I wanted to wait a little bit to post this as our community continues to grieve. But I do want to share this very important story I had the privilege to work on with four two-spirit residential and day school survivors. We talked about their experiences navigating the world, before, after, and during residential school and where this country has failed and continues to fail two-spirit people.
https://www.tvo.org/article/you-belong-in-this-world-two-spirit-survivors-share-their-stories
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 4,000-page final report does not contain a section dedicated to the specific experiences of Two-Spirit people at residential schools or to the needs of the Two-Spirit community in moving toward reconciliation. In fact, Two-Spirit people are mentioned on only half a page.
“We didn’t know how to cope with life, because we didn’t understand life. The day schools and residential schools, and the Catholic schools, they all taught us the same thing: that it was wrong to be who we were," says Two-Spirit Elder Charlotte Nolin.
“Because of how I grew up, I was so terrified of offending anybody that I chose not to do anything for many, many years,” says Connie Merasty. “But I wish somebody had told me, ‘You belong in this world, you’re a part of this world, you’re a part of creation, and you have every right to be on Earth.’”
The individuals I spoke with were a part of a storytelling project organized by Fierté Canada Pride and led by Jennifer LaFontaine. Over the next three months, there will be a number of screenings of digital stories that were created as a part of the workshops, with the storytellers in attendance. The first screening (link below) will take place on July 22 in a joint presentation with Fierté Canada Pride and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. There will be additional sharing events announced.