Following news from the Tk̓ emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation and the discovery of the unmarked burial sites at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, there has been an outpouring of support for survivors within Tsleil-Waututh Nation. Our survivors have now become our Elders. They are our knowledge keepers and the most cherished members of our Tsleil-Waututh community.
As a way to support our Tsleil-Waututh Nation survivors, we have established a Tsleil-Waututh Nation Residential School Survivors Fund. Funding will go towards:
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- Having a counsellor to assist with completing Indian Residential School Survivor forms
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- Making available counselling and healing platforms for all affected by residential school
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- Creating supports in both a group and 1-1 setting
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- Establishing elders programming to maintain and preserve Tsleil-Waututh Nation culture and values
Should you wish to donate to the TWN Residential School Survivors Fund, please review the Donation Payment Instruction document below. For more information, please contact: accounting@twnation.ca
When they buried the children
What they didn’t know
They were lovingly embraced
By the land
Held and cradled in a mother’s heart
The trees wept for them, with the wind
they sang mourning songs their mother’s
didn’t know to sing
bending branches to touch the earth
around them. The Creator cried for them
the tears falling like rain.
Mother earth held them
until they could be found.
Now our voices sing the mourning songs.
with the trees. the wind. light sacred fire
ensure they are never forgotten as we sing
JUSTICE
-abigail echo-hawk
(St. Paul’s Indian Residential School, North Vancouver, BC).
