'The best thing you can do is learn': Chief Darlene Bernard reflects on Truth and Reconciliation Day

The chief of Lennox Island First Nation hopes Islanders will take time on Truth and Reconciliation Day to learn about the history and culture of the Mi'kmaq who inhabited P.E.I. long before Europeans arrived. 

Chief Darlene Bernard said Sept. 30 can be a somber occasion for some members of the Indigenous community, and it's important to realize that residential schools were still operating in Canada until relatively recently. 

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"We have a large number of survivors who live in our community right now," Benard said Friday during an interview with CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin. "We want them to know how much we admire their strength, their resiliency and how they survived." 

All across Canada, more than 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were forced to attend church-run, government-funded schools between the 1870s and 1997.

Children were removed from their families and culture and forced to learn and speak English, embrace Christianity, and adopt the customs of the emerging country's white majority.

"A lot of us would not be here, in this community today, if they hadn't survived," said Bernard. 

Now in its third year, Truth and Reconciliation Day, commemorates the children who died while being forced to attend residential schools, as well as those who survived and made it home. Their families and communities are still affected by the lasting trauma. 

Hard for children to process

Sept. 30 is an emotional day for members of Bernard's community, and she said it can be especially difficult for children.

"We want our children to know that yes, it happened, but we are moving forward and we are going to ensure their safety." 

Communities like hers are doing work now to make up for the past, she said. "We lost our language. We lost our culture. We lost our traditions. We lost family and people that were important to us." 

We are still mourning the loss of children.— Darlene Bernard

As the country starts down the road of reconciliation, she said, non-indigenous people can take action in small ways. "The best thing you can do is learn about us." 

Bernard and Chief Junior Gould of the Abegweit First Nation are set to observe a moment of reflection Saturday at 11:30 a.m. as flags are lowered at the provincial government's Shaw Building in downtown Charlottetown. Premier Dennis King will be by their side.

Gathering at Eastlink Centre on Sunday

Lennox Island is hosting a Mawi'omi on Sunday to mark Treaty Day, which celebrates the Peace and Friendship Treaties of 1725-1779. It will take place at the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown. 

Bernard hopes Islanders will come out and share in their traditions and culture that day. 

"We are still mourning the loss of children and loss of family. But we have to move on," she said.

"We have to acknowledge the harm that was done so that it doesn't happen again."