RELATED: Remains of 215 children found at former B.C. The sacred fire will be kept going for 24 hours a day until noon on Friday, June 4. Smudge bowl and medicine kits are also available.Ī Sacred Fire has been lit on the #UVic campus as we honour the 215 Indigenous children found at a former residential school in Kamloops, BC. There are blank cards to write messages to the children and a container at the fire to leave the messages to be burned in the fire. It will be kept going 24 hours a day until Friday, June 4 at noon. The June 1 lighting ceremony, following local protocols and streamed online as only 50 people could attend, included a welcome to the territory, singing and drumming from nations across Vancouver Island and concluded with two minutes and 15 seconds of silence at 2:15 p.m.Įveryone is welcome to sit by the fire, or lay down prayers or medicine. Organizers reminded those in attendance to physically distance at least two metres from one another, and pointed out hand sanitizer was available.A sacred fire burns at the University of Victoria to offer support and to honour the memory of 215 children whose unmarked graves were found by the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops. The majority of those attending Saturday’s ceremony wore masks. The orders also make an exception for “funeral, wedding, baptism or similar religious ceremony may take place at a place of worship provided that no more than 10 persons, other than the officiant and a photographer or videographer, attend the ceremony.” More than 50 people gathered for Saturday’s closing ceremony.Ĭurrent COVID-19 health orders from the province dictate “all indoor or outdoor gatherings on public property or private property are prohibited.” “All the government needs to do is stand up for our people.” Tyler Clarke “Come and sit with us,” he said in a message directed toward what he referred to as “mainstream society.”įirekeeper Timothy Bone said the four days gave him strength, and that he’d like to see greater action taken from government moving forward. Underlying the speeches was a call to action, with Gerrard noting that while the sacred fire’s four days were “beautiful,” he would have liked to have seen more area leadership show up to support the cause throughout the week. “If you need to cry, cry - it’s all part of healing.” The residential school system itself was a form of incarceration, Dakota knowledge keeper Frank Tacan said during his sometimes emotional leading of the ceremony. Speaker Doug Gerrard, who helped lead part of the ceremony, said both of his parents attended a residential school from the ages of six to 16 - “The lost generation.”Ī spiritual care provider at Brandon Correctional Centre, Gerrard attributed the residential school system with the disproportionate rate at which Indigenous people are incarcerated. People throw flowers into the Assiniboine River at the Riverbank Discovery Centre grounds Saturday night as part of a ceremony marking the close of a four-day and four-night sacred fire lit for those lost in the residential school system.Īlthough much of the closing ceremony was understandably centred on the tragedies associated with the residential school system, the speakers’ overall tone was one of optimism looking forward and appreciation for the children able to attend the ceremony. “All nations came together to support each other,” Ask Auntie co-ordinator Florence Halcrow said at midday Saturday while joining a few others by tending to the fire prior to that evening’s closing ceremony. The fire at the Riverbank Discovery Centre grounds was tended to throughout the four days, with approximately 20 to 30 people spending time maintaining the fire in shifts. This article was published (473 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.Īfter four days and four nights, a sacred fire lit in memory of the 215 children whose remains were discovered at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School property has ended.
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