Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition calling on non-Indigenous residents to listen

The co-chair of the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition is calling on non-Indigenous residents to their part to help with reconciliation following a sacred fire at Marion Dewar Plaza.

The ceremony started at sunrise on Monday, June 28, at Ottawa City Hall in wake of the discovery of 751 unmarked graves at a site of a former residential school in Saskatchewan.

Coalition Co-Chair Mikki Adams is asking non-Indigenous residents to simply listen.

“Understand and accept what happened in the history,” Adams told CityNews. “In order to move forward, we need have acceptance and we need to have our time to heal.”

In response to the recent discovery of remains and unmarked graves, Adams explained her mixed feelings about celebrating Canada Day this year.

“I love Canada, I want celebrate it, however, with all that has been done in our history, I need to also ensure that we honour our missing children that are not here today,” she added.

Following recent discoveries at former residential school properties across Canada, Indigenous Elders have reiterated that Canada's issues extend past Indigenous stories and grief.

“This is a collective Canadian history of loss and grief. We have known these stories for a long time. It is only now Canada is ready to hear these stories.”