Julien is a Canadian student from the indigenous Métis group and he hold the first Focus of this academic year
“If you have anything orange, please wear it tomorrow!”. This is how Julien – a Canadian student from the indigenous Métis group – rounded off the email inviting his fellow students and the College staff to take part in his Focus on “Indigenous peoples of Canada”.
The first Focus of this academic year took place on 30 September 2021, which coincided with the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, established by the Canadian Parliament last summer. When asked to comment on this date Julien explained how much it meant to him to tell his peers about something that forms such a part of his identity. “It is often thought that the culture of indigenous peoples is something that belongs in the past. It was great to answer the questions of my peers and show them how this culture is still alive and present today”.
The Focus was especially timely owing to the current debate in Canada on the role of “Residential Schools”. These schools, run by the government and the Catholic Church from 1863 to 1998, brought together indigenous children taken from their families to receive a Western education, forcing them to relinquish their language and culture, aiming to eradicate them from their collective memory. Besides the emotional and psychological trauma caused by this schooling, the conditions in which these children lived were often appalling. The schools and residences were located in shabby and poorly built facilities, they were badly heated and hygiene was also extremely poor: it is estimated that more children died in residential schools than Canadian soldiers during World War II.
The call to wear orange as a sign of solidarity with the survivors comes from something that happened in one such school when someone stole from Phyllis Webstad – then a six-year-old girl and now a survivor – the new orange jersey that she had decided to wear on her first day of school.
Wearing orange as a sign of solidarity, remembering these events and talking about one’s traditions is essential for young Métis like Julien. A way to show that despite the atrocities perpetrated to suppress it, their indigenous culture is still present in Canada and around the world, rekindled by all who identify or sympathise.
