Not far away, a traditional tipi is also being erected, guided by Grey Cloud, also known as James Carpenter.
“For myself, growing up (with) our way of life, our identity, our culture as Indigenous people, I didn’t see this a lot," he told BarrieToday.
“It wasn’t necessarily supported, but as a youngster, I woke up within my spirit and I found our elders and our community centres and friendship centres and our health centres," Grey Cloud said. "And when I went to speak with those elders, they started to help me understand everything that everyone is learning these days about the very hard impacts of what our Indigenous peoples have been through since the creation of Canada."
A Sunrise Ceremony was also held at 6:30 a.m. on Monday.
At 6 p.m. tonight, people are invited to join members of the Indigenous community and participate in the Every Child Matters Walk of commemoration, hosted by Mamaway Wiidokdaadwin Primary Care Team of the Barrie Area Native Advisory Circle (BANAC).
The route will loop from the Spirit Catcher sculpture to Centennial Beach.
